LA & L.A.

[Stoker]

I intended it to be programmed Company Stations Connect so it sounds like it is functioning right for you Gandar. I dont know why Ruths version is allowing any stations to qualify for the connection.

[Grandma Ruth]

Now I'm puzzled, Grandma Ruth said that you didn't need to own all the track between L.A. and LA but I can send a train from New Orleans to L.A .and yet it tells me that I am not connected.
Back to the drawing board only this time I will own the track, unfortunately in this current game I didn't buy any shares in the New Orleans line so I shall have to start from scratch again

It is "company stns connect"
Gandar, did you have your own station at New Orleans? I've done that a couple of times, being able to send a train all the way but forgetting I don't own the station at New Orleans!
I've just failed - again - to get even a bronze medal. Not enough cash.

Later: Now I've got bronze - sorry, statue not medal!This is a very good game, Stoker. You're right, you have to balance between the finance and the haulage elements. I almost got the Gold this time.

[Gandar]

I really really must pay attention, Stoker sweats for weeks or months to make an outstanding scenario and there I was griping because I had not read the requirements for the win I had not put in my own station at New Orleans that would be far too easy.
Well I tried once again and the third time was the charm, I bought the New Orleans RR and the Phoenix one and laid track myself all the way from L.A. to LA and now that darned elusive Gold on expert is mine. Now I don't understand your problems in getting steel or passengers can you believe I struggled mightily to hit lumber. There are logs all over the place but because the first time I played I hit the lumber without any problems this time I was so complacent that I forgot to upgrade my lumber mills and I had to scurry around and upgrade and build feeder lines so that I could make the 200 and even then I only made it with 6 months to spare.
It is a well written and challenging scenario I must have a look and see if you have any others
Now I think I shall give it one more try. Grandma Ruth was trying to do it just by hauling, now if you build up a revenue stream by some fast flatland routes perhaps there would be enough money to expand remembering of course to upgrade those darn lumber mills when I buy them......

[Stoker]

Thank you for the compliments Gandar, I am glad to see you stuck it out and got the Gold. On Normal and Easy levels there is an option to upgrade your logging camps with "SteamDonkeys"(Winches used to pull logs out of the forest) and Lumbermills with "Bandsaws" that greatly increase the output. I am currently working on a new scenario that has more straightforward goals rather than the fictional story of Uncle P.P. in LA&L.A. . I am also making a "BandAid" that swaps out all of the 1.06 buildings that are skinned as warehouses with other buildings. I plan on releasing the new map and the Bandaid this week. Check out StokersCorner and you can see some screens of the new map with the revamped 1.06 buildings in action.

P.S. Nobody seems to have figured out what "Argentsacs" means yet.

[Grandma Ruth]

Moneybags,surely?

[Stoker]

[Gandar]

Well that was most enjoyable, I started off by merging with highland and then the Phoenix RR, bought a textile mill and an iron mine by The Gallup area, I bought the iron mine so that I could build steel at a later date, it was important to secure a nearby supply even if it lost money. At the start of the year I took out bonds bought a distillery in Yuma upgraded the textile mill and then never looked back. I bought ai shares early and heavily, I ended up with a controlling interest in all of the ai companies and they very obligingly paid out nice dividends so I could put my company money to good use.in expanding my network, I built a tunnel close to San Diego at a cost of 12 mill and made the connection in good time, I ended up with the sole RR and gold a year early.
This time around it was steel that was the problem but I found some in a warehouse up by Raton and two train-loads from there put me over the top.
What a great time I had, thanks again.

[Grandma Ruth]

Gold at last! What a challenge it was - almost got there several times but I kept being short of one item or another. Finally built furnaces, a concrete plant, a textile mill to ensure supplies.
I only merged with the one other company - the one near Phoenix - after getting 100% of my own company's shares. Then I didn't really do anything else with the finance except pay enormous dividends when the money was rolling in.
I used about 1400 track to make the connection, then another 200 double-tracking the lines around L.A. and Phoenix. I waited for the random 800 track event to buy it.
Great game, Stoker! Thanks!

[canis39]

can't wait to try this scenario...hopefully will have time this weekend.

[edbangor]

Had a go at this one last night and managed to make a complete mess of it the first couple of times, and a bit of a mess the third time.

The first attempt was my own fault, as after reading the breifing, I thought I just had to wait until I could buy out someone, using just the profits from my one hotel.... not surprisingly that didn't work.

Second attempt went better but I targeted what turned out to be the wrong AI company, which was expanding, and their stock splitting much faster than I could buy the shares. By then it was too late to try another company.

Third attempt went much, much better. Spent the first year, buying up anything and everything that was making money, as well as planting hotels on any AI station that had passengers. This worked really well but, it would later turn out that I spent too long doing this, becuase, once more, I miss understood the breifing and assumed that LA and New Orleans just had to be connected and it wouldn't matter by whom, just as long as you could run a train from one to the other. So once I got track allowances, I bridged the gaps between the various AI tracks, just in time to find out I was wrong.

Anyway, continued playing, heading for the other medals, but Silver was already not going to happen, and, to cut a long story short, missed out on bronze by around 20 passenger loads, probably becuase I spent too much time concentrating on the other loads thinking Passengers would look after themselves (they didn't!)

Still, with all that in mind, have to say this was one of the most challanging maps I've played in a long time, and can't wait to have another go at it, especially now I've read this thread and know it is actually possible (had my doubts about that at the time.)

[Orange46]

Comments seem to have died on this one, but I will revive it. I played it once and scraped out Bronze in July 1900 on my first try. This scenario made me do things I don't normally do, like buy industries early. In a way, I'm glad I did as my ROI was pretty good on those industries throughout the scenario and I doubt that I could have medaled without the cash flow. Since I don't read strategy tips until after the first try, I did almost nothing that was suggested here. But, I did quickly realize that I hadn't built a station in New Orleans!

So, how to Bronze: wait a while before buying the cheapest RR, then fail to back connect it to Lafayette, thinking that you want to keep that RR poor, but never, ever buying out it or any other RR. Then, sending track along the southern map edge instead of using the AI track that takes you deep in the heart of Texas and managing thereby to connect to LA with only months to spare. Further, get tired of paying for those losing construction firms, only to realize that maybe they were needed to build up demand in LA. I did build a department and retail store in LA, late, and struggled with passengers all of the way to the end, building track to any AI city that had 2 passengers wanting to go to LA.

I normally don't like mountain building or industry heavy scenarios, but this one was fun because the terrain was buildable with some neat routes, the AI RR's worked well, and the industries seemed to work well with the goals. Good show, Stoker. I will have to come back to this some day to go for gold, now that I know how.