Itinerod Circuit

The Itinerod Mail Train Track Circuit, commonly known as the Itinerod, is an important mail train circuit that crosses the Trans-Antarctic Mountain Range to deliver mail to and from South Pole City.

The route was built by Eastshield and Trans-Antarctica. Oil to fuel the mail trains was provided by West Pengolia (Penghis Khan thought the plan sounded PWNsome), and all three states funded the entire project.

The Itinerod is operated by both the Antarctic Express and the US Postal Service.

Background
In 2004, the USA was booming. The country had fully recovered from the War of 2002 and was expanding rapidly. The economy was showering money, business were prospering, government was fair and just, and Mabel had not yet established herself as an annoyance.

However, there was one small snitch that might have halted all of this prosperous growth: communication.

The country's capital, South Pole City, was virtually inaccessible from the western states -- Trans-Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, and the Sub-Antarctic Islands. The Trans-Antarctic Mountains blocked the way, forcing mail carriers to drive, ship, or fly their cargo all the way around the mountain range and to the capital. This made communication between the two areas very difficult.

In early February, the South Pole Council called a meeting to solve this postal problem. There had to be a way to get mail directly through the Trans-Antarctic Mountains and to South Pole City.

Happyface suggested a portal. However, such a portal would have to be very powerful to hyperjump mail across hundreds of miles of mountain range -- and such a portal would be too expensive.

Planes could not be used due to the perpetual stormy weather surrounding the mountain range. Other suggestions, like using a giant catapult, or building a giant, pressurized chute to shoot packages across, were just plain silly.

Finally, the council agreed to build a train circuit. Seruma, TA, a cozy little mining town in Trans-Antarctica, was chosen to be the starting point due to the Trans-Antarctican HQ of the US Postal Service being there. The tracks would have to be built before the sun set at Sunshine Fjord, or the project would have to be cancelled or postponed due to the freezing temperatures and perpetual nighttime during the Antarctic winter.

Amazingly, the construction teams were able to finish the project three weeks before the winter solstice, and they snagged a bonus, too -- free oil from West Pengolia to fuel the trains, provided by Penghis Khan, who thinks mail trains are almost as PWNsome as he is.

The Itinerod was a major success, and the USA continued to prosper safely.

Map
MAP COMING SOON!

List of Stations/Features

 * Seruma, TA -- This is the starting point of the track. Seruma is a cozy little mining town in the middle of Trans-Antarctica, somewhat east of Hackzon Valley (that's to the left of it on the map) and a bit south, too.
 * Haven, TA -- Further south and a bit west of Seruma, Haven, as it's name suggests, is a prosperous city that makes its money by farming. The actual tracks run a little bit outside of the city, atop a hill overlooking northwestern Haven.
 * Zero Peak -- A large mountain jutting out of the Trans-Antarctic range. The tracks spiral up the mountain, from the base to the Harkinian Notch, a small pass between Zero Peak and Goku Peak.
 * Goku Peak -- Another, even taller mountain connected to Zero Peak via the Harkinian Notch. The mountain's height is exactly 9,001 feet. The tracks traverse across the Harkinian Notch, circle the rim of the Whoop Cwm, and exit the mountain via a small groove in the mountain's southern face that leads to Elinz Plateau.
 * Elinz Plateau -- An elongated, elevated plain that stretches from Goku Peak to the outpost of Steddersørblåser, where the track runs over bumpy terrain and eventually starts ascending several more again.
 * Ohyuck Depot -- A small depot in the middle of a field of Fat Weeds. The depot also has a McDoodle's next to it.
 * Toolik Shack -- A cheap motel in the middle of Nowhere Pass. Blizzards often blow through, burying the shack in snow.
 * Steddersørblåser (place where the south wind blows in Penguinian) -- A small High Penguin mine, owned by Freezeland. The mine is located on a cliffside on the northern face of yet another mountain.
 * Mergelin, TA -- A large, domed city in the middle of a large area of plain. The tracks split up at Mergelin Junction, just outside of the city's large dome.

WESTERN ROUTE
 * Gelato, TA -- A domed suburb of Mergelin, famous for its yummy frozen gelatos.
 * Breezena, ES -- Another domed suburb of Mergelin, and the first Eastshieldian town the western route passes through.
 * Topaz Mine -- A Mergelin-owned mega-mine, famous for its brilliant topazes. The track passes over a parody of the Yukon River.
 * Shatter Valley -- A plain south of Mergelin and its suburbs, famous for its numerous train wrecks. The reason for this is that the tracks twist and bend, tying knots and doing loop-de-loops, which is the only way to traverse the crazy hills, arches, and knolls inside the valley. Also, the low temperatures here cause thick frost layers to form on the tracks, requiring trains to hit the brakes when they arrive at this point in the Itinerod Tracks.

EASTERN ROUTE
 * Tern Islet, ES -- A small town in the middle of a small island in the middle of the Yukon River parody, which is usually frozen. The tracks cross a bridge to get to and from Tern Islet. Apparently the builders didn't want to take chances with thin ice.
 * Flufflin Plain -- A long plain that the tracks cross before heading on to Anvil Peak. The tracks are very straight and there is little risk of accidents happening, so most of the penguins operating the train take a nap at this point.
 * Anvil Peak -- A high mountain named for the famous Anvil Cliff, a rock formation that juts out of the western face and looks remarkably like an anvil. The tracks go across Anvil Cliff while circumnavigating the mountain.
 * Barkjon Pass -- A small pass going off Anvil Peak. Named after famed explorer Barkjon.
 * Itinerod, ES -- A small town famous for its maps. Half of the populace are cartographers. The town is located just off the eastern face of Anvil Peak.


 * Opah, ES -- The western and eastern routes converge at this small mining town known for its gold.
 * Takota Inn -- A motel in the middle of Nowhere Plateau, a small plain rich with oil.
 * McWrath Cirque -- A cirque on the southern side of Nichole Peak. Many skuas nest here.
 * Nichole Crossings -- A small refueling station at the southern base of Nichole Peak.
 * TEH OH NOEZ SCAR -- A stretch of badland created during Khanzem, when wildfires due to industrial pollution destroyed this once-beuatiful taiga, creating a maze of rugged cliffs, black petrified wood, and ash pits. Earthquakes and landslides are common here.
 * Ronald Junction -- Another refueling station in the middle of a small plain, directly after the OH NOEZ SCAR.
 * HappyFace Creek Cliffs -- Part of the final stretch of mountain range in the Itinerod, this set of creekside cliffs, located in the middle of a set of mountains jutting out into Eastshield, are named for Happyface141, the famous governor of the Happyface State. However, the cliffs are ridiculously steep and require careful navigating, and, of course, really good brakes. One wrong slip, and your train could be wrecked.
 * Snowy Bwlch (pronounced Snowy Boolch) -- After careening down a steep but perfectly safe cliff, the track arrives at this small mountain pass, the gateway to Snowy Peak, the final mountain left in the Itinerod.
 * Flipper Tarn -- This small tarn, carved out of the southern face of Snowy Peak by a glacier, is a small resting spot for trains before they head down the mountain and onto the plains of Polar County, the county containing South Pole City and its suburbs.
 * Squetna, ES -- A small town located in Polar County. The track between Squetna and Yeti Junction are packed with Moo Penguins, and trains constantly have to stop to allow the shapeshifting cows to clear the tracks.
 * Yeti Junction -- The tracks head down from this junction into the beginnings of Howler Canyon, where South Pole City's two suburbs, Whiteout and Blizzardville are located.
 * Conifer, ES -- A medium-sized city at the rim of Howler Canyon.
 * Whiteout, ES -- After zigzagging down a pass, the tracks enter Howler Canyon, passing through Whiteout, a suburb of South Pole City.
 * South Pole City, ES -- After heading out of Whiteout, the tracks then turn south and begin heading out of Howler Canyon, back onto the plains, and up the foothills of Polar County until they reach South Pole City, their final destination.

Places
You can sightsee in every single station of the Itinerod, which is government-owned. Oil is pumped from West Pengolia's finest oil fields to all the stations to refuel trains.

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Inhabitants
Various penguins inhabit the stations of the Itinerod, ranging from farmers to ice-cream makers.

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Villains
Skuas and Moo Penguins are the primary villains. Herds of Moo Penguins tend to block the tracks from Yeti Station to Squetna, and skuas like to toss banana peels on the track or annoy the train operators, especially near their nesting place at McWrath Cirque.

Robberies and stowaways are very rare, since the track runs through some of the toughest terrain in Antarctica. If anyone DOES sneak onboard, they usually get found out and thrown off.

Resources
Mail. LOTS of mail.

You've got mail!