Ecuador - with Long Breath

[RayofSunshine]

This map is the "South America" section of the archives: Ecuador - with Long Breath

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A player has to "bite the bullet" to make any headway with this scenario.
5 engines from 24-45 years of service, and some maintenance facilities.
$209k of revenue to start, and the track is broken in several places.
The era is 1937, with very little economy, so engines either run empty, or maybe a haul of a couple of lumber.
The $209 is chewed away from lack of revenue, and within 1 1/2 years, I had 2 engine crash.
Your bond level is at "C", and it is only possible to get $59 on a stock issue. Not adequate enough to buy the necessity of a maintenance shop.

The goals are simple enough, to connect a number of cities, but I was not able to acquire an adequate amount of revenue to operate in a Normal Economy.

Hope anyone who attempts the challenge has better fortune than me.

A good concept of imagination and challenge, but it is out of my level of play.

[Sugus]

Note: We are talking about "Ecuador - with long breath" made by Kardamom, not the map "Ecuador" made by low_grade.

There is hardly a way to get a reasonable income.
Complete the connection Guayaquil - Quito immediately and connect additonal cities as long as you still have the means to do so. If available and possible, connect also the meager resources (dairy or cattle farm). Furthermore, the non-profitable trains must be eliminated as soon as possible.

After the first years I ended up with three trains,
1955 crash -> two trains.
1956 crash -> one train, no way to get another one!
The display of the assets turns to red and simply does not want to come back to green.

So, getting Bonze seems to be the only option for me. A smarter player will probably be able to achieve better results.

[RulerofRails]

I took a look at this. Looks interesting, but the "survival" aspect isn't really my thing. I don't want to wait till 1965 for a medal. The tougher start doesn't allow a casual approach. It's a cop-out to then slump into fat and lazy after working hard to get the company on good ground within the first 5 years or so.

Observations:
Not only are tracks and stations pre-built (sensitive to seeding), but the player owns a Lumber Mill as well. Logging camps are randomly placed. Starting cash is dependent on the money the Lumber Mill makes during the "pre-game" simulation period. This is also dependent on rural house locations which of course are also randomly placed. Adds interest to a "pre-built" system for sure.

It seems that you can take out 4 bonds if/when the economy improves. This can give $2M to invest in an industry that will stabilize company books. Because industries are scarce, developing the economy is important.

Initially the best run for a train is Wool to Quito and Textiles back to Latacunga. This is immune to seeding. The hint to fix the existing track shouldn't be taken lightly. The obvious first expansion is to Guayaquil. I wont spoil more.