Train Tuesday P59: Docking Bay Station

Boarding and deboarding Hovertrain passengers on The Forgotten Rails may seem a bit ho-hum, but trust us when we say it’s a big deal! So, come onboard, and we’ll explain why.

Now that we’ve got our inaugural set of Hovertrain cars 3D printed and painted up, we needed a simple logistical system for new passengers to get on and existing passengers to get off. We just knew we didn’t want to do anything too over the top and instead, keep the game focus on the Hovertrain cars themselves.

Thankfully, Hovertrain creator Aether Studios has the same simplistic mindset as they offer a cool Idasiel Station set for our printing pleasure. We think their solution will nest comfortably with our intended gameplay here.

The set has a series of interlocking stone platforms and an individual building. Don’t get us wrong, that structure is nice, but we’ll start by using these raised walkways for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Our Hovertrain route plan will consist of a single set of stone platforms interspersed throughout The Sword Coast and known as Docking Bay Stations. There will also be a small ticket booth on one end of the platform where new customers can buy Hovertrain passes and hop on to the next destination. There will be one Construct (e.g., a Ticket Taker) working each booth.

The modularity of the platform tiles gives us all sorts of layouts in conjunction with the Hovertrain cars themselves. We can do a skinnier, narrow platform with a ramp on each side.

Or, we can reconfigure the tiles and make a broader platform for the loading and unloading of larger crates and packages…more like a FedEx hub, as it were.

Lastly, for the more remote stops, we like the idea of an extended, narrow platform like those East Coast subway trains or West Coast Light Rails depots.

Our platform pieces will contain magnetic Dragon Bite clips to keep things together and survive any inadvertent table bumps. This is the same connection step used in other tiles, including our Milestone Heroes Village Inn set.

STL Miniatures has several excellent options for our Ticket Takers and Rail Pass booths. We previously featured The Dealer, and he could be a fine option, but it’s just a bit too carnivalesque. We’re going to keep things a little more Plain Jane here.

STL Miniatures has an entire Carnival set, and this particular scatter terrain piece won’t detract from the majestic Hovertrains themselves. DM Ben pictures some blue eyes lighting up from behind the bars and asking patrons how many riders are there for today. More on that to come next week!

Now, care to take guess what we’ll name the very first Docking Bay Station? Good ol’ Ben Kenobi certainly knows the number. 😉

Until next time!