Latvian Republic 1920

[Gumboots]

It's not in the archives yet. It's attached to this post at the moment:
viewtopic.php?f=86&t=4250&start=80#p47691

See what you think of it. RoR and I are pretty happy with it.

[Grandma Ruth]

Thank you!

[sbaros]

I was actually using them for very short hauls of minimal value per load. I just called that "shunting" because it wasn't a "real route", and to explain the very low top speed, etc.

I was playing my Latvian Republic 1920 map, and on that map I always st Riga/Exportosta up with three or four stations. This is just to keep congestion to reasonable levels in that area when there are a large number of trains, all of which are running my long custom consists, and to give complete coverage of the twin cities and the ports on the coast. There ends up being a north, south, east, and west station (more or less) with each one handling cargo from a specific section of the map. The short routes between the four central stations have only a few suburban tanks for express traffic.

That results in some freight cargoes having their prices change between those three or four stations, but with minimal value per load. If you don't shunt the freight around it can cause price island effects at the ports, which makes hauling the required medal cargoes difficult. Running a couple of Camelbacks set to low priority/all freight helps stabilise the prices at the ports to a level that is just haulable from elsewhere on the map. The "shunters" don't make much money in the scheme of things, but they keep specific haulage from rural areas to the ports flowing.

Interesting! Can you upload some saved sessions with the mentioned itineraries, so that we gain some hands-on experience with these operations?

[Gumboots]

Maybe, but it might take some messing around. I wasn't running default locomotives or default cargo consists, so first I'd have to get an installation running whatever I was running when I saved the game, then whoever wanted to check it out would have to set up an identical installation.

Really, it's not hard to play the scenario from scratch. That's what I made it for.

For the stations, I set up one in the centre of Riga and one station down near the port (east of the river). Then later in the game I place another station west of the river behind the second port (it will all just fit if you are careful) with a bridge between them. Occasionally I'll have a fourth station east of the river at Riga, but generally I don't bother. Three is good enough.

I also make use of bypasses, so long distance trains don't have to go through Riga/Exportosta at all. It's all about keeping things flowing smoothly through the most congested area. I tend to go overboard on maintenance sheds and towers too, on high traffic routes. The more of them you have, the fewer trains will stop at each one, meaning things flow better. This map can end up with150 trains on it.

[TheBonobo4]

Just tried this one out for the first time on Expert. Having played the original Latvia map a few years ago, and struggling with it (on Expert I think I got Bronze from memory), I figured this new "updated" version would be better. Firstly, the map is beautiful, the little spots of water pose a challenge for track laying. Unfortunately, I can't say much else at the moment, as my attempt was nothing but a spectacular failure.

After about 8 of the 20 available years I gave up, knowing I wasn't getting any where. I started by connecting Riga to Jurmala, then to Tukums, with a 12% bond, and 1 train (a P8) between them, service and maintenance just outside Riga, iron bridge out of Riga to Jurmala. I did not make a profit. I issued stock every year, and bought shares in my company to keep the share price high, but it did decrease each year. In only one year (I think) did I make a profit, but it was only around $50K, if that, every other year I made a loss. I did eventually manage to get a 2nd bond at 6%, and connected to Exportosa (or whatever it is called, the city next to Riga), but with only 1 train, there was not enough cargo to make a profit.

I did not buy or build any industry, and I'm wondering if I just went at this completely the wrong way. Maybe, since Daugavpils to Riga is the Bronze goal, building to Daugavpils (or possibly even not starting tracks in Riga itself) is the better strategy.

I highly believe this to be a great scenario, but I definitely need to rethink my strategy, and/or get some advice. Like I said, the map is beautiful, and it is clear a lot of effort has been put into this. But I think I did about as bad as is possible to do.

[Gumboots]

Pay attention to the haulage bonuses in the early years. Which ones are worth going for first depends on cargo distribution. They're usually pretty easy to get. You can still buy early industry as long as it's a particularly good buy, but don't go for anything mediocre or worse.

In exceptional circumstances, if no steel mill seeds on the western coast, you may get a large pile of coal and iron at Riga. Pushing that up river to Daugavpils, running to the limit of your track each time, and using stack and dump with a small fleet of trains, can be a really good jump start. It's not a trick you can use often though.