Custom Consist

[WPandP]

Stoker and Wolvy seem to be both talking about setting Z (the min. number of total loads) equal to the number of cars in the consist, which will indeed force the train loadout to be as designated. It's when you get into setting Z to a number lower than the total number of cars that you lose control. I rarely set Z to be equal to the full train length, because if I'm not diligent I can end up with trains parked indefinitely, waiting for loads that will never come. I'd rather have them go ahead and run at half-full and keep loads moving, leaving me to deal with a less-profitable train rather than a parked one.

So my point is that you cannot set up a train to load up with "4 coal + any number of any cargo", since this would set Z to 4 and the four loads you get might not be coal. It would have to be 4 coal + 4 (or any other definite number) of any cargo, with Z set to 8 cars minimum. Such a train will sit there and wait until it has 7.5 carloads (it rounds up), which may or may not be what you want to do.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I think if you're not careful you can end up carrying "any" goods that aren't profitable

I don't think that even on custom consist, a train will load "any" cargo that isn't profitable. It's worth testing to be sure, but I think "ship at a loss" only applies to specifically consisted cargoes.

[Stoker]

I did some experimenting and found that the custom consist works even better than I had thought. If you set a consist as "1 Iron 2 Coal and 5 anycargo and set the minimum to 3 it will not leave until the first 3 specified loads are filled. So the train will wait, filling the other cars when it can until the specified cars are filled.

[WPandP]

I did some experimenting and found that the custom consist works even better than I had thought. If you set a consist as "1 Iron 2 Coal and 5 anycargo and set the minimum to 3 it will not leave until the first 3 specified loads are filled. So the train will wait, filling the other cars when it can until the specified cars are filled.

This contradicts what I was saying, and has not been my experience. Does this mean that you had a train set to min. 3 loads that was waiting until 4 or 5 cars were loaded, just because the Iron or Coal had not come in yet? I know you can have 4 or 5 cars loaded just because there happened to be that many loads ready to go at the station. But you're saying it actually sat parked and waiting at the station, already with 3 loads on board, because of the specified cargo?

[Stoker]

Apparently the minimum cars function pertains to the first cars first, so if they are set to a specific cargo the train will not leave until they are filled. So if you have a train with the consist of " I C C a a a a a" and set the minimum to 3 cars it will not leave until the first 3 cars are full, regardless of whether the "3 car minimum" has been reached filling the other cars, meaning you would always get the 3 specified cars full. But, if you made a train with the consist of "a a a a a I C C" the train would leave when the first 3 cars are full, regardless of what is in them, and in this case you may or may not get the 3 cars " I C C ".

[WPandP]

It seemed to me that when I was running coal trains with 5 coal, 2 any, caboose, and minimum set to 3 loads, I would very often be getting 2 any plus 1 coal on my train. What you are saying would mean that I should expect such a train to remain loading at the station until it was 3 coal plus the 2 any. I'm going by memory, as I have not played the game in several months, but I definitely recall playing around this very strategy (i.e. set min. no. of carloads to 1 greater than the number of Any Cargo slots, to ensure that I'm hauling at least some of the target loads). I developed this tactic in response to seeing trains of 5c + 2a (2 min) end up hauling just the 2a portion. At least, that is how I remember things; you're the one actually running experiments so maybe I'm just plain wrong!

[Stoker]

It all depends on what order you specify the cars.The trains are filled from the first car specified. In your example of "C C C C C a a Caboose" with a minimum of 3 cars set, the train will not leave until the first three cars are full (C C C ) regardless of whether the three car minimum has been reached filling the "any cargo" cars specified as cars 6 and 7. If the consist were " a a C C C C C Caboose" with a minimum of 3 cars the train would leave when the first three cars are full, so in this case you would get at least one load of Coal(car 3), and the first two cars ( any cargo) could be anything, including Coal.

P.S. I didn't know anybody actually used Cabooses in RT3, they don't have much effect.

[WPandP]

P.S. I didn't know anybody actually used Cabooses in RT3, they don't have much effect.

I just don't like the look of a freight train without a caboose. I treat it as if cabeese are a federal regulation, at least up until about 1980.

[Wolverine@MSU]

Just out of curiosity, when it finally does load the 1 Iron and 2 Coal (with some "any" already loaded), does it put the Iron and Coal cars at the front of the line, in the order they are specified in the consist?

[nedfumpkin]

If I'm not mistaken, it loads cars in order of value. The most valuable loads being at the head of the train.

[Stoker]

Well, I experimented again and am now getting different results. It must have been a fluke that the loads were getting filled in order as specified in the consist when I tested this yesterday. You can see in this screenie that this train has a custom consist with minimum cars @ 2, with the first two cars specified as passengers. This train left with two cars, one being oil and the other Passengers, the oil being loaded in the #1 car.

[BobTheBull]

That's right. If you set up a custom consist to haul only corn to a dairy farm the train will load up with all the corn over the limit you set and haul it, but if the price at the next station is not higher you will see $0 for the run. I have seen this many times in some testing I have been doing.

BUT, if you own the dairy and the dairy processor you are generating a good revenue stream with your no profit load, which is actually a loss since you had to cover the operation of the train. It more than pays off in the long run if you own the appropriate industries. In fact, if you own the corn farm you will derive profit from it, too. I suppose although the corn did not sell at a profit to the train it did sell and the revenue went to the corn farmer (confirmation, anyone). Think of those $0 loads as necessary business expense, or priming the pump.