Central Pacific

[sleepy]

I finished the campaign today at April 1872, which I think is quite good for a beginner. The last four years are just spent waiting for my "troop trains" to haul troops. My strategy was to have them carry 1 to 2 loads of troops and have priority. Some of them even turned a profit.

I also experimented with industry, which is not my strong suit. I bought an iron mine but that was totally worthless and I later sold it. On the other hand, a meat packing plant I bought near Carson turned out to be very profitable, with many loads of meat and livestock being shipped. A paper mill I put in Stockton took a few years to make money but ended up being worth it (I consider any building which doubles its profit profitable). My brewery in Cedar City barely made any money.

My strategy is to build industries in green areas and buy industries in towns I'm about to connect. I'm not sure if this is the best way to go, but it seems like if there is a big enough price gradient and I purchase an industry in an area that I then connect, it makes money. Some industry just never make money, though, even if there are destinations to ship to that will sell for much more. I've read tips on industry multiple times but I'm still unsure. At this rate, I might as well start a blog or create a Youtube playthrough series.

[Hawk]

One industry you can buy fairly cheap, if you buy early in the scenario, is the dairy farm. They never lose money.
Another good industry to buy into is the logging camp/lumber mill industry.

Building an industry plant always takes a couple of years to start showing a profit because you have to wait for the demand of the industry to attract the raw material, then wait for the raw material to get there.

[Gumboots]

Sleepy, when I first started playing I had no idea how to make industry work. Took me ages to figure it out. I think this is pretty common.

This particular map is a total gold mine if you play industry to your advantage. It rapidly gets to the point where you are making so much cash that you end up buying more and more industry, simply because the limited track means you can't do much else each year. My tendency is to ignore the coast to start with, and ignore rail in the first few years, and buy into industry heavily around Salt Lake City. There are usually enough resources there to fuel several industries (paper mill, lumber mill, meat packing plant, tool and die, ammunition, whatever).

[sleepy]

This particular map is a total gold mine

All that's needed is the actual gold! I should've bought into logging/lumber. The first train to make the lucrative trip from Sacramento to Carson carried almost all wood. I'm not used to the idea of ignoring rail, though. To me it seems strange.

[Gumboots]

Depends how you want to play it. Rail-only starts are feasible on some maps on Expert level, but not really feasible on some other maps. It depends on how the cargoes are seeded.

Sometimes, even if rail-only starts are feasible, using industry will just get things rocking so much faster. This effectively means you end up playing with more trains sooner, even though you might not have any for a couple of years, because after a few years you will have so much more cash to throw around.

[RulerofRails]

Learning about the cargo economy (strengths of the various supplies and demands) and a good look at the price map overlays will help you here. In turn where there is no set route (not this map), you will make better connection choices.

For industries, the key is LOCATION. Have you seen this thread? http://www.hawkdawg.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3853.