Warning, long post ahead.
Just Add Freight
A savegame of my Poland Scenario with a comprehensive passenger+mail service already in place. There are sixteen towns; all have services that connect to one another, on speed-graded 4-track lines. Of course, there's
lots of industry waiting to be incorporated into the network, and the existing passenger+mail services will need to be updated as the towns grow further, but that is your challenge!
Quick Notes: (to get started)
-The download pack has the savegame plus the necessary configuration files.
-Patch a69 or higher is required. a69 is
recommended as it is the patch version that the game was created under and does not have any of the problems that have appeared in a70-72.
-Necessary GRFs: Total Town Replacement v2, USSet (v0.86), MB's NewStations, track foundations.
-Recommended GRFs: USStations (v0.86), NewBridges.
Explanation of Network and Services:
(Very detailed info - feel free to skip this, but I felt grognards might be interested in how the network was created, and relative newbies might find useful ideas here.)
Speed-graded Network
The network is all 4-track. The 2 outer lines in each direction are fast lines (100mph+) and the 2 inner lines are the slow lines (55-80mph). At present, the slow lines are fairly sparingly used, so there's plenty of room to add your freight delivery trains onto these lines, and use them to deliver into the existing destination stations all the towns have.
The network is set up as two interconnected loops (see the map picture). The larger loop runs around the twelve towns closer to the edge of the map. Starting from the upper left and going clockwise, this loop comprises: Szczecin, Koszalin, Gdansk, Olsztyn, Kaliningrad, Bialystok, Lublin, Rzeszow, Krakow, Katowice, Wroclaw, Legnica. The inner loop is smaller, incorporating the four remaining towns: Poznan, Bydgoszcz, Warszawa and Lodz.
Services
To connect all towns comprehensively, the following scheme was adopted. (I hope these explanations help you "get into" the game quicker, and assist in determining what tweaks and changes you will make in your ongoing game.)
#1. All towns are connected to their nearest neighbour (on their respective loop) by a slow-service Budd DMU train.
e.g.
Train 1: Szczecin to Koszalin.
#2. All towns on the outer loop are connected to the second nearest neighbour on the outer loop by a slow-service, hauled (usually) by a GP38-2 [see note * below].
e.g.
Train 17: Szczecin to Gdansk.
#3. All towns [see note ** below] are connected to all remaining towns (those not covered by #1. and #2. above) by any of the following services, depending on which is most appropriate:
--#3.a. For relatively close towns (usually towns that are close geographically, but on different loops) a train similar to #2 above is used.
e.g.
Train 60: Olsztyn to Bygdoszcz.
--#3.b. On and across outer loop towns not covered by the above: a fast-service hauled by a P40 Genesis [see note *** below].
e.g.
Train 18: Szczecin to Olsztyn.
--#3.c. Connecting towns from the outer loop to towns on the inner loop, and not covered by #3.a above: a fast-service hauled by a F40PH-2 (in various liveries).
e.g.
Train 26: Szczecin to Poznan.
--#3.d. There's only one possibility not covered: second nearest neighbours on the inner loop. For this a short Colorado DMU is used.
e.g.
Train 111: Poznan to Warszawa.
* - Just for the sake of variety - and because they look so cool - you can also find other locos hauling this type of service: An F7, a Sharknose, a Berkshire, and some GP9s, etc. These aren't necessarily the most efficient locos for the job, but they do it well enough and I like a little variety in the graphics.
** - Except Katowice. Because of it's awkward placement and limited room for a station, this town is serviced only by about half of the other towns.
*** - Or a Turbo Train, for much the same reasons as [*].
Station Names
Waypoint station names begin with an "=" to denote waypoint status. Followed by three letter abbreviation of associated town name, followed by two further letters. The first indicates whether the line is
Fast or
Slow, the second indicates line direction (North, South, East, West - North is to the upper left).
e.g. "=War FN" := Warszawa, fast line, going to the North.
Town stations begin with an "*", just to distinguish them very clearly from waypoints in the vehicle order and station lists.
Got all that?
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Alright, enjoy.