New & in need of help

[coldcell]

Hi... my example may be kinda complicated but if I know how to solve this problem then I think I'll do much better in other areas.

Suppose there are 4 stations in a straight line

A--------B--------C--------D

A is supplying Coal
B is supplying Oil
C is city turning Coal into Steel
D is city turning Oil into Goods and demand Steel

Suppose I just want 1 train to go through all 4 points (which I wont but just for argument sake)

A: pick up 2 Coal
B: pick up 2 Oil
C: pick up 2 Steel

Here's the part that I'm stuck. At C, the train is carrying 6 cargos. Should I delete the 2 Coal since it's not needed anymore?

And what do I do at D? Should I delete all the cargos and replace them with passanger and mail to be dropped off at C then delete all the cargos so it can come back to A sooner?

[snoopy55]

Here is how I handle something like that:

A - pick up 2 Coal
b - pick up 2 Oil
c - pick up 2 Steel, the Coal will be emptied, leave the cars on.
d - pick up 1 Passenger and 1 Mail, the Steel will be emptied, leave the cars on.

Now, once you have it set up, go back to the A box and add any cars you see there. (2 Oil, 2 Steel, 1 Passenger and 1 Mail) Do the same for B if they are not already included, and the same for C. Now this is assuming C takes the Passengers and Mail. The train will do a back and forth run and make you money too.

What this will do is load all the cars on at the beginning, and there will be no time wasted dropping off and picking up cars. I've done this on a 4 output Annex, taken them to an Industry where I picked up 4 finished product and delivered the finished product to a town. It works great until the Annex grows, at which time you change that train to run 8 cars to the Industry and create a second train to run the finished product to the Town. A 6 or 7 might be better if the trip is to short for the Annex to produce, but even then, later it will.

[coldcell]

Thanks for the quick reply!

One more question: do empty cars slow down the train a lot? I'm actually thinking of a scenario where the train isnt all that advanced and so 8 cargos may be too much.

Would it be more profitable to run 1 long but slow train or 2 fast but short trains?

[snoopy55]

No, with empty cars the train runs the same speed as if there were no cars.

Run up to four cars at first IF the Annex is a small one. If it is a medium one, 8 watch the train at first. If it is a short run, the initial run will be a full one with 8 cars, by any later ones will haul small loads. A 5,6 or 7 might be better, depending on the distance traveled. For a large Annex, 12, run it a full 8. It may run slower, but you don't have as much raw materials sitting around.

Experiment, after all, if you don't like the way a map is going for you, exit and start again...

[coldcell]

So I should try to make my trains' cargo as consistent as possible? For example if a train has 4 stops, I should try to make them all carry the same train even though the first city may not produce steel for example (so there is no time wasted on attaching/removing carts)

Another question: cant a city supply itself?

I have City A and B. City A turns coal -> steel and steel -> automobile. Funny thing is it demands both steel and automobile.

So why cant I just send coal to city A so it produces steel then automobile and me rack up profits? Why do I have to send coal to A, bring steel to B then sell automobile to A.

Also I dont understand how the stock system fully works. For example: does it matter if I have 20% or 80% of my own/enemy's stock? Will I get a larger portion of their income if I own 80% of their stock?

Or the only thing matter is having at least 10% of your own stock and try to get 100% of enemy's stock to kill them off completely?

[snoopy55]

Alas, in Sid Meier's world a company cannot hire a company in the same city to supply their needs..... Translation...No. I've even tried taking a Good, running it out to a farm or something and running it back....no go....

In looking over the Wiki on stock, yes, there seems to be a annual profit. As to getting a share of their Industries profits, I don't know. A person would have to not but any Industry themselves, buy stock of a competitor, wait for him to buy an Industry and watch the numbers. I don't recall this ever being brought up before, and I don't see a mention of it in the Wiki, unless I just didn't catch it.

Try it out and see what happens......

And no, it may not be the only thing that matters, but yes, buy the dratted guys out....to own the world is to have Complete Victory!! And of course, meet all the Victory Conditions......

[coldcell]

Is it a wise idea to mix goods with passenger & mail if it is along the way? For example:

A------B----------C

A: pick up goods
B: pick up passenger & mail
C: drop goods and drop & pickup passenger and mail
B: drop off passenger & mail
A: repeat


Secondly, I'm currently playing the vanilla version. What mods are good/recommended? I see there are some user-made trains & skins.. but I dont know which one is good (I dont want them to conflict each other)

[snoopy55]

I've done it that way. The railroads did it that way in the olden days also.

As to Train Mods, Jancsika has tested some of the Engine BBs and has a list on a thread in Construction Set. They won't conflict. As to the others, I'd have to look them over again.

[darthdroid]

Cold,

I would of course point out: It depends on what you are trying to do... Are you just trying to have fun and build realistic routes and trains? Or are you trying to maximize profit so as to be efficient and win against AI or humans?

If it's the latter then I have to disagree with everything I've read here as it's all very inefficient and minimizes profit. Simpler is better and I don't believe in any trains having more than 2 stops (one at each end). But I'm betting you're more interested in the fun/train aspect of the game so my thoughts are probably misplaced. If not, let me know and I'll give my full answer to your specific question toward the end of maximized profit and efficiency.

[Angelsims3]

I need to know are there cheats for this game Railroads? Thank you!

[Jancsika]

I need to know are there cheats for this game Railroads?

There are none that I know of. You don't need any. Just start in the "Train Table" mode, and once you learned your way around it will be is easy.
Jancsika