Favorite routing layouts for connecting cities

[low_grade]

Sorry for overwhelming the list here...

But I just thought it might be fun to discuss favorite track laying/routing strategies for connecting nearby cities.

The straight orientation is usually obvious. I tend to identify 3 cities in a row with larger cities on the ends ideally and run one train 1-2-3 and the other 3-2-1.

The triangle orientation is fun. Depending on geography, I make either a small or large interior triangle with single straight runs to each city coming out of each vertex of the triangle. Larger interior triangles use more track, but shorten the route and slightly decrease the chance of congestion.

Another common configuration is a triangle with a city in the middle. For these I use 4 trains. If I call the middle city 4 and the rest 1,2,3, then one train goes 1-4-2, another 2-4-3, another 3-4-1, and the last 1-2-3. That way there's back and forth traffic between each city.

Squares can be tricky. Sometimes I do kind of like the triangle, use an interior square or rhombus, first laying straight tracks between the two pairs of opposite corners, then I decide how much to round the intersection for trains going between neighboring corners. So if I call the corners 1,2,3,4, then I run trains: 2-4, 1-3, 1-2-3-4, 4-3-2-1. Back and forth traffic between everybody. I remember doing this in particular on the Tycooning III I think it was with Kansas City, Des Moines, Sioux City, and Lincoln.

I basically try to set up these patterns throughout a map, and then run additional trains between the closest cities connecting any two adjacent patterns. Of course I often run a few trains between more distant cities over the network as it develops, but 80% of my trains will be in one of these patterns or serving as connectors between patterns, and I never watch any of them carefully (though sometimes I notice a train repeatedly saying like $11 earned when it gets to its station and you see the note at the top of the screen, but though this is annoying, I never do anything about it.)

If traffic is getting clogged up then I'll copy trains and make one freight and the other express with a dining car (maybe changing engine type when I copy.) This is also when I start to think about doubling track, though usually I double around the stations that serve as connection points between networks, and I add my hotels at those stations, too.

[Sugus]

If I get three cities at the same time (e.g. on start), then I often use one train with 1-2-3-2-1-3. Thereafter, for further cities it depends on the time when I get them as well as the freights available.

[low_grade]

Yes, it also depends on available cargo and how many loads your engines can haul efficiently. If not much cargo, one train running 1-2-3-2-1-3 will all get back and forth traffic between each pair of cities. Basically the same thing, but I somewhat prefer 1-2-1-3-2-3 for that.

[Sugus]

Yes, you got it. 1-2-3-2-1-3 means: any with any without any conditions ... (simple mathematics, but very likely not the intension of a map creator )

[un1]

I like to play the AI style, have 2 trains for 2 cities connected. But I don't always start by connecting 2 cities, I always start with 3 cities or more (once I was able to connect 5 cities, but I almost went bankrupt).

I generally route my trains like this:
I have a trains "home", it is the center city of its route.
1 is the home city, 2 and 3 are other cities.
1, 2, 1, 3 (back to start)
I generally do this for all cities, and the occasional "Mainline" train connects every city on the line for additional profit.

[nedfumpkin]

For me, every map is different so I run my trains differently depending on what I have to work with. Generally I try to start out with an industry with a supply and two cities. I tend to run trains between cities with minimum 1 cargo so the never run empty unless I need them to. Going 1-2-3 means you have to run empty trains more often, and they lose money.

[OilCan]

We had a very similar discussion not too long ago. Look under the "Great Experiment" thread for some more opinions on railway networks.