EPH wrote:I don't agree when you say don't use a Stirling on the Vienna-Budapest run. There is an easy gradient from Vienna to Graz and on to Budapest that barely breaks 2% grade. With high priority set for express traffic, a Stirling pulling 4 cars will work well on that.
This is going to come down to personal preference, but IMO 2% kills a Stirling and 4 cars is not enough. I'd rather run a Consolidation hauling 6 cars mixed consist, than a Stirling hauling 4 cars express only. It's more profitable, and on Expert level the railway profits are bad enough as it is.
I just know that anything that stops a Consolidation will stop it for a long time because the Connies are slooooowwwww to accelerate.
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Which is why I don't stop them.
If running Vienna > Budapest direct, with maintenance spurs, a Consolidation hauling 6 car mixed consist will sustain station to station speeds well in excess of 30 mph.
I think the best approach to the speed requirement is to try to get 5-7 years of success early on and then don't worry about it until you get the faster engines after 1900. Electrification (1904? 1905?) is the answer to every prayer since you can run at high speed over most grades and probably not have to worry about separating passenger trains from freight. My tips for steam engines are to separate out the freight and express trains (I don't worry with spur maintenance tracks myself), double-track your high-use stations (Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest plus places like Szeged that I turn into industrial complexes) and double-track your service centers if they are on the main rail line. I quite agree that you need to keep your express engines young, but 6-8 years usually works for me (darned Stirlings crash a lot anyway). I agree that it can work out well to concentrate on freight haulage for the first year or two that your railroad is open, but the big cities like Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest should generate enough passengers to make at least one express train profitable.
I always get the speed average straight through in one hit, once I start running trains. Then again, this does rely on spurs, but honestly I cannot stand NOT using spurs. I hate watching trains stop in the middle of a run when they don't have to.
I never use electrification, just because I don't like electric trains (I call them "flying suppositories"). This is just personal preference of course, so if someone does want to electrify I agree it will give them an advantage.
I don't usually run express-only trains either. This is purely because of profit margins. If there is a highly profitable freight waiting, I'd rather the priority train hauled that. If express is commanding the best prices, it can haul express. Either way, it will keep its speed up because of the priority setting, so it's all good.
Darned Stirlings
do not crash a lot, if they are well maintained and if they are replaced before they become unreliable. If they are relying on inline maintenance sheds that will only be used once the oil level is well below 50%, and if you keep them until they are 8 years old, then yes they probably will crash a lot. I know the game intructions do not mention this, but running any train with less than 50% oil is really bad for reliability. After a lot of testing, keeping checks on the reliability bar and the number of breakdowns and crashes, I'm totally convinced of this. Basically, the more oil they have in them, the better they last. This is another argument in favour of scheduled maintenance stops (IMHO).
The reason for not hauling express very early on is not to do with profitability. It's to do with speed averages. If I have one express train and it breaks down, the speed average for that year goes through the floor. If I have three express trains and one breaks down, the speed average for that year is still pretty good. So, I often wont run express until I have several routes available, just as an insurance policy against breakdowns.
One long-term hurdle is making sure you get the mail deliveries to Budapest and Bucharest. Usually one is easy and the other hard...
Funnily enough I have never had a problem with this. Both have always been easy. I always run post offices, so maybe this is the reason. I have noticed that I generally carry a lot more mail, in any scenario, when I use post offices.
Be prepared to leverage your early successes with industry and rail into high levels of debt! You don't have stock to worry about, so kill the dividend and borrow, borrow, borrow to grow, grow, grow! In my current game I am industrializing and developing Austria-Hungary; in 1900 I have more than $6 million in revenue and $2 in profits with about $8 million in debt.
If you have $6 million in revenue, your profits on Expert level should be around $3 million. Profits sitting around 50% of revenue is my standard ballpark figure for Expert level. If it was down to less than 35%, unless the economy was in a sustained depression, I'd be looking at where I could gain efficiency. Also, by 1900 I'd usually have $10 million in debt.
I don't know if you saw
my rant about bonds, but the important bit is this:
...as long as you are playing the game the right way, holding $10 million of debt in bonds will increase your company profits by $1 million per year.
That might be a surprise to some people, but it's true.
Since I can usually use the capital to make more than the interest rate, I go for maximum bonds asap and often hold the full $10 million to the end of the game. Then I just keep refinancing down to the lowest possible interest rate. The only exception would be a situation where I know the economy is going to improve, and I am holding a pile of bonds at a less than optimal interest rate (like 8%) and I have to wait out the next year or so while I save up for a major purchase. In that situation paying back bonds now makes sense, because I wont be using the capital for anything else, and I'll be able to borrow it back again in a year or so at a better interest rate.