California uber alles! [Final version]

[belbincolne]

Just finished this and got Silver on Normal. CBV was just below requirement otherwise it was an easy Gold. Problem was that in last few years trains stopped making much money so that I only had enough to rebuild destroyed track and replaced destroyed trains. Maybe I sometimes didn't notice that a train had gone so lost some revenue there. In fact I could probably have not bothered rebuilding the 2 southern lines (Macho Grande and Nellisville area) after I'd met the carryings targets as their destruction was constant and they couldn't have been making much profit. I started at Santa Rosa which was certainly a better choice then a previous disastrous try starting from Bel Air. Doesn't look quite as good to start at City of Angels but, of course, when you have to make the decision you dont know the seeding and have to make it based on the offered advantages. Mostly I ran the cheapest train (132) which I always find brilliant as it performs well on steep uphill gradients.

Industry didnt work too well either. Never seemed to pay off big as in many scenarios. I also had a disaster in that I built a Dairy Producer but couldn't afford to buy the nearest Milk Farm and then it vanished as can often happen although a bit odd with Milk as it was making a good profit selling to the town. Maybe I shopuld concentrate on Industry earlier but thought I could have a problem meeting the carryings target but that proved to be easy.

Liked the scenario and will give it another go soon going up to Difficult.

[Gumboots]

Check this and the next couple of posts.

[RulerofRails]

When I played I connected Winnefred-Santa Rosa-El Resto using a wooden bridge over the ocean. It is necessary to do it at a bit of an angle but really helps to give a good head-start in the game. (Can post a screen-shot if you want.) I had enough money left over to buy the Lumber Mill and one of the logging camps near Winnefred right off the bat.

Starting at Santa Rosa, I managed gold on Expert in 10 years and could not have come even close without industry. 2058, last full year, I had 7.3M of industry profits. When financing is available for the connection, buying all the Dairy Farms near East Tokyo for a song and the Ohveranhvor Dairy Processor should come easy with all the profits your first trains will earn hauling all that Milk, Meat and Cheese.

Just saying I think there is a good case for industry in this game.

[Gumboots]

I didn't know you could do that bridge trick on this map, but I discovered it independently on the Rhodes Unfinished map. This post and the next few give details. In that case, I could only get it to work with either steel or stone bridges. Timber bridges wouldn't work. No idea why.

I have also managed to run a standard steel bridge from Split over to Italy in the Orient Express map, or any of its variants. The only problem with that map is that although you can get the bridge built, it lands in places that have totally insane gradients for your track, meaning a suspension bridge is really the best option.

It's obviously a bug in RRT3 that you can use any of the standard bridges over ocean in some circumstances, since it's supposed to force the use of suspension bridges. It's always worth trying though.

[belbincolne]

Oh boy that is interesting. I've just done the connection to CofA with a bridge from Ohv to Tetile which wsn't that expensive. As soon as I've repaid a few bonds I'll try going over the volcano because I assume that if you avoid the places where the track destruction occurs you wont keep losing it - sort of a legal cheat??? The thing I love about RT is that there are endless variations to keep your love alive (thats another song although a great deal older than this one!).

[RulerofRails]

Gumboots, Good to know I guess I discovered it because I am a "cheapskate" with my connections. I am always looking for the cheapest bridge possible. I always try to turn my bridges straight before the crossing. I mostly use timber bridges also. In my first years of playing, I used to use only stone bridges thinking to make a better quality network and increase my difficultly level. But then I discovered the benefits of unlocking compounded growth (higher returns the better, industries here we come) and getting my grubby hands on those bonds.

Sometimes it is possible to save a little by building track right up to the edge of a river. Then in a separate move building the bridge. Maybe it makes the grades a little less, anyway it seems to save a little on the cost.

Your track in Africa looks really neat. Well done. My "cheapskate" track pales in comparison. My recent efforts on playing the TM-Juice Train scenario with the speed goals helped to clean it up a little. I have a pet gripe about laying bends. I wish we could adjust the radius as we lay, it normally is tighter than I would like. Also the way new track "snaps" a connection to existing track is sometimes a bit tricky to get a smooth (fast) connection.

[belbincolne]

Well my try on Hard was both interesting and fruitless. I only qualified for Bronze but got nothing - cant understand why not as Silver came up fine last try. One reason was that for last 3 years economy dropped to recession so my shares lost a third of their value. Got Gold standard for goods to Bel Air but not to the other - the one annoying thing about this scenario is that you've no idea how you are getting on with the carryings targets.

The main thing though was that I built 2 bridges over the top of the volcanos (steel cos wood would have caught fire!!??!!) and avoided the areas where the lines got destroyed except for Nellisville and that worked a treat. Industry was also a little more profitable and when I'd built to every town this was all I could invest so of course my Shareholders hated me and cut my salary although I kept on getting more personal cash than I was expecting - maybe this is explained somewhere?

Anyway enjoyed again and well worth replaying when I've had a break.

[Gumboots]

Yes, you get escalating personal cash bonuses for meeting certain haulage requirements. It's explained in the readme, and there are game messages each time you get a bonus. You can check the progress by using the loads to and loads from view at any station. The value of those will be your revenue for that station. I prefer doing it that way as I don't like overly crowded status pages. It's quite fun when you want a bonus to get your next personal cash boost, so you can up your PNW by buying more shares. I fnd myself checking stations and watching trains, and hoping they don't break down.

[belbincolne]

Aha - shows what 2 years off makes you forget - should have remembered the station loads view. However the personal cash boost doesn't explain it. I got several messages - and extra cash - but in the last few years when my salary was cut to 10k and I should have only had another 100k from dividends I received at least 4 times this. Does the cash boost carry on every year and is not just a one off?

[Gumboots]

Yup. The bonus is set at (IIRC) 6.25% of haulage to and/or from the designated stations. So, if you manage to get 12.8 million of haulage into East Tokyo (for example) you'll get 800 k personal cash. This is on top of the bonuses you would have got for 6.4 million, 3.2, etc, etc. Starts at 400 k haulage with a 25 k bonus and goes up from there. Can be very lucrative, and adds some fun.

[Gumboots]

Here you go. Quote from the readme:

PERSONAL CASH BONUSES FOR REVENUE SHIPPED
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You will be paid a personal cash bonus for certain amounts of revenue in and out of some territories.
The amount of the bonus is 6.25% of the revenue figure (ie: you get a $100k bonus for $1600k revenue shipped).

The four territories are:

Big Air County (which includes the towns of Big Air and Little Air)
East Tokyo (which covers only that town)
Pocco Lobo (which covers only that town)
Tetille (which covers only that town)

Bonuses are paid when revenue out, or revenue in, hits $400k, $800k, $1,600k and $3,200k for all four territories.

Bonuses are paid for $6,400k out of Tetille and Poco Lobo (they never get that much in, and rarely get that much out).
Bonuses are also paid for $6,400k and $12,800k in or out of Big Air County and East Tokyo.

Getting the big bonuses for shipping $12,800k in or out of Big Air County and East Tokyo is possible, but doesn't happen all the time

It's nice when you get it though.
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[Lone Cat]

Will there be versions with lesser villages and townships meow? And with exclusive 'American' engines and no european dual cab diesel electrics?

[Gumboots]

Probably not. The spacing and number of towns is about right for that size of map. Adding more towns would really require a larger map to work well. Also, there aren't any distinctively American steam engines available in that time period. All that's available is the Red Devil. I never play with diesel or electric anyway.