Old Second Life: The Great Second Life Railway

Second Life was very different a few years ago ... I recall when I arrived in early 2007 (or my predecessor did (*coughs*)) textures were much less refined (just look at the wheels on the traincar above!), flexi prim hair was a new thing ... you'll know what I mean if you were there. Remnants of that Old Second Life are still around, and sometimes it's great to revisit them. The other day I happened to TP somewhere, and there, right there, was a stretch of the old Great Second Life Railway. Built by a team of residents beginning in 2004 (and the brainchild of Athos Murphy), it remains largely unchanged, and must have been a remarkable achievement in its heyday. The railway snakes through several old continent sims (the ones named for colors and hues in Sansara). More than one train rides on the tracks ... I was actually involved in a collision!

The main terminal of the GSLR is above, at Slate. (I would go inside, but I can't fit through the doorway! I guess avatars were shorter back then.) From here you can go east or west, although the western journey is quite short, only traveling through the sims of Olive and Mocha. So take the train east, and watch out the window as you see some old old land ... the train cuts through a corner of Magenta, then in the sim of Maroon travels on a long bridge across a bay, and crosses into Periwinkle. Hop off the train for a minute at the little station here in Periwinkle, and click on the notecard giver for some great SL history ... The notecards (mostly from 2005 and 2006) were intended to help new residents, and their titles are amazing (one by John Linden is called "09. What Does 'Add Friend' Mean" ... or there's "21. How To: Change Your Appearance").

Get back on the train and then head to the end of this section of line at the next sim, in Purple. Here you climb off the train, and wait for a ferry! The ferry boards right here -- there's a cute little interactive map showing you where the ferry is on its current journey. The ferry (leaving now ... the gangplank just went up) takes you through several water sims (Cyclops, ANWR, Sudoffco and Sandra) one of which features a huge Linden-built rig. And there's some interesting history about ANWR ... click here for the Wiki.

You disembark at Cecropia, and get on board this new modern looking train (hmmmm, what DO these controls do?). Here there are two more stops -- first at ZZ Land and the second at Hobotown (getting to be a little gritty looking) as you enter the sim of Calleta.

And here's the end of the line for the Great Second Life Railway, at the huge train yard in Calleta. Some Linden-built tracks extend away from here, but I don't think any trains run on them. So tramp over to Slate sometime and spend a relaxing hour or so exploring old SL sims. There are some interesting spots along the way, too ... jump off and see!

Addendum 1: I would be remiss in not mentioning that at the terminal in Slate you can grab a balloon ride, courtesy of Jopsy Pendragon, to some of his areas in Slate, Hina and Teal, and they're a delight as well ... I'll write about them another time. In case I don't, make sure you visit the Cloud Chateau! :)

Addendum 2: The outfit I'm wearing is a creation by Jamie Holmer of INDI Designs -- this outfit is called Tracy.