Welch

Welch is a town in the Ash Heap region of Appalachia.

Background
In 2077, the unemployment rate in town was increasing due to automation put in place by Hornwright Industrial Mining Company. A transition to complete automation would be mandatory if Ballot Measure 6 in the November 2077 election passed.

A second mining company Atomic Mining Services approached the town with promises to revitalize the area and reenergize its economy due to the discovery of valuable ultracite. After a earthquake damaged several homes, AMS began to evict those with property containing the ore, claiming "resource rights to the land." The townspeople revolted against those trying to evict them. The National Guard was called in due to the violence.

After the war, part of the U.S.S.A. space ship conducting the Deep Sleep project crashed into a street in Welch, containing the remains of three astronauts, Carol Bernard, Nowak and Lee.

Layout
Welch is now a wasteland, nothing but a set of one and two-story buildings and their remnants, situated at the bottom of a cliff from Welch Station. Ground fires are scattered and numerous in the area. Perched on the south-western slope of Mount Blair, the entire western edge of the town was torn apart by the shifting ground. Moving up requires navigating around the gaping maw in the ground, in order to gain access to the town.

The cluster of buildings in the downtown area includes boarded-up houses and cracks in the earth. The central area has a weapons workbench, surrounded by a derelict gas station, post office, and bakery with an adjacent pawn shop. There is also a U-Mine-It! vending machine by the gas pumps on the north side of town.

The two intact houses to the southeast contain a tinker's workbench and another weapon workbench. One of them is Evan's house, a brick building up the hill. A weapons workbench can be found against a garage west of the post office on Elkhorn Street. Wooden catwalks connect several of the buildings on this street and ash rose can be found around the street and throughout the rest of the town. Duchess' hideout is located at the collapsed back of a building west of town, down a cliff from most other houses. Its blue mailbox says "Z. Wilson."

Notable loot

 * Overseer's journal, entry 5 - Holotape, in Evan's house, during Personal Matters.
 * Surveillance system tape - 8/08/77 - Holotape, at the southeast side of town, in a destroyed house in the open bedroom, on the ground.
 * Case notes: Duchess - Note, next to the Surveillance system tape.
 * Eviction notice recording: The Kaminskis - Holotape, inside an open coffin jutting out of the cliffside near Duchess' stash, beside a skeleton.
 * Safe key - Northeast of the train tracks. Opens nearby safe.
 * Three potential plans:
 * Randomly generated, at Duchess' hideout.
 * On a crate near a skeleton, at the back of the house opposite of Duchess' house, on the hill. (Armor plan)
 * On a crate near the weapons workbench in front of the house marked 'Electrical'.
 * Two potential weapon mods:
 * On a crate near the weapons workbench in front of the house marked 'Electrical'.
 * Inside a console, on the second floor of a house with a green propane tank.
 * Recipe: Delbert's sunshine oil - Inside a southeast house, in the kitchen, to the right of a sink.
 * Potential recipe - Inside a southeast house with the body of a young woman, near a sink.
 * Silver and uranium ore veins - Just to the right of Duchess' safe box.
 * U.S.S.A. crew dog tags - Quest item, in the crashed space ship, during Hope Remains.

Appearances
Welch appears

Behind the scenes
Welch is based on the real world location of Welch, West Virginia.