I've been working on a photobash of a rural village for the last couple weeks - it's in a more realistic style and has lots and lots of elements, so it's taking forever and I'm sick of looking at it. So today I took a break and banged this out.
Povoq suggested ropeways (which I grew up calling gondolas, thinking of them as a ski mountain thing) when I was asking for ideas for the village. They're a great transportation option, so I added one to it, but I got thinking about other scenes I could do with the concept. One of those ideas was a kind of peaceful scene of a ropeway at night, each cab lit up like string lights. This came out pretty much how I was picturing it (as much as I picture anything visually).
I really like the idea that the rural towns in this setting all have some kind of reliable public transit option - the larger ones (or ones conveniently placed) are linked by high speed rail, and others nearby might link to those (and to eachother) with ropeways. Easier/cheaper to set up over rough terrain, great view, and pretty reliable - you always know there's another car coming.
Going into the city might mean riding the ropeway to the next town (perhaps changing cars/lines at a transfer station, where there's a lodge with bathrooms and perhaps a diner) and then getting on a high speed train. Once in the city, a network of streetcars could get you the rest of the way. Or these might be a fun option for slow travel - hiking from town to town, and if you pull a muscle or it's raining, or you just want to enjoy the view, you hop on a ropeway and watch the mountains go by. Long spans like this would obviously be pretty rare, most ropeways I've seen hug the ground, raised on tall poles, but they make postcards of the really cool looking stuff, so I figure this could be one of those cases.
