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Team R101

R101 Reports

Team M12

Team R12

Team R44

Team M82

Team R99

Membership

      This section is intended to list and track all of the teams associated with the Great Lakes area. As of early 2141, there are 16 members of the Morrow Project in this group:

player-character names in bold; vet signifies service in a combat zone

• the unit in Hardisty, to assist the Canadian civil government, and to evaluate Canadian strategic resources. A Morrow computer would be useful here, for technical reference purposes.
  

• the unit in Sentinel (formerly Green Bay) and Bastion (formerly Milwaukee) will survey regional industrial capacity
  

• the unit in Arcadia acting as liaison with the Arcadians, Skinball, etc.; reading Morrow archives and records at Soo; looking for all lists of un-opened caches for the Eta teams, and summarizing information on:

• maintenance, condition, and needs for reconstruction of the Trent-Severn Waterway

• ditto for the Fox River canal (it's pretty much one-way only currently)

• navigation and trade networks on the Mississippi River and tributaries

     Garvins and Tony Wong would rather not work with the Canadians just now. The team needs to decide if the whole "remote, hidden" radio station at the west end of Manitoulin Island is still worth the trouble of the remote location. By the way, Cockburn Island is right next door to Manitoulin Island.

Project Equipment Returned

     In late November and early December various items will arrive in Soo, courtesy of the Canadian government:

• the V-150 armored car from team R-12, complete (including machine gun, PRC-70 radio, Autonav, computer, and reactor) except:

• all expendables and consumables have been expended/consumed ... ammo, grenades, food, first aid kits

• the tires are kind of ratty, and wouldn't be usable if they weren't run-flats

• a few old wheels and tires are also provided

• the vehicle itself is mechanically fine ... just some wear from the drive into Canada before it was captured. It's been up on blocks for a couple of years.
  

• the Commando Scout armored car from team R-44

• the Autonav, PRC-70 radio, and reactor are included and undamaged; it never had a computer
  

• all expendables and consumables have been expended/consumed ... ammo, grenades, food, first aid kits

• the original four tires are provided, but they are in terrible shape; some spares from caches are included, along with some wheels without tires that fit the hubs

• the vehicle has been in a lot of combat against the Doom Riders, and suffered a few "mobility kills", along with other perforations that weren't appreciated by the Canadian Airborne crew. Field and depot repairs have been made by the Canadians, but it's got some deep problems -- the turret doesn't always rotate, the reactor cooling system sometimes stops working, the electrical system is unreliable ... etc.

• all the confiscated role kits, weapons, field gear and personal effects of teams R-12 and R-44, except:

• the Canadians have expended/consumed all the ammunition, grenades, explosives, anti-tank rockets, food, and all doses of medicine from the Med Kits (even the large one). The bottle of Universal Antidote has been returned, untouched ... the Canadians were convinced that it wasn't safe for them.
  

• none of the Resistweave coveralls have been returned (apparently they were handed over to the Caninjas).

• when the 4 members of M-12 were captured, they were "on foot" without much of their field gear (it was left in their vehicle). Remember, two members of this team escaped and haven't been seen again.

• as with the Recon teams, all the ammo, food, drugs, etc. have been used/consumed.

• returned items include some stuff unique to MARS teams:  4 PASGT helmets with black Resistweave covers; 4 KYC-21 secure voice modules for the PRC-68 radios; and 4 PVS-5C night-vision googles (they were expecting to maneuver in the dark). 

• two "role kits" and a few other items have been returned that belong to the two escaped MARS team members. Remember, these guys weren't Special Forces; their skills were related to armored vehicles.

• Giovanni Jensen was carrying role kit #19 when he was captured; what's left is an Ingram M10 with suppressor, 5 magazines, holster and magazine pouch, HP35 pistol, 4 magazines, Med Kit, CBR kit, PRC68 radio in shoulder bag, and a KCB-70 bayonet.
  

• Gene Ribera was carrying role kit #9 when he was captured; the items returned are identical to the gear from Jensen.

• Tony Wong also had role kit #9 (lots of SMGs for the armored car crew!); he doesn't think he'll need to be blazing away, so he's tossing into the pot  an Ingram MAC 10, suppressor, 5 empty magazines, and the shoulder holster/mag pouch.

Thus in total there are three "spare" MAC10s with suppressors, and 15 magazines, and 3 shoulder holsters;

along with a couple of HP35 pistols, with their holsters, etc.

     I'll make up a list of all the remaining stuff taken from caches by the Canadians; along with several items stolen from the MP museum at Soo; and the items of interest from the museum (such as hulked armored vehicles). 

The Mystery Missiles

     R-101 obtained target locations and yield information on seven nuclear blasts at locations with no strategic value. All of these were surface bursts:

• Cockburn Island, in Lake Huron, Ontario (45° 58′ 14″ N, 83° 22′ 33″ W)... 20 megatons
  

• the Black Rock Range, in Nevada (41° 20′ 55″ N, 119° 7′ 3″ W) ... 600 kilotons yield
  

• High Rock Canyon, in Nevada (41° 15′ 15″ N, 119° 11′ 20″ W) ... 600 kilotons yield
  

• Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (35° 47′ 44″ N, 83° 31′ 49″ W) ... 600 kilotons yield
  

• northern Piscataquis county, in Maine (46° 29′ 45″ N, 69° 5′ 2″ W) ... 20 megatons yield
  

• and two detonations several kilometers south of Elberton, Georgia (34° 2′ 52″ N, 82° 52′ 8″ W) ... both 600 kilotons yield, within a couple hundred meters of each other
  

     There were also four ballistic missiles that were apparently directed at targets, but failed to detonate (or did not have nuclear warheads). It's also possible these (and the seven blasts listed above) experienced guidance errors; and the target location can only be approximate.

• an Atlas-F missile silo 556-12 of the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron, 3 kilometers west-northwest of Mooers, New York (44° 58' 3" N, 73° 37' 27" W); the silo was deactivated in 1965, and sold to private owners. Note that there are a dozen or so other bunkers in the area, all originally part of the same missile squadron. The coordinates given are those of the actual silo -- the missile tracking information, obtained by radar, isn't that accurate.
  

• a point just south of the boundaries of the Mammoth Cave National Park, in Kentucky (37° 07' N 86° 07' W)

• Little Cottonwood Canyon, in the Wasatch Mountains, near Salt Lake City, Utah (40° 34' N, 111° 45' W)

• Mount Washington, a peak in White Pine county, Nevada, near the town of Ely (38° 55' N, 114° 19' W)

Train Thoughts

     The Canadians managed to re-establish the rail line from Thunder Bay to Banff (including a lot of branches) over about 20 years. Their railway network in service is at least 4,000 km -- an investment of nearly $10,000,000 (not including rolling stock). Note that the gold from CFS Carp was only about $1,500,000 ... clearly they raised money through taxes, etc.

     Cost to construct railway, using Canadian labor and materials:

• Easy to build:  $3,000 per kilometer for single track freight service, over flat, geologically sound, sparsely populated landscape -- most of the Canadian railway network in 2140 is like this. With all supplies on hand, and an experienced crew, at least 60 kilometers of track can be laid in a month by a crew of 1000 men (including lumberjacks, well diggers, shopmen, locomotive drivers, wagon and truck drivers, storekeepers, telegraph/telephone lineman and operators, track layers, cooks, crane operators, "navvies", guards, etc.). The actual crew laying ties and track on an already-prepared grade might only be 200 men. The use of some 22nd Century power tools (chainsaws, for example) is presumed, but only very few earthmoving vehicles.

• Ordinary to build:  $10,000 per kilometer in "non-flat, non-mountainous" terrain (e.g., between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains) -- crossing some big canyons and rivers, for example. About 15 kilometers of track might be laid in a month by a crew of 2,000 men.

• Hard to build:  $30,000 per kilometer of track in mountains (i.e., through the Rockies or the Sierra), by a crew of 4,000 men. None of this in the area around the Great Lakes.

     This is for 115 pound-per-yard steel rails (130 pounds per yard in the mountains) and timber bridges and trestles. Following old rail lines saves money (there are old bridge piers, embankments, and even tunnels which can be re-used). The old rails and ties can't be used (too rusty or rotten), but the rails can be sent off to steel mills as salvage.

• -20% cost on Easy territory

• -30% cost on Ordinary territory

• -40% cost on Hard territory (depending on how much was destroyed -- one big tunnel out of service may require lots of expensive new tunneling)

     These prices are averages over hundreds of kilometers of railway.    
     At least two dozen locomotives or large diesel trucks would need to be provided for construction on a new line "from Duluth to Bastion or Sentinel", plus at least a couple hundred freight cars (or trailers) of various types. Logging camps, lumber mills, work shops, fuel depots, etc. would have to be constructed. The cost of all this is mostly included in the "price per kilometer" given, although prices will climb if you have to build things from scratch.
     Keep in mind that the trains, trucks, rails, cranes, etc. are not just sitting around waiting to spring into action; some amount of time and money is required before the first rail is laid.
     The Soo Line tracks from Duluth:

• to Gordon, 66 km

• to Ladysmith, 110 km

• to Owen, 72 km

• to Spencer, 29 km

• to Marshfield, 14 km (a Chicago & North Western line ran from here to Winona, on the Mississippi River -- 160 km of track, would cost $384,000 to rebuild over about 3 months. The slightly longer route to La Crosse (a bit downstream) would avoid the slightly-irradiated land around Winona)

• to Junction City, 34 km

• to Stevens Point, 18 km

• to Amherst Junction, 22 km

• to Scandinavia, 14 km

• to New London, 35 km

• to Black Creek, 24 km

• to Seymour, 11 km

• to Green Bay, 27 km

     The route from Duluth to Sentinel (Green Bay) is thus 476 kilometers of Easy track, costing about $1,140,000; it would take about 8 months (not including winter months) to build.
     From Sentinel to Bastion (Milwaukee) along the old C & NW line, following the shores of the lake:

• to Manitowoc, 58 km

• to Sheboygan, 42 km

• to Port Washington, 43 km

• to Shorewood, 35 km

• to Milwaukee, 6 km

     The route from Sentinel to Bastion is thus 184 km of Easy track, costing $440,000; it would take about 3 months to build (not including winter months).
     Remember, the government at Duluth may not like the Morrow Project (or the Canadians for that matter). The opinions of various inhabitants -- most importantly the Anishinaabeg  -- might be usefully sought.

The Trent-Severn Waterway

    This canal used a combination of locks and a marine railway to connect Lake Huron with Lake Ontario. It was about 386 kilometers long, of which 32 kilometers were man-made channels. The entire route wasn't completed until 1920, and became commercially obsolete in 1932 when the Welland Canal was opened.

     Team Eta, and their immediate successors, made an effort to keep the waterway usable, but the two lift locks and the marine railway gradually deteriorated into uselessness during the Long Winter. There have been sporadic repair missions since then, and every year the Arcadian Republic sends an expedition up the waterway to check conditions. The Big Chute Marine Railway is only 13 kilometers from the Lake Huron end of the waterway, so the expeditions normally "portage" around it.

Camp Swampy

     Military training camp at Sleeping Bear Dunes, near Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan.

Camp Wobegon

     The main base for MP Group North. Located near New Asail, on Manitoulin Island, in the Arcadian Republic.