new questions

[crtty]

First,how the electrify cost counted? I was playing Chicago to NYC and chose all electrify,the game told me a number(I forgot it).I think it's too high,cancelled and electrified a brunch,but the cost is higher than all electrify that I cannot afford it！
Second,several years later I chose all electrify,and found a bad thing:a pacific is running on a lever and straight line between Caicago and Fort Wayen,but it keeps a speed of 20mph or less!
I observed many trains,found it's common for all trains on this line.They cannot improve speed.
Any answers？

[OilCan]

I looked at the events for Chicago to New York and did not find anything which increased track cost or changed train speed or reliability - so, I am at a loss on helping with an answer to your questions. It has been a long time since I played this game so I can't recall if I experienced the same problems.

[AT41B]

This is a different 'new question'.
I have always wondered since I started playing RT3 this question.
Passenger cars are not maintained as only one cluster next to the Diner Car. Do the passengers climb over the freight cars to get to the diner? Is there a way to always cluster them to the Diner car?

[RulerofRails]

First,how the electrify cost counted?

Ok, the cost of electric track is a bit buggy. The electrify-all option gives a small discount (I think I remember someone worked it out to around 15%). If you drag over the track with electric track laying turned on the quoted cost is for the track + the electric catenary. You only get charged for the electric catenary, the rest of the money stays in your account. It works, but it is confusing and you can't be quite sure of the exact cost on the fly.

I don't know what is happening with your train speeds. Obviously, they have enough sand, water and oil? What is their quoted speed in the game for the number of cars they are hauling? It could be the off chance that there is a hidden corner at a junction that somehow got made or exaggerated when you bought electric catenary. If there are no junctions on the line, this is virtually impossible. If there are, you could try bulldozing and re-laying those sections of line.

Is there a way to always cluster them to the Diner car?

Yes, use the custom consist switch near the top of the train consist page. Lots more is possible with custom consist, but all you need to do is use any freight for the first carriages on the train and any express on the last carriages (or if you want to get more complicated you could put mail as a specific cargo first and then passengers at the very end). Just recently, I was using mixes of haul any thing and haul express in Oilcan's Yellowstone map. I consider it to be a useful part of strategy there, as an alternative to running dedicated express trains.

[OilCan]

...but all you need to do is use any freight for the first carriages on the train and any express on the last carriages...

It is my understanding, and I could easily be wrong about this, that the stationmaster loads a train according to profitability, not necessarily the order of cargo specified in a custom consist. If, for instance, one sets up a 6-car minimum custom consist of one mail car, three cars of freight and two passenger cars, in that order, the Stationmaster will load the first car with the most profitable cargo in the station be it mail, freight or passengers and then move to the second car with the same goal. When the train leaves the station it will have 6 cars (1 mail, 3 freight, 2 passenger) but the cargo will be ordered by profitability and not necessarily by the order set in the custom consist. As I said, I might be wrong about this.

[RulerofRails]

When the train leaves the station it will have 6 cars (1 mail, 3 freight, 2 passenger) but the cargo will be ordered by profitability and not necessarily by the order set in the custom consist.

I didn't see profitability affecting the order yet, but if you have an example it could be true. I do know that if, while a train is loading, a new load (of the type allowed by the custom consist) becomes available at the station it will be added to the rear of the train regardless of the order specified by the custom consist. This is one instance I know of where the order from the custom consist will not be obeyed. I also think wait-to-fill is not going to work as new cars will be added as they become available regardless of the chosen order. I must admit I don't often play with passengers in custom consists. I felt the confidence to comment on this from playing around with them in Yellowstone. When I use custom consists it is normally for a train with a specific cargo to fulfill a scenario goal or to supply a particular industry I often own. I have gotten in the habit of using the custom consist for specific cargo trains from playing 1.06 and TM.