u/outlaw_for_life18

Okay, I forgot which person posted about being able to stand in a location and setting up camp in a desired spot.

So does anyone know where I would stand to get the desired location marked on the map?

Jedadiah Buckley and his wife, Sarah Murphy Buckley built a sturdy home at Carmody Dell, fostering a thriving farm filled with cows, bulls, and sheep where every Buckley child lent a hand. Life was genuinely good until 1882, when two year old Lillian Rose tragically contracted diphtheria and died. While the older children were miraculously spared, the loss fractured Sarah's heart, leaving her with a lingering grief she quietly fought to hide. The arrival of Patrick Finn in 1883 brought a fragile new joy to the household, though a protective fear led Sarah to devote almost all her time to nursing the new baby. Meanwhile, the older teens stepped up; Ben began working the fields full-time alongside Jed, and Anna took on heavy household burdens to help her mother. Despite the shadow of loss, the middle children, Mattison, Colton, and Liza formed an unbreakable bond. Being so close in age, they excelled in their school studies and spent their free time playing in the fields, proudly calling themselves the real Three Musketeers of Carmody Dell.

The dirt road leading back from the schoolhouse was filled with laughter as the Three Musketeers made their daily trek home to Carmody Dell, their schoolbooks strapped tight and slung over their shoulders. Mattison marched at the front, swinging a thick tree branch like a grand rapier, while Colton and Liza trailed just a half-step behind, eagerly echoing his playful battle cries. Every fence post along the path became a villain to conquer, and every rolling hill was a fortress to defend as a unified front. For a brief hour under the afternoon sun, the heavy responsibilities of the farm and the quiet grief lingering in their home disappeared entirely. They were entirely undefeated, completely inseparable, and bound by a fierce, youthful oath to always look out for one another, completely unaware of the dark roads the turn of the century would eventually force them to walk.

One winter evening, inside the bustling kitchen, Anna quietly took charge of the younger children, expertly cutting fresh bread and keeping young Patrick entertained to ease the heavy burden on her mother’s tired shoulders. Meanwhile, Liza stood near the back screen door, her eyes drifting longingly toward the pastures where she wished she could be out in the fresh air tending to the cows and sheep instead of doing indoor chores.

Ten year old, Colton buttoned his coat against the biting cold and made his way to the barn to feed the animals and milk the cows. His older brother, Mattison, was stoking the basement coal furnace and would come out to help Colton as soon as he was finished. Colton stopped to stroke the head of his favorite dairy cow that he had named Daisy. Dust filtered through the moonbeams in the quiet loft as the boys tossed hay into the feeding troughs, a routine broken by a sudden, jagged scream cutting through the night air. Dropping their pitchforks, they bolted out of the barn into the blinding heat of a nightmare. Across the yard, their father and eldest brother, having just returned from selling some sheep in Valentine, were desperately clawing at the front door, their silhouettes warped by roaring waves of orange and black that consumed the family home. Thick, suffocating smoke poured from the shattered windows, driving the two men backward as the roof began to groan and buckle. Trapped on the grass, the four of them could only stand paralyzed, bound by a helpless, crushing horror as the structure collapsed into an inferno, swallowing the screams of the family still trapped inside.

The next morning brought a bitter, ash-choked silence over the charred remains of the homestead, leaving Jed and his surviving sons wrapped in a shell-shocked daze that no passage of time could soothe. For twelve year old Mattison, the physical survival was its own prison; a suffocating weight of guilt settled deep into his chest, anchored by the agonizing knowledge that he had forgotten to adjust the cast-iron damper on the coal furnace the night before. That silence became his permanent shadow, a profound shame that warped his youth and ensured he would never truly recover from the haunting ghosts of that winter night. Desperate to find a footing amidst the devastation, Jed threw his remaining strength into clearing the blackened timber, working side-by-side with his eldest son, Ben, to slowly lay the foundation for a new house. Yet, the grueling labor could not mend a broken family, nor could it shield the younger boys from the stark emptiness of the farm. Recognizing the deep psychological toll on his children, Jed finally made the heartbreaking choice to pack the boys' few remaining belongings and send the two youngest to live across the state with his brother Liam and his family, sacrificing his own daily comfort to give them a chance at a life unburdened by the ashes of the past.

By the time Mattison turned 14, the suffocating guilt over the fire had completely consumed him, driving him to drop out of school and seek escape in the shadow of his reckless older cousin, Connor. Connor quickly drew the vulnerable teenager into a world of trouble, while ten-year-old Colton coped by sinking into a protective shell of isolation. The brewing conflict boiled over the day Colton caught Desmond O'Malley, a ruthless member of the O'Driscoll gang, attempting to convince Mattison to run away. Summoning a desperate courage, Colton stepped in to defend his brother, only for Desmond to violently shove him aside. As Colton reacted, Desmond drew a knife and wounded the boy's face. Horrified by the sudden escalation, Mattison panicked and fled, abandoning his younger brother on the ground. Instead of remorse, Mattison's shame twisted into a deep resentment toward Colton, leaving Colton to carry a permanent scar on his cheek and a broken trust in his heart forever.

Colton frantically searched the town and the surrounding camps, but Mattison had vanished without a trace into the criminal underbelly. When the news of the attack and Mattison's flight reached Uncle Liam’s household, a heavy wave of shock and embarrassment washed over the family. Liam and his wife felt a crushing sense of failure, deeply ashamed that their home had not provided the sanctuary or the guidance Mattison so desperately needed to heal.

The fragile peace at the rebuilt homestead shattered completely when Ben, exhausted by his father’s suffocating depression, abandoned the farm to forge his own path. He quickly crossed paths with his cousin Connor, and both young men fell under the sway of Colm O’Driscoll’s smooth, manipulative promises, ultimately joining the notorious O'Driscoll gang together. Mattison, already drifting in that dark world, was brought into the fold as a low-level runner and errand boy, eventually finding solace in tending the gang's mounts alongside another young hand named Kieran Duffy. Left entirely alone on the land and realizing his family had dissolved into ghosts and outlaws, a broken Jed finally sold the farm. He took a perilous job as a guard for Cornwall Kerosene and Tar, spending his days escorting volatile oil wagons across the frontier. The tragedy of the family's curse caught up to him one evening when a local crew of O'Driscolls ambushed his transport; a barrage of gunfire struck the wagon, triggering a massive explosion that instantly claimed Jed's life.

The horrific revelation that their own gang was responsible for their father's death ignited a blinding fury within Ben and Mattison, transforming their fragile loyalty to the O'Driscolls into a deep, festering hatred. Meanwhile, the devastating news reached Colton, further cementing his own burning enmity toward the outlaws. Needing a fresh start, Colton left Uncle Liam’s family behind to strike out on his own, eventually securing a job as a freight depot worker in the growing city of Blackwater.

His quiet new life is shattered one evening when a sharp gunshot and a desperate shout pierced the night air. Turning on his heel, Colton watched a body crumple into the dusty street as a dark figure sprinted away into the shadows. Colton rushed to aid the fallen man, but his efforts were futile. When the police chief arrived on the scene, he found Colton drenched in blood next to the corpse. A malicious local named Amos Lancing stepped forward, falsely claiming he witnessed Colton murder the victim; the prominent Philip LeClerk.

Unjustly convicted after a sham trial, Colton was sent away to the grim and isolated Sisika Penitentiary. His fate took another sudden turn during a routine prison work detail when their transport was ambushed by a band of armed men who intercepted the guard line specifically to break Colton out. They escorted him to a secluded meeting where a man named Horley introduced Colton to Jessica LeClerc, the wealthy widow of the murdered man. Jessica looked at Colton and delivered a stunning revelation: she knew he was entirely innocent, she knew he had been framed, and she knew exactly who was truly responsible for taking her husband's life.

Ten year old, Colton buttoned his coat against the biting cold and made his way to the barn to feed the animals and milk the cows. His older brother, Mattison, was stoking the basement coal furnace and would come out to help Colton as soon as he was finished. Colton stopped to stroke the head of his favorite dairy cow that he had named Daisy. Dust filtered through the moonbeams in the quiet loft as the boys tossed hay into the feeding troughs, a routine broken by a sudden, jagged scream cutting through the night air. Dropping their pitchforks, they bolted out of the barn into the blinding heat of a nightmare. Across the yard, their father and eldest brother, having just returned from selling some sheep in Valentine, were desperately clawing at the front door, their silhouettes warped by roaring waves of orange and black that consumed the family home. Thick, suffocating smoke poured from the shattered windows, driving the two men backward as the roof began to groan and buckle. Trapped on the grass, the four of them could only stand paralyzed, bound by a helpless, crushing horror as the structure collapsed into an inferno, swallowing the screams of the family still trapped inside.

The next morning brought a bitter, ash-choked silence over the charred remains of the homestead, leaving Jed and his surviving sons wrapped in a shell-shocked daze that no passage of time could soothe. For twelve year old Mattison, the physical survival was its own prison; a suffocating weight of guilt settled deep into his chest, anchored by the agonizing knowledge that he had forgotten to adjust the cast-iron damper on the coal furnace the night before. That silence became his permanent shadow, a profound shame that warped his youth and ensured he would never truly recover from the haunting ghosts of that winter night. Desperate to find a footing amidst the devastation, Jed threw his remaining strength into clearing the blackened timber, working side-by-side with his eldest son, Ben, to slowly lay the foundation for a new house. Yet, the grueling labor could not mend a broken family, nor could it shield the younger boys from the stark emptiness of the farm. Recognizing the deep psychological toll on his children, Jed finally made the heartbreaking choice to pack the boys' few remaining belongings and send the two youngest to live across the state with his brother Liam and his family, sacrificing his own daily comfort to give them a chance at a life unburdened by the ashes of the past.

By the time Mattison turned 14, the suffocating guilt over the fire had completely consumed him, driving him to drop out of school and seek escape in the shadow of his reckless older cousin, Connor. Connor quickly drew the vulnerable teenager into a world of trouble, while ten-year-old Colton coped by sinking into a protective shell of isolation. The brewing conflict boiled over the day Colton caught Desmond O'Malley, a ruthless member of the O'Driscoll gang, attempting to convince Mattison to run away. Summoning a desperate courage, Colton stepped in to defend his brother, only for Desmond to violently shove him aside. As Colton reacted, Desmond drew a knife and wounded the boy's face. Horrified by the sudden escalation, Mattison panicked and fled, abandoning his younger brother on the ground. Instead of remorse, Mattison's shame twisted into a deep resentment toward Colton, leaving Colton to carry a permanent scar on his cheek and a broken trust in his heart forever.

Colton frantically searched the town and the surrounding camps, but Mattison had vanished without a trace into the criminal underbelly. When the news of the attack and Mattison's flight reached Uncle Liam’s household, a heavy wave of shock and embarrassment washed over the family. Liam and his wife felt a crushing sense of failure, deeply ashamed that their home had not provided the sanctuary or the guidance Mattison so desperately needed to heal.

The fragile peace at the rebuilt homestead shattered completely when Ben, exhausted by his father’s suffocating depression, abandoned the farm to forge his own path. He quickly crossed paths with his cousin Connor, and both young men fell under the sway of Colm O’Driscoll’s smooth, manipulative promises, ultimately joining the notorious O'Driscoll gang together. Mattison, already drifting in that dark world, was brought into the fold as a low-level runner and errand boy, eventually finding solace in tending the gang's mounts alongside another young hand named Kieran Duffy. Left entirely alone on the land and realizing his family had dissolved into ghosts and outlaws, a broken Jed finally sold the farm. He took a perilous job as a guard for Cornwall Kerosene and Tar, spending his days escorting volatile oil wagons across the frontier. The tragedy of the family's curse caught up to him one evening when a local crew of O'Driscolls ambushed his transport; a barrage of gunfire struck the wagon, triggering a massive explosion that instantly claimed Jed's life.

The horrific revelation that their own gang was responsible for their father's death ignited a blinding fury within Ben and Mattison, transforming their fragile loyalty to the O'Driscolls into a deep, festering hatred. Meanwhile, the devastating news reached Colton, further cementing his own burning enmity toward the outlaws. Needing a fresh start, Colton left Uncle Liam’s family behind to strike out on his own, eventually securing a job as a freight depot worker in the growing city of Blackwater.

His quiet new life is shattered one evening when a sharp gunshot and a desperate shout pierced the night air. Turning on his heel, Colton watched a body crumple into the dusty street as a dark figure sprinted away into the shadows. Colton rushed to aid the fallen man, but his efforts were futile. When the police chief arrived on the scene, he found Colton drenched in blood next to the corpse. A malicious local named Amos Lancing stepped forward, falsely claiming he witnessed Colton murder the victim; the prominent Philip LeClerk.

Unjustly convicted after a sham trial, Colton was sent away to the grim and isolated Sisika Penitentiary. His fate took another sudden turn during a routine prison work detail when their transport was ambushed by a band of armed men who intercepted the guard line specifically to break Colton out. They escorted him to a secluded meeting where a man named Horley introduced Colton to Jessica LeClerc, the wealthy widow of the murdered man. Jessica looked at Colton and delivered a stunning revelation: she knew he was entirely innocent, she knew he had been framed, and she knew exactly who was truly responsible for taking her husband's life.

So, is there a reason I can't calm my horse while I'm galloping or even trotting? He only responds to the calm button if I'm walking. It's this way on all my horses. Is this a thing that you can't do?

I took some pics of Colton and his dog, Boone. Boone is very loyal and always greets Colton when he comes back to camp although Cripps doesn't seem too fond of him!

I have four horses at this time. My started horse is the Black Chestnut Thoroughbred. I also somehow get a Breton for free. Then I have a Dutch Warmblood and a Hungarian Halfbred. So which horse gets the best saddle? The horse I used the most or the one with lower stats or what?

Does anyone else give their character a backstory? Colton's is pretty tragic. But he's a good kid.

Since so many mentioned in my post about Miriam Wagner at Emerald Ranch that they had not experienced the Ghost Train, I thought I'd tell you all about it.

This is a rare, one-time-per-playthrough event.

HOW TO TRIGGER THE GHOST TRAIN:

LOCATION: Go to the train tracks in Scarlett Meadows, right beneath the Old Greenbank Mill. The location is right by the Lemoyne sign. See the spot marked on the RDR2 map that I posted above.

TIME: The train can appear any time between 2:00 and 4:00 AM. But every time I have seen it is right before or at 3:00. That seems to be the best time to trigger it.

TRIGGER: Ride your horse out towards the tracks right around the Lemoyne sign. Your horse will start acting skittish just before the train appears. You will hear normal train sounds but see only the Ghost Train. You can ride alongside it or even on the tracks in it for a few seconds before it disappears.

The train can be difficult to trigger but if you don't see it, go do something else for a few in-game days and then try again. You can get it to trigger in any chapter including the epilogue. I've seen it both as Arthur and as John.

So have you seen it? If not, are you going to try to trigger it?

I think the lighting in this game is incredible. I love playing with the light to try and get a great shot.

Just some shots I've taken that remind me sometimes the world of Red Dead is a character all it's own!

Arthur cleans up nicely! Don't you think?

These are some of my favorite photos of Arthur through all my playthroughs. I usually start with him pretty casual and the more the story progresses the more Arthur dresses up.