Station amenities

[Moggie]

A trainmaster newbie here ...

Could somebody explain to me how cold storages and other such work? Or link to an explanation? For example, if I have cities A, B and C that are connected like so: A <-> B <-> C. A has Produce, C has bottling plant and A is also connected to X that has produce. On which station(s?) should I put the appropriate storage?

Another thing, why are my trains running produce out of a town with a bottling plant? Any way to prevent this?

Moggie

[nedfumpkin]

Railyar structures are more like marshalling yards where you can collect certain cargo from a number of sources and then ship it to a destination. Generally they don't really belong in urban areas. They do best out in the boonies where for example you have a few mines producing coal...you run a short line train cycling between the mines and the RY structure, then you run a full train of that cargo to a destination.

The problem with your produce is that it has a higher price somewhere else. You may be better off shipping with customs consists. Trainmaster is designed so that there is going to be competition for your cargo and if you aren't paying attention to your trains then at times your much needed cargo with be shipped off somewhere else where the price is higher...and alternately...it can always be shipped back when the prices change. You'll see this with milk a lot.

[Moggie]

So if I have mines X, Y, Z and a hopper yard, do I build a station/stations so all mines are covered and then one so that the hopper yard is covered. Put a train/trains to cycle between mine(s) and the hopper yard and another from the hopper yard to a town?

[nedfumpkin]

If you have x y z, then put a small station at each, and your hopper yard at A...then run a short cheap train from x-A, y-A, z-A dumping your coal there....then run a train from A to B where the coal is needed...on the way back, bring explosives and machinery and dump at A. your short train should be set to bring machinery and explosives back to the mines. Custom consists on all routes.

Your hopper yard could be at one of the mines if you want, such as the closest to where the coal is required.

[Moggie]

I see. Thank you for spelling it out for me

[nedfumpkin]

There a number of different ways to control your cargo, and Trainmaster also allows for drop shipping. But the RY structures allow for you to make a profit on hauling the cargo...and they will also attract the walking cargo.

[Moggie]

Ok, next question. Do the displays of those buildings ever show other than zero? Looks strange that max production is 0 and production is like 0 coal for 0 coal.

edit: also, in Monkey Motors, I tried to pile up all the necessary raw materials in Machined City and then transport them from there to Auto City, but was not very succesful. What did I do wrong?

[Blackhawk]

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything but I took a closer look at the rail yard structures and the cargo they attracted to see if any cargoes were left out.

The list I came up with of cargoes that were not in any of the rail yard structures were as follows:
Automobiles $200
Logs $30
and possibly glass? - taverns use/demand them but I'm not sure if that's the same as a normal rail yard structure

Ammunition $160
Troops $50
Missiles $500
Weapons $255
Depletalloy $200

I assume it was the intent that the rail yard structures don't include every cargo? I was just playing a scenario and was surprised to find a rail yard structure that didn't attract logs. I can think of a rationale for not having rail yard structures demand most of the other cargoes but figured if a rail yard structure demanded lumber, there would be one for logs as well. Perhaps not.
EDIT: Removed livestock as I forgot to scratch that one off the list.

edit: also, in Monkey Motors, I tried to pile up all the necessary raw materials in Machined City and then transport them from there to Auto City, but was not very succesful. What did I do wrong?

That might be better placed in a thread on Monkey motors as the scenario creator might then have some ideas. Are you using a custom consist on your train or are you just trying to have an auto consist train take the supplies there? In TM you often have to use some custom consist trains.

[Moggie]

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything but I took a closer look at the rail yard structures and the cargo they attracted to see if any cargoes were left out.

The list I came up with of cargoes that were not in any of the rail yard structures were as follows:
Automobiles $200
Livestock $90

There are stockyards that will store livestock, they required something but cannot remember what...

Logs $30
and possibly glass? - taverns use/demand them but I'm not sure if that's the same as a normal rail yard structure

Ammunition $160
Troops $50
Missiles $500
Weapons $255
Depletalloy $200

I assume it was the intent that the rail yard structures don't include every cargo? I was just playing a scenario and was surprised to find a rail yard structure that didn't attract logs. I can think of a rationale for not having rail yard structures demand most of the other cargoes but figured if a rail yard structure demanded lumber, there would be one for logs as well. Perhaps not.

edit: also, in Monkey Motors, I tried to pile up all the necessary raw materials in Machined City and then transport them from there to Auto City, but was not very succesful. What did I do wrong?

That might be better placed in a thread on Monkey motors as the scenario creator might then have some ideas. Are you using a custom consist on your train or are you just trying to have an auto consist train take the supplies there? In TM you often have to use some custom consist trains.

Ok, I'll throw it there.

[Blackhawk]

Thanks for reminding me that livestock was demanded. I thought I remember seeing it demanded I just forgot to cross it off my list.

Ok, next question. Do the displays of those buildings ever show other than zero? Looks strange that max production is 0 and production is like 0 coal for 0 coal.

They demand and output .1 a cargo load so RT3 takes .1-.4 loads and makes it display 0. Just like it'll take .5-.9 and make it say 1 load. This is why some industries will also demand something like 0 plastic and 1 produce. The exact numbers are the in the Supply Chain guide.
I'm guessing there is a reason behind the rail yard structures use .1 load rather than a full 1 load. Possibly 1 load creates too much of a demand. (Ex. demanding paper near a paper mill with a rail yard structure demanding 1 full load might make it difficult to send it to a factory somewhere else at a profit if the factory is only demanding .2 paper loads.)

Another question for Ned:
The supply guide says:
Liquid storage:
0.1 <--- 0.1
Oil – Petroleum – Chemicals – Gum
Demands: 1 Sand for spills. Supplying this will reduce losses.

Is there actually any loss at the liquid storage plant, or is "supplying this will reduce losses" just an explanation for why sand is demanded? I'm just asking since the guide says .1 in = .1 out and I would have thought that would be different if there was spillage and loss?

[nedfumpkin]

The cargo that isn't included in the RY's are on purpose. I get what you're saying about logs, and I do remember there was a rationale behind it, but it escapes me now.

Any number in a cargo display that comes up as 0 is a number between 0.1 and 0.5, I have yet to figure out how to get it to display decimals. The supply chain guid provides the precise numbers.

The loss referred to is a financial loss, not a cargo loss. By supplying sand, or feed, the profitability, or loss thereof from a RY structure is reduced.

[WPandP]

I'm guessing there is a reason behind the rail yard structures use .1 load rather than a full 1 load. Possibly 1 load creates too much of a demand. (Ex. demanding paper near a paper mill with a rail yard structure demanding 1 full load might make it difficult to send it to a factory somewhere else at a profit if the factory is only demanding .2 paper loads.)

The fractional demand is critical to get the yards to behave as they do, attracting loads without consuming them. They need to have less demand than the final destination does, so that traffic moves in the right direction, i.e. coal is worth zero at the mine, a few bucks in the yard, and a lot of bucks at the steel mill. If the yard demanded at the same rate (same order of magnitude) as the industry, then one could get loads stuck in the yard.

Also, loads don't disappear as fast at that demand level. This means that they actually accumulate at the yard, rather than get consumed.

Additionally, the low value makes the yards more "sensitive" to supply and demand, making it worth your while to keep traffic flowing through them. One full load parked on top of a yard demanding 0.1 load per year will impose an oversupply condition and begin to degrade the cargo value at that yard. Leave it there long, and the price can drop quite a bit, and by "sensitive" I mean that those price changes happen more immediately. It's possible to move cargo long distances with a string of yards, but one must collect loads and keep them moving, just like in the real world - revenue-paying loads shouldn't loiter in the yard any longer than necessary.

[Blackhawk]

The loss referred to is a financial loss, not a cargo loss. By supplying sand, or feed, the profitability, or loss thereof from a RY structure is reduced.

Ah that makes more sense, I was stuck on thinking if it's for use in cleaning up spills, one would think some liquid product would be lost. I completely forgot about the yearly costs of the buildings.

Thanks for the further explanation WPandP.