Bridging the Mississippi

[Orange46]

Ray of Sunshine: I think that this thread got you ahead of the scenario. At this point you only need Memphis which is on the east side of the river. West Memphis can certianly be connected to a city up north, but any traffic over the Mississippi will have to go by barge for now. As with St. Louis, Memphis does not want a bridge at this time. Riverboats rule. When I worked in St. Louis, I used to watch the barges from high up in my office. One of my co-workers thought that the barges looked like Oreo cookies.

Not noted before is that the briefing page at the end of the ledger is updated frequently to contain the latest important message that was sent.

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Orange46,

I will cut his short, as I am loosing these threads in the process of sending them. At least they are not showing up. Nothing new for my system.

Anyway, the reason I installed a depot on the West Memphis location, was that my depot would only indicate a "red" ( unacceptable) when I put it into the enclosure on the East location for Memphis.

I went back to a different "saved" game play, got the assignment as a Chairman for the L&M. All the cities in the "green" circles plus that of East St. Louis were indicated, put the area for Central remained "unaccessible".

So I laid track from MEM to Cape Girardou, with good revenue return. Being that East St. Louis was accessible, I placed a large depot just outside of the "white dotted line". Once connected to LaGrange, the scenario requirements are back on line.

Now a question. Those circled cities West of the River are empty. Do they ever attain anything? Or are they just for ornament?

Thanks for the info and another enjoyable creation.

[Orange46]

The circled cities to the west will come in to play later. If you complete all of your objectives for a railroad and have nothing else to do with your money, build to them. Just don't expect anything to happen - for now, anyway.

[RayofSunshine]

Me again Orange46,

I had plenty of time and advantage, but did not acquire the 19 count cities to be connected by the time of completing the Chi & RI in 1864. I don't know what penalty was impossed at that time, but saved the game to that point, and then saved the game a "click" later to another name.

So in an experiment, I went back to Chairmanship of the Erie etc, but got killed, which may have ended the game. That seems evident, as ghosts cannot be Chairmen. LOL
I say that because I continued to obtain the 19 cities, and then acquired the Chairman- ship of the C&O ?? to finish the completion of another 19 cities, and connecting the 5 territories. That didn't work.

So, before I go back to the previous save, is the game actually penalized by either, or both "not completing the 1st 19 cities", or "being killed"? Seems evident, as the connections to the 5 territories, and indirectly all connected to Davenport, they did not accumulate.

To try and make short cuts for this last requirement of the C&O, I used some of the other company tracks. Is that permissable, although I found that I have to build my own depots to get credited for that city.

THIS IS a very interesting scenario. Will watch for some happenings of those Western circled cities, as nothing has happened at this point.

[ishaybas]

I cant believe that after reading this thread late at night, I actually dreamed that I am a diver surveying the river for bridge building .. full graphic pictures from diving and all.

honest, that was one of my dreams last night.

[RayofSunshine]

Boy Ishay,

You are really really addicted.

Join the crowd.

[ishaybas]

There used to be times I would play couple of hours at night, really focusing hard,
usually playing on fastest speed .. sorta trains trans.

After that I would get WEEIIRRRDDD ass dreams ...

[Orange46]

You guys are frightening me. I just finished Steven King's Duma Key, so I'm in a weird state of mind.

You lost if you died, but obviously, you can go on with your other save. For the E&K I think I said that the dates aren't set in stone (unless it is a grave stone), so there are no penalties for missing deadlines, other than making it harder to finish the next project on time, and ultimately in getting gold as your retirement date is set in stone. But, especially for a first play, keep going so you get the lay of the land. Then, if you liked what happened, you can do it again and go for the gold. I don't expect many people to be able to get gold on the first try. I didn't come close.

[Orange46]

Me again Orange46,

To try and make short cuts for this last requirement of the C&O, I used some of the other company tracks. Is that permissable, although I found that I have to build my own depots to get credited for that city.

I think you meant CR&I or L&M, not C&O.

By now you probably know that using other companies' tracks works and I did that a lot in early tests. But, you lose income and can get stuck in traffic, so I would build my own tracks as soon as I could afford them. All city connections for all railroads require company stations - that is, stations owned by the railroad trying to meet the cities connected goal.

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Orange46,

I am just struggling in Expert, but don't even bother with CLE until the last connection. But I connect everything in a loop to get to CHI, leaving SAG if time and revenue permit. Although there is a indicator for the number of cities connected, there doesn't seem to be any specified amount.

But at the same time I am also playing Level 1. And I ran into a problem of the cnn to Fayettville. I don't believe there was a "newpaper" indicator that it was connected, but even if it had been reported, it did not get added in the ledger for the year. I tried establishing another depot just North of the "star", and even bulldozed it, rebuilding another, but neither of the methods gave notice or added to the ledger. This is the 3rd time of playing different levels and have not had this problem in prior attempts.

Now, because it is possible that the requirement of the 8 cities will not be completed, I don't image that I will be given the opportunity to advance within the scope of the scenario program, although I know that I will be able to get the Chairmanship for the Chi&Rock Island railway. This ""fault"" will knock out the sequence from what I can figure.

Any comment?

[Orange46]

The ledger says that you have connected X out of the 8 cities you need and then names the cities that need to be connected in the current phase - probably East St. Louis, Lexington and Chattanooga.Those are the 6th, 7th and 8th cities that must be connected. You already connected the other 5 in earlier phases, such as Memphis at the start of the L&M phase and 4 cities in the E&K phase. The total city count that is below this in the ledger tells you how well you are doing in building up the current railroad. The more, the better. If you count up all of your L&M stations, it should match the total city count, unless you built an unconnected station. Fayetteville would add to the total city count, but it is not one of the 8 required cities. The newspaper only announces the required cities. If you check the briefing in the bottom right corner of the last page of the ledger, it repeats what you were told to do when you connected La Grange to Memphis.

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Orange46,

This might be the problem I am having. In the very 1st attempt, I believe that CHA was mentioned as a requirement. However, that is not the list of requirements which was indicated after conn of MEM to LaGrange. My indicator shows STL, LEX, and Layfayette.

Now with that in mind, I will extend the rails to CHA and see if it will add to the total.

That was the answer. Although Fayettville was indicated as a requirement, it was CHA which ""actually"" was the requirement to be connected. The ledger now shows 8 0f 8 cities connected.

So you say to connect as many cities as possible, even though it is not a requirement with this railway. Being that I am leaving the railway in good operative condition, I don't see its purpose. Also, unconnected cities at this point can be used when the rqquirement is to connect 19 cities.

And as I had just played a previous completion, I believe that it is necessary to connect all the railroads, and thereby have Davenport accessible to all.

Still anxious to see what will happen to those western circuled towns when connected.

[RayofSunshine]

Oh Orange46,

The requirement was completed during 1850. Does a player have to wait until the deadline date of 1853 before the next "proposition" is given?

[RayofSunshine]

Okay Orange46,

Found out that the scenario has to be played to the deadline dates before another contract is offerred.

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Repeated from previous. (((So you say to connect as many cities as possible, even though it is not a requirement with this railway. Being that I am leaving the railway in good operative condition, I don't see its purpose. Also, unconnected cities at this point can be used when the rqquirement is to connect 19 cities.

And as I had just played a previous completion, I believe that it is necessary to connect all the railroads, and thereby have Davenport accessible to all.

Still anxious to see what will happen to those western circuled towns when connected.)))
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As I have mentioned to Hawk, I may "see" something, but it don't always register. I was only looking at the totaling of the required cities connected, but failing to "see" the line under it, that CHA was given as a requirement, even though my ""mind"" was set on the requirement notice when MEM and LaGrange were connected, that it indicated Lafayette. And like previous mention, I do remember that the 1st attempt, I did make the cnn to CHA as the first required city. Hindsight, and older players have to pay attention to what is being required.

[Orange46]

The scenario encourages you to build - use your initiative - and by giving you city counts when you don't need them. I would never hang around a railroad longer than I have to, but if I'm just waiting for the next phase, I would build to whatever makes sense. That is good for the railroad and that's what you're supposed to do.

[RayofSunshine]

Back again Orange46,

And the thought came to me that you had mentioned pertaining to the accummulation of connecting cities. I didn't think that to be important, as I had not seen anything to indicate the necessity of requirements.

Now I did have the opportunity for a couple of years to add more cities on the L&M, but paid off an amount of debt bonds.

Now after the completion of the C&RI requirements, the ledger mentions that "being in the initiative that I would have accummulated 19 cities by this time". WELL, I don't. SO, without time to do such, this could and possibly is a penalty, as I know that with the Chairmanship of the C&O, that there is a requirement of another 19 cities, start of "0".

This question imposed? With only 12 credited cnn cities, there are only 5 cities within the C&RI territory which could be connected for a total of 17, which is short. Hence back again. Does the scenario penalize a player at this point in not being able to get the gold?

The C&RI had some terrible economies, so "cheated" by just running a spur off the Erie to make the E.STL requirement, but seeing that I save these scenarios in sections, I can back track again to acquire more cities to the L&M.

Still would like some comment.

[Orange46]

There are no penalties, other than you have a set retirement date. So, if you pay off bonds instead of building, you're losing precious time. Remember, the servant who just returned the money to his master was not looked upon too kindly, while the servants who did something with the money were praised.

[RayofSunshine]

What a clichay Orange46,

But I did find out a penalty of the game. Well at least I believe a penalty. A player cannot go back to any of the previous Chairmanships, so to speak, to try an correct an error or a mistake in playing. In this case, to accummulate more cities.

My 1st attempt was being killed when going back to the Erie. This time a notice of "You just lost", with a pic of hiking down the track into the sunset, when attempting backtracking on the L&M.

Okay, since there is not a penalty for not getting the 19 cities mentioned after completing the C&RI, I will continue with the C&O, to see if any medals will be awarded.

Remember that I save previous sections of a scenario as a safeguard, and thereby can go into a back track, before these penalties pop up in a newer section. I find it an easier way, than to start from the beginning.

[RayofSunshine]

Okay,

I don't know if not having the mentioned 19 cities connected, but after taking the C&O Chairmanship, I waited nearly 1 year without getting a contract of any sort.

Hence I went back to the L&M, and made connections to all the cities in the territory. Here I am still getting the notice to cnn E.STL, Fayetteville, and LEX, although the ledger shows the requirement to be that of CHA and not Fayetteville.

Once completed, on taking Chairmanship, the notice cnn of GRB, DBQ, and E.STL. But then again, the ledger shows MSP and Davenport instead of DBQ.

Gets a little confusing to us ""older"" players, as we don't always pay attention to every thing "in front of our noses".

Will be anxious to see if a contract will be given to me once a Chairman of C&O

[Orange46]

I think that you are taking over the C&O when you should be taking over a different RR. If you don't get a message at the end of the month, you are not controlling the correct RR. Also check the updated briefing at the end of the ledger - click on bottom right of last page. It tells you what you are supposed to be doing.