Rate my mountain range passages
After over 300 game hours, I finally decided to start a new map with a different approach. In the past, I've planned cities first and filled the gaps with transportation links. This time, I'm building the roads and railways first so they can look good, then filling in the cities around them – sort of like making a model train layout or developing "railway towns."
The map theme is a Middle Eastern country with diverse landforms. From south to north, there's a narrow coastal plain, a steep mountain range, a vast and dry plateau basin, a mountainous zone of foothills and valleys, and northernmost, a desert lowland. I'm using Iran, Oman, and Jordan as references for terraforming.
This project was to build two rail lines that cross the mountain range: one non-electrified line for freight and a "fairly" high-speed line for passengers. The former was designed to be built during the Ottoman era when long-distance tunneling was impossible; numerous stone bridges, tunnels and spirals were used to elevate the tracks over several mountain passes. Confession: I placed so many extreme slopes (> 5%) inside tunnels where they are not visibles.