You can lay track from Sac to Reno with a fairly even 5% grade (a few pieces of 6%) and a tunnel. I had to lower the mountains by half and raise the vally halfway up the mountains (that's why expanding the station at Sacramento is a BAD idea), but I wanted a slope the engines could actually climb. Try laying from Reno through the pass, through the mountain and then up from Sac to connect.
The bridges only get washed out once, in April of 1867? (I think). From that the railroads learned you could build it cheap and sloppy, and as long as a train ran at all you could fix it up better later.
Building this thing was a huge leap of faith, just a giant jump into the unknown. The Ames brothers vowed to sell their shovel shop if the UP needed the money; all four of the CP 'Big Four' pledged their personal fortunes and credit. (The Ames shovel was so popular it was legal tender in the gold fields and known by name acorss the US, Canada and the British Empire. It was no small shovel shop!) Nobody knew if it could be built, much less if it would ever make a dime. The men who built it were such egotists they just KNEW if they did it, they would succeed.
Rock Island connected to OGDEN?
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
Going from Ogden to Seattle isn't easy, I agree. That was added as a requirement for gold because the scenario seemed too dull in the last decade. That was wolverine's suggestion, and I think it is a terrific addition. I used a tunnel or two on the Ogden to Portland route, myself. Personally I think 'burn' track would be OK if you can still raise the money to pay off the US bonds. I found the Seattle route too profitable to let it just lie there. :)
I'll check on bond issues getting cut off in 1868. Because all bond issues are stopped when the Ogden connection is made (I gave you 1100 units of land instead) the Rock Springs/Wells connection is actually the last of the US bonds. There are in total 50 bonds and 4200 sections of land.
Here's the breakdown from Transcontinental_v1.
.............................................Bonds..Land....Track Units
Start.................................................200
First 80 miles............................5.......300
Omaha-North Platte.................8.......400......400
O-Cheyenne............................10.......300.......635
O-Laramie, Sac-Reno................7.......500......785 + 150
O-Rawlins, Sac-Winn...............10.......600......899 + 114
O-Rock Springs, Sac-Wells.......10.......800.....1056 + 157
Ogden connection (Spike)........*.....1100.....1260 + 204
* These bonds were added to earlier connections. Track units are approximate based on values I got from early runs. Your mileage will differ!
Yes, you can repay more than 50 bonds, though only about two more. If you want to do it Uncle Sam will cheerfully take the money. DOesn't the government suck?
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)