Where to site a vibrant PA community after TSHTF

[NorthernRaider]

Where to site a vibrant PA community after TSHTF


Let us see how constructive we can be on this subject. Without being too contentious 

Can we for simplicity assume that a societal collapse has occurred for whatever reason you like, the power systems, telecoms systems and normal commerce systems are pretty much knackered and support from central government is not forthcoming.

We shall also assume (forgive me) that the violence has subsided and people are now coming around to the prospect of reaching out to others for trade, commerce, barter, gossip, travel, etc.

So you now want to bring your people back to a world of gregarious community driven people with a sense of normality. You want to see your kids get some education, taught some skills perhaps find an apprenticeship. Your finite and limited resources are getting close to being depleted. You need new shoes, new winter clothes, new or repaired tools, you need salt, you need rough alcohol, you need charged batteries, you need 35 new slates to repair your roof, You need someone to take a look at why your CB no longer works. You crave something other than mutton / lamb and rabbit and you would sell your daughter for a kilo of decent spuds.

You need to trade, barter, earn, meet, share with other folks and you want a regular logistics train to supply it.

So where do you think you and your people should try and build your new society?

Well in my mind I suggest the ideal (using my logic) locations are going to have two fundamental pieces of infrastructure
1 A navigable water way linking your community to the coast (perhaps a coastal town)
2 A preserved heritage steam railway with full facilities.

If you have one or both you have a highway system than can be developed for trade and settlement.

Just as the railways radiated out in the 1820s onwards crisscrossing the nation a decent river or railway can be used to link communities to each other.

In Eire during its steam era some locomotives used to be remote track side properties only supply of hot water. The local stopping train would often be tapped for hot water every couple of days to ensure Mrs Mcguillgan could keep her home clean. In later years when electric lighting was the norm in many carriages the track side residents would give the train crew a battery to charge as they went up the line, and collected the charged battery when it came back down the line.

A static steam locos boiler can be used to operate machinery or to turn a generator.

A rail line even single track from inland can bring cattle, wood, dairy products, coal etc to the coast and take back salt, fish etc, A river can do something similar and it can also allow trade vessels from other parts of the country to navigate a good way upstream to deliver goods, services, passengers etc.

Basically a reliable navigable river and or heritage rail line are essentials to help communities rebuild and reconnect with the rest of the world.

So I think that after a full blown catastrophe when it comes to rebuilding the place to be is something like being between

Nortonfitzwarren and Minehead (WSR)

Whitby to Pickering or Whitby to Nunthorpe (NYMR)

Romney to Hythe (RH&DCR)

Eskdale to Ravenglass RW (The Ratty)

And not forgetting the Welsh Narrow gauge system.

Even if the rail line only runs part of the way to the sea and a river does the other half it opens up great promise for a thriving future.

And of course you could just use the riverine system on its own along traditional rivers and canals with a history or trading.

Imagine over a period of years developing commerce links via rail or sail, using those transit systems to bring in salvage PV arrays and small wind turbines from abandoned settlements.

Living in isolation may provide security, much needed security at that as well, but in time many of us will want to start communicating, trading, dating, import / exporting etc again at some point in time.

With a bit of planning and wisdom you do not need to look for a place to live that has everything you need to survive AND thrive, you just need a modestly self-reliant spot that could access a transport system.

[Skean Dhude]

Just like in the olden days. Towns were sited on Rivers and when the railways came that extended the capability to move elsewhere yet still be in reach of the rivers.

As we have the infrastructure already I would guess that all pre 1000 towns are just as viable now.

Makes sense.

[Midnitemo]

I see the logic of river travel but given whats been happening this winter theres no way I'd start a community on a riverside plot unless its on a solid rock base and a decent height above the high waterline.

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Canals may be a better option!

[Mortblanc]

Even before the railways GB had an extensive canal system. Much of it is still there.

Much easier to maintain and operate and requires less capital outlay than a rail network

[Strive]

Building on the above, if we are talking ideally, then lets say old riverside towns but with resistance to climate change, flooding and erosion. There is more wild food to be foraged near the coast, apparently, which may be an added consideration, especially for winter months.
Further, we might want to choose places that have had minimal damage from industrial agriculture in the past, thus safeguarding our own food production....and near nuclear power stations probably aint a good idea.
But talking realistically, a lot of people are going to have the same ideas, and the way I live my life now is to stay put, and gradually, very gradually get to know my local area like the back of my hand over the next few decades. If you know an area well it might be a better basis for surviving and thriving than moving to a better equipped area that you don't know. For me, horse and cycle travel will be big factors in this future, and I envisage there being a lot more horse-friendl;y routes naturally opening up. Of course horse and cycling can be mutually supportive of canal and river travel.

[bigpaul]

(15 March 2014, 21:13)Strive Wrote: But talking realistically, a lot of people are going to have the same ideas, and the way I live my life now is to stay put, and gradually, very gradually get to know my local area like the back of my hand over the next few decades. If you know an area well it might be a better basis for surviving and thriving than moving to a better equipped area that you don't know. For me, horse and cycle travel will be big factors in this future, and I envisage there being a lot more horse-friendl;y routes naturally opening up. Of course horse and cycling can be mutually supportive of canal and river travel.

absolutely Strive, what I did was to get a general map of my area, mark on it 5,10 and 15 miles radius(rings) of where I live and mark all the things(resources) I have noticed on my travels where they are located within those rings.

[Strive]

Great idea!

I got a custom made Ordnance Survey map made with my home at the centre of the map (did you know you could do that?) but I didn't think to do the circles like that, but I will now.

[Jace]

I am doing the same for all the food stores, pharmacies, outdoor stores, hardware shops etc within walking distance of my place (in case we can't bug out), plus eventually also similar for all the petrol stations, toll roads etc on the routes to our BOLs.

Hopefully, if the time comes, we can just grab the maps and start driving, whil everyone else is still trying to figure out why their GPS isn't working.