Why no sale?

[Baldy's Boss]

The Donborough coal trains go to Lesleigh Woods.

The three older trains (Consolidation II engines) are for some reason returning to the loading station full.
I bought a new train (Mikado engine,Train 58) that does make sales at the Lesleigh Woods station whose description says it accepts coal.
I can't extend the platform because my reputation in Lesleigh is Appalling despite the new statue (my only construction there in years).
Why are the three trains unable to unload their coal and collect for shipping it?...this seems recent and I am unsure if it is intermittent.

[Eddi]

i haven't looked at your savegame, but this is typically an effect of when a coal mine opens near your coal unloading station. trains start loading coal there, which they cannot unload anywhere, and just drive it around in circles. use "unload and leave empty" orders at the delivery station to fix this

[Baldy's Boss]

The problem seems to have ceased (for now?) but I already had such orders in place.

[LaChupacabra]

You've come across a known issue... (or even two)
1. The train requires service from time to time - in your game is by default 150 days.
2. When 150 days have elapsed since the last service, the train looks for a service on the way and if there is one near the route, it will descend to it.
3. The problem is that he will do it even when he will not be able to achieve the goal after the service or if he will have to cover the entire route again. It may take another 150 days to cover the entire route, so the train will not unload again, but will go to the same depot and will do so all the time.
4. Your depot is right behind the station next to the power plant - it is even a provocation. It is obvious that the train that requires service at this point will bypass the stations.

What can you do?
1. Remove depot after station
2. Move this depot away from the station (at least 15 tiles)
3. Bring this depot to the front of the station
4. Force service in depot before entering the loading station and possibly behind the station when the train starts its journey - then you don't must do anything with this depot near the power plant.

The second known problem is that local authorities which hate transporting companies.
1. Each construction in the later phase of the game is associated with the removing of trees.
2. It is enough to remove 21 trees (tiles) for the authorities to prohibit the construction of the station.
3. Therefore, if you build a route first, you probably won't be able to build a station or expand it.

What can you do?
1. Give a bribe - expensive and often ineffective.
2. Wait 20 years for the opinion to improve.
3. Remove a large piece of forest next to the city and plant a new one - silly, no use, but it always works.

[Baldy's Boss]

You've come across a known issue... (or even two)
1. The train requires service from time to time - in your game is by default 150 days.
2. When 150 days have elapsed since the last service, the train looks for a service on the way and if there is one near the route, it will descend to it.
3. The problem is that he will do it even when he will not be able to achieve the goal after the service or if he will have to cover the entire route again. It may take another 150 days to cover the entire route, so the train will not unload again, but will go to the same depot and will do so all the time.
4. Your depot is right behind the station next to the power plant - it is even a provocation. It is obvious that the train that requires service at this point will bypass the stations.

What can you do?
1. Remove depot after station
2. Move this depot away from the station (at least 15 tiles)
3. Bring this depot to the front of the station
4. Force service in depot before entering the loading station and possibly behind the station when the train starts its journey - then you don't must do anything with this depot near the power plant.

The second known problem is that local authorities which hate transporting companies.
1. Each construction in the later phase of the game is associated with the removing of trees.
2. It is enough to remove 21 trees (tiles) for the authorities to prohibit the construction of the station.
3. Therefore, if you build a route first, you probably won't be able to build a station or expand it.

What can you do?
1. Give a bribe - expensive and often ineffective.
2. Wait 20 years for the opinion to improve.
3. Remove a large piece of forest next to the city and plant a new one - silly, no use, but it always works.

OK,I was just returning here to report the problem had returned and was not dependent on which train (in new save as zoomed,the new train is the one that just pulled into the loading station loaded,as another loaded train is coming up behind,and a third loaded train (offscreen) has recently left the unloading station still loaded...the one train that has recently left the loading station only just did load.

I will try some depot relocation/forced-service.

[jfs]

You can also increase the service interval on the trains so they will run longer without wanting to visit a depot.

As for local authorities, the other option is to build a small bus service in a town before you start building large complex rail services to them. A small bus service will provide a constant boost of happiness.
The statue you built doesn't help local authority rating, only station ratings. (It will help more cargo arrive on your stations for you to transport.)

[Eddi]

if servicing at depots confuses the trains, i would suggest putting "service at nearest depot" orders in the order list.

my suggestion would be something like this:

1. goto loading station
2. goto unloading station
3. service at nearest depot (just behind unloading station)
4. goto waypoint near loading station
5. service at nearest depot (just before loading station)

that way, a train only ever goes to service while empty, so no time is wasted while full.

[Simons Mith]

Watch out for another possible catch:

As soon as you add a service order, the train will ONLY service at that point in their order sequence, and never at any other. When you have a really long journey (e.g. 290 days each way for that coastal long haul route) you would have to insert enough servicing orders to give the necessary level of coverage.

You can 1) put up with trains sometimes getting serviced at inappropriate times (with autoservice) or 2) add multiple depot orders.
Cleverer spacing of depots mitigates 1), and I like to have at least one compulsory service depot on a route (two on a long route) so that I can worry less about 2)

[Baldy's Boss]

Watch out for another possible catch:

As soon as you add a service order, the train will ONLY service at that point in their order sequence, and never at any other. When you have a really long journey (e.g. 290 days each way for that coastal long haul route) you would have to insert enough servicing orders to give the necessary level of coverage.

You can 1) put up with trains sometimes getting serviced at inappropriate times (with autoservice) or 2) add multiple depot orders.
Cleverer spacing of depots mitigates 1), and I like to have at least one compulsory service depot on a route (two on a long route) so that I can worry less about 2)

What I did was move the after-unloading depot to before unloading,and make it compulsory.

(As for the Coastal Long Haul group in the Tuhaven & Badburg game,I actually placed the New Wrunley depot in order to get rid of my last Klondyke after its 99th breakdown as it was holding up four of the more reliable trains that had replaced them...I noted that on your save the reliability figure for Klondykes had somehow gotten much higher).

[jfs]

Watch out for another possible catch:

As soon as you add a service order, the train will ONLY service at that point in their order sequence, and never at any other.

That's not a catch, that's the whole point Eddi is making. By putting servicing orders in, the servicing becomes controlled and predictable.