Cargo Weight affecting acceleration?

[abregado]

Does the weight of cargo affect the acceleration of a vehicle?
I performed some basic tests with test tracks but my results were unconclusive.

My test involved running trains of various lengths back and forth between stations on a simple track which included some slopes. Breakdowns off. The travel times varied in both directions but it was never clearly faster on the return path with unloaded wagons.

[Alberth]

Increase the slope steepness and freight weight multiplier

In my experience it does make a difference then
Not only in acceleration, but also in top-speed (which is more dominant on longer distances).

I often have double tracks in the 'loaded' direction, and single track in 'unloaded' direction, as trains really move faster if they are not loaded.

[Sylf]

Do note that different cargo weigh different per unit. Cargo like coal, ore, sugar, grain, food etc are measure in tonne. That's plain and simple. Cargo like plastic, oil and water weigh 1 tonne per 1000 litre. That's pretty simple too. Then there are cargo like passengers, mail, valuables and livestocks, which weigh far less than those other cargoes. 1 crate of goods weigh half a tonne.

And the load size of each car for the default vehicle set differs from cargo to cargo. The trains, for example, I think the hopper cars can carry 30 tonnes of cargo, while the steel cars can only carry 20 tonnes of steel.

All those factors together, the weight of fully loaded vehicles are different from cargo to cargo. So the acceleration characteristics are different from each other too.

[abregado]

Thanks for the explaination That helps a lot.
I was hoping for more difference in Train performance between each cargo, as well as between full/empty trains...

Does the Freight Multiplier modify all cargos evenly?

[abregado]

Does Freight Weight Multiplier modify all freight evenly?

Perhaps I'm expecting different cargos to effect train performance differently but the difference between them is just not enough.

[Sylf]

Does Freight Weight Multiplier modify all freight evenly?

Perhaps I'm expecting different cargos to effect train performance differently but the difference between them is just not enough.

As name suggests, weight multiplier multiplies the weight of cargo.

If you set multiplier to x3, then 1000 litres of oil will now weight 3 tonnes. 1 passenger used to weight about 75kg, iirc, but will weight 225kg.
The setting will only affect the weight of cargo, and not the weight of vehicles.

[Eddi]

freight multiplier does not affect passengers.