Mapping Panem (way-too-much-data edition)

[sebenikela]

I've written about Panem geography and logistics before (geography in general, D9, D6), but now I need to think about things like where the rail lines are and which ones are good sabotage targets and the MS Paint sketch maps were no longer cutting it.

The cool thing about North America is that there's a ton of geographic data available for free online. Which meant that the best thing to do (as someone who is not very artistic) was to go from MS Paint to QGIS. Which is to say, COMPLETE OVERKILL. You could actually use this map for navigation, if the things on it existed.

What's here that's new:

The blue lines are the coastline after a 50m sea level rise. The number's fairly arbitrary, this just gave me something interestingly different, while a 100m rise got into unrecognizable territory. (Climate change is kinda scary, folks).

The red lines are railroad lines. I started with a map of current rail lines, followed them where possible especially in mountainous areas, and tried to make sure sensible things were connected. The rail system is also constructed in typical Panem fashion for Capitol control first and efficiency second. So for example, there is no direct connection between D8 and D9 or D3 and D4, even though there logically would be, because it's easier to control travel when it goes through fewer junction points.

Cities are based loosely on current cities: D9's capital city is modern-day St. Louis, D8 is Minneapolis-St. Paul. D13 is in Ontario, near a graphite mine there. D5 is based on oil and gas locations in the Dakotas, Alberta, and Montana, plus opportunities for hydropower and geothermal (we know there's hydro from the amazing dam scene in the MJ1 movie--I take or leave movie canon in general but damn, that scene stays). Other than that, I've talked about why 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11 are where they are already (in the links above).

Obviously this is overthinking everything. But whatever, I enjoy it.

Comments

[alatefeline]

This is AWESOME!!!

[sebenikela]

I am very easily nerd-sniped :D

[alatefeline]

:D

[mildred_of_midgard]

This is so cool! Rail lines that need to be sabotaged (and defended) are a major plot point in my fic, but I'm a lot more handwavy. I admire your dedication and enjoy your world-building posts!

[sebenikela]

Thanks! :D

I enjoy working out the details, it helps me sort out the plot stuff (now I know where people are going) and gets my brain thinking about things in different ways which is helpful.