Network Building Guide NO OT ALLOWED

[Raichase]

edit as of 30th Sept, 2006 Going to open this thread up again, as not only have I lost the savegame, and the documents I had on this topic, I've also lost all my scraps of paper with stuff on them re: this topic. So, it's open now, for veteran networkers to take a whole damned post describing whatever they want on this. Any OT will be removed immediatly, or split into it's own thread. I'd PREFER to keep this thread as a reference point, rather than as a "omg, I need help" thread, in which it would get very messy and hard to find the advice for a new player. I *will* be merciless in removal of posts from this thread, and all posts made here should be well thought out, and suppported by pictures where possible.

EDIT: (Wed 11/01). Walkthrough guide is done, still to be done is the patches section, as well as the "concepts" section (as requested by GoneWacko, this will be a section that shows the different techniques I use, without being game or location specific).

I'll also be contacting some people for a post by themselves to add to the guide, where they mention any hints and tips they have, chat about anything really.

After that, I'll open the floor, and start the FAQ, which will be continually consolidated, so that we can have a reference post, without people having to troll through endless amounts of posts to answer their question.

Don't worry, all of this text will be removed when the thread is finally opened to everyone. When all this ugly purple is gone, it means you can feel free to throw your junction/network questions out there, for myself and any other TTD player to answer. I'd like to get a good refernce thread going, and there is no question too silly .

Introduction

Some people have trouble moving from the basics of railway building, to getting a network. I'm not going to show you how to make a network like RobC has (thats insane), and my network isn't the best/most efficient/best money spinner network.

The point here is to show you how to expand your lines to make bigger lines and networks. With a bit of practice, you'll be doing things for yourself, trying new things out, and optimising.

My number one tip for network building is to always try something new. Don't follow a template, as that gets messy if it can't adapt to the surroundings. If you're worried about mucking up a game, save the game before trying it, and if it doesn't work, go back to your backup. Even if it works initially, keep the backup and see how it works out. If your network jams irreverably, go back and try again.

Now, the easiest way to do this is to talk you though a game I'm playing right now, using it as an example. I was going to make this like a text book, but thats impossible, as it wouldn't conform to everyones playing style, level of realism, or even vehicle sets.

For this game, I am using the following Difficulty Settings:



Okay, lets look at the settings I have chosen, and why:

• Competitors - 0. I don't find the competitors to be too realistic, and they create more of a mess to the terrain than they do actually make the game harder. I would prefer to see my trains speeding through a dense forest, rather than a bunch of dirt surrounded by looping tracks and 90 degree turns.
  Number of Towns - Normal. I normally set this to low, but in those games I also transport some freight. As this game is passengers only, I wanted enough towns to make a proper network, without getting too crazy. For more of a network challenge, try "High", or for more of a hard game, try "Low".
  Number of Industries - None. I suggested this feature, because it can really make the early game interesting. It's too easy to say "Oh, passengers only", and then swoop on an easy coal mine. This way, the industries that pop up are random, and you can be waiting until 1950 to get some that look connectable. Again, makes the game more interesting.
  Max. Loan - $200,000. I guess I'm a sucker for punishment, but in a game like this, getting deep in debt (easy to do if you're not careful), so having a small loan makes the game more challenging.
  Vehicle Running Costs - Low. I usually start it off low, so as to get a foothold in the game, then turn it up as the years go by.
  Breakdowns - None. Lets be honest, breakdowns in TTD are miles away from realism. I've been catching buses for 6 years now, and only had 4 breakdowns in that time, and none of them have been like in TTD. However, if you're up for a challenge, swap it over to "normal".
  Subsidy - x4. I never intend upon subsidies, but I figure if a town wants to reward me for an existing connection, I'll take all the money they can hand out. If I was intending to go for subsidies, then I would set it to x2.
  Cost of Constructiuon - Low. Thats a mistake on my part, I meant to set it higher, but forgot .
  Terrain Type - Hilly. Again, the basic TTD flat land is too flat, with meaningless hills, and too much water. Mountainous is rather unreaslistic, with random mountains everywhere and anywhere. Hilly is a nice balance between the two, with flat land most of the way, but the occasional mountains.
  Sea/Lakes - Low. Anything higher than this, and you're waterlogged .
  Economy - Fluctuating. This tests your network a bit, with production changeing and places closing down if they don't get any materials.
  Train Reversing - End of Line. Done like this to allow for through stations.
  Disasters - Off. I don't care for the disastaers in TTD, although I may have a play around with TTD Alter one day to fix them .

Combined with the Canadian Set (again, not essential, this could work with any vehicle set, just pick one you like), I'm going to talk you through the first few years of the game, perhaps from 1921 until 1940 or so.

I am also going to endeavour to play realistically, and you will find the ttdpatch.cfg I used at the bottom of this post. I can't release the newgrfw.cfg or the savegame yet, because I am using development versions of some sets. Don't worry though, just because a certain tram/bus set isn't out, doesn't mean that you can't use a different one, or even use the default vehicles in the case of the buses.

I am also using passengers only, to make the game challenging.

Add hotlinks to contents
Contents:
Introduction - Right Here.
The Basics.
Expansion and Consolidation.

[Raichase]

1921-1922 - Getting a foothold

Now, every great railway empire must start somewhere. Raichase Transport has scouted around the mini map and deicided to start the network at Kedwood. Why? It's as good a place as any other, close to other towns but without being in the centre of the map (prefer to expand a network like fingers, rather than like a spiderweb).

To start with, a small bus service is started in the town, to help the town grow, and also to keep the town friendly when landscaping begins. When the trees start falling, the town will rally against the company, and it will be hard to build in the town. Hence, the bus service will help them realise that this is not a bad company, just a money hungry one .

At the end of 1921, a small point to point service between Kedwood, and it's nearest neighbour (Tindham) is opened, using a Doodlebug and a pair of coaches. A faster train could be used, but the Doodlebug makes a decent profit, and we just don't have the funds to spare right now (remember, $200,000 is all we get).



Again, to keep Tindham friendly, we build a small bus service there too. This means we now have an established service IN two towns, to keep the towns growing, and a good rail connection BETWEEN the two towns, to keep the money coming in.



In 1922, we can then extend this line south, to the next nearest town, Bubourne. Now, our train is starting at Kedham, stopping at Tindham, then terminating at Bubourne, where it can then turn around and go back again.

However, the town is too small for a bus service, which WILL lead to problems down the track, depending on how much development we need to do here. Already the town is unfriendly, due to the movement of soil and removal of trees.



By the end of 1922, the final station has been built as a terminus, at the next town of Henham. By this stage, funds are lower than we would like, but thats okay because there are no nearby towns to expand to at the moment anyway. The next one is so far away that we would need 2 trains on the line to keep the service up, and stop passengers piling up at the stations.

Again, Henham is too small for a bus service, which will make life hard down the track.



Now, we have a single doodlebug with 2 coaches servicing 4 towns, all connected to each other. The network has begun!

1923-1925 - Starting the Network

Now that we have a solid income, it is time to look at how we can turn this simple, 4 station point to point line into a usefull commuter network for the people in the local towns.

There is also a moderate town to the north of Kedwood, which is impractical for the current line, but would make a nice new branch to the network.

Thus, a new line shall be built from Kedwood, out to Johnstown, and perhaps beyond. However, first, Kedwood Station must be expanded to take the extra train. This is done as seen in the screenshot below, by adding another platform to the west.

As the existing line to Tindham goes west, it is redirected to this platform, and the new northern line takes the old platform. This ensures that we don't have crossing tracks unless we need to, as if we have too many crossovers, trains get delayed waiting at signals. A new depot is built, and the existing line remains pretty much the same, with a good start for the new line.



As mentioned, the line heads north to Johnstown, another moderate sized town. Another doodlebug and two coaches are purchased to run on this line. Now, our network can take 60 bags of mail, and up to 160 passengers out from Kedwood station, with our two trains. Rather efficient, no?



Johnstown is too small for a local bus service, but is outputting a very good amount of passengers. This station will certainly be a candidate for further expansion.

Now, whilst this new line was being built, the calander has slipped over to 1924. Having a quick look around the network, we see that Tindham station is putting out more passengers than the twice visiting doodlebug can handle (it visits "twice", as it stops there once on the way TO Kedwood (the "up" service), and again on the "down" service).

Here it is of note that a busy station like this will function better with a through station, or at least a combined through/terminus station, the reason being is that a through station will have more trains visiting it in one month than a terminus station, as trains will visit once in each direction. To get the same functionality here at Tindham as a terminus, we would need to be running two trains to Tindham.

However, even as a through station, there are still 1,723 people waiting on the platforms, with 600 bags of mail/luggage with them. As our train goes through the station twice, thats 60 bags of mail and 160 passengers in one full cycle. Not enough .

Thus, the line from Kedwood to Henham is an excellent candidate for expansion. Currently, it has a capacity of all of one train. Lets triple that capacity.



By double tracking all the stations on the line like they have been above, this will triple the capacity of the single-track line. If a town refuses for a second platform, simply add a passing loop right before or right after the station. Now, you have a line with the capacity of 3 trains. One in each set of signals at the passing loop, plus one train waiting for one of the tracks to free. However, if you use 4 trains on a system like this, it will work initially, but when you get all 4 trains trying to go to one station, you get a complete jam.

Jams will be addressed in a seperate section, but all you need to worry about now is only using 3 trains on this type of system.

Henham terminus is increased to two tracks:



However, at Kedwood, we don't want to add a third platform for a third train, because then the station will keep getting bigger. We already have two tracks, and the potential for three trains. Now, we have our first junction between lines.

Provided that you have a basic knowledge of PBS and Pre-signals, you will see the following station working very smoothly for 9/10 visits by trains. Trains coming into the junction from the north or the west will go through to the first avaliable track, and with PBS, they can remain independant of each other. The only time trains will cross tracks, is when both trains from the western line are in the station at once. This will mean that a train from the northern line will wait at the pre-signal for one of the platforms to clear. Likewise if a train from the northern and a train from the western are loading, the other western train will wait for a platform to clear.




TIP: Always use "service at" in your trains orders. An explaination can be found here. When using this order in your trains orders, place it AFTER the station. In this case, trains visiting this station would have the orders:

Go to Tindham
Go to Kedwood
Service at Kedwood Train Depot
Go to Tindham

The simple reason why we do this, is because it doesn't muck with PBS/pre signals, and trains will wait. If the depot was before the station, a train going to the depot would go into the PBS block even if both platforms were occupied, go into the depot, then come out, find two red signals, and go to one of the platforms to wait for it to clear, which it won't. At best, it'll inconvenience you and slow your trains down. At worst, you get stuck trains and PBS jamups, which can be a big headache when your network is bigger.

By now, the calander has swapped over to 1925, and we now have the foundations for a fully integrated network on the map. 5 towns are linked up, 3 trains running, and a good base for a double-tracked line to the west and south.

[Raichase]

1926-1930 - Expansion and Consolidation

Johnstown Station has been filling up far past capacity, much like Tindham was until it was improved upon. Thus, it is our first candidate for expansion. The tracks are laid, but the town refuses our proposal to develop the station.

Fortunatly, I managed to get an inter-urban tram service* put in before expanding the station, so by letting that run, and ignoring the expansion of the platforms for now, we can come back and revisit the station in a year or so, when we gain the towns favour back. More expansion north is something to kill time though.

When Johnstown is finished, rather than having one train stopping there (one real train, terminating), it will have up to 4 services stopping there (two trains, both running through).



The line then runs north to Drunpool, where it terminates. The infrastructure is built to handle the eventual capacity of 3 trains on the line, however only one train runs currently due to the situation at Johnstown above.



By now, it is 1928, and we can continue to expand the lines out of Kedwood, to help decrease the amount of passengers waiting there. Excellent candidates are the towns to the west, where there are 3 in a row, with a nice large town being the third one.

Below you can see the expansions done to Kedwood Station. Ideally, this station design can take up to 4 trains, so at the moment can take one more train, which will be added by the new line to the west. It *can* handle more trains, but it will start to slow down after 3 trains. 3 is optimum, and 4 is ideal capacity. 5 or more, and you have a higher chance of getting trains waiting at signals for longer than ideal.



The new single track station to complement the existing tram connection at Windhead. Note that the signals there are just to look nice, they have no functionality and will be removed eventually .



To keep services reasonable to the stations on the new line, whilst still only using one train, the line terminates at Wronthill, however, plans are in place for the final leg to Dindingbury (which is a greater distance away). A bus service is put in place within Dindingbury, to get the town to grow a bit more before the rail line is put in (not shown).



Still in 1928, we look around the network to see what needs to be done. During the intitial expansion of the line to Henham, the Buborne Station was not expanded to two platforms, and remained at one. As passenger numbers continue to build at Tindham, a third doodlebug is added to the route, which makes a total of 3 trains running that line, and 6 services to Tindham (3 trains stopping once each way).

This leads to a general slow down of the line. It still runs, but it's slower than we can get it, so the entire line is double-tracked. Below is an example, as well as showing the double-tracking of Bubourne



As part of this capacity enhancement, Kedwood Station is also gifted with an upgrade, becoming 3 tracks. This will help ensure that trains going into the station have a better chance of getting a free track at any one time.



By the end of 1928, to speed up trains running through Kedwood Junction, the surrounding land is brought level with it.



In 1929, to take advantage of the continual running allowed by the line to Henham (ie, without passing loops, trains are mostly stopping only at stations and junctions), the line was electrified, and a wood interurban purchased to run on it. This allowed the retirement of one of the doodlebugs on that line**.

Below, you can see the wooden Interurban loading at Bubourne station, whilst the the doodlebug being replaced runs empty through the station.



Even with all these upgrades, Tindham continues to pile up with passengers. The company director realises that this is the region where the regions elite are choosing to live, and are demanding a premium rail service to work, and around the city. To avoid putting unneeded strain on the Kedwood junction (it will fill up eventually, and we want to put that off as long as possible), it was decided to try something new.

As the passengers were still piling up at Johnstown, it was decided to build a new line, using mostly exising infrastructure, with a new station platform. A new terminus platform was added at Tindham, so as to allow for the running of trains between Tindham and Johnstown, without passengers having to change at Kedwood. The other option presented was to expand the line bewteen Tindham and Kedwood, and between Johnstown and Kedwood, and simply throw 2 extra trains down. This would have worked in the short term, but would have contributed to filling up Kedwood Terminus (taking about 5 trains already, with a capacity of about 7-8 trains), as well as slowing down Kedwood Junction.

This new method meant no new rolling stock had to be bought (remember the doodlebug that was stabled a year ago?), and apart from a triangle-connection on the existing Kedwood junction, and a new platform at Tindham, nothing much needed to be done. This was a cheap addition, with the intention of being expanded further down the line. Not only would this help move passengers out of Tindham, it would also help split terminating trains between Tindham and Kedwood in the future, allowing for less strain on terminii stations.

The expansion to Tindham uses waypoints to point the terminating train into it's own platform, and another waypoint to send through trains onto the right platform. PBS is used to save 2 through trains being held up by one another.



The expansion of the junction at Kedwood. Again, using PBS, the impact on running of the junction is very minimal.***



This also proved to be a good reason to expand the passing loop at Johnstown, allowing for future trains to be added with less trackwork needing to be done (doing work like this with less trains on the line is a lot easier than trying to fit it in around a very crowded network)



Combined with the final double-tracking of Johnstown Station:



No work needed to be done to Drunpool, as it had been built with more trains to be added anyway.

By now, 1930 has been and gone, and we can move onto the 30's!

*Please note that the trams feature is in development, which is why I am not going into it in detail (although in this case, a bus connection would work equally well, the buses at the moment are not right for such a connection). Also, the trams in this game are a test grf of DanMacK's tram set, which is why they are not avalialbe for download yet. If you ARE looking at the trams, notice the use of Lakies new colour scheme GUI. Company colour is Dark Blue, but trams/buses are Light Blue . How awesome is that?

**When replacing trains, it is sometimes better to add another train to the route, using shared orders, and withdrawing the train being replaced. This is better because, unless the train is "old" (ie years in the red), it may be needed later. No point selling the Doodlebug here for $5,000 and it's coaches for $600 each, and then rebuying a Doodlebug for $20,000 and coaches for $1,200 each a few years down the track, eh? This doodlebug IS brought out later in the game, and is a good money saver.

***You may notice the bought land around the junction? I bought this land for future use, incase I wanted to seperate the green line tracks from the mainline, incase the main junction got too crowded. If you have the money, thinking ahead like this is a good idea. But don't go buying masses of land if it's just a spark, only if you're actually considering it.

[Raichase]

1930-1935 - A Proper Network

1931 is upon us! It is time to expand the network yet again, this time to the towns around Johnstown, as there are still more passengers there than the network can handle. So, with limited space, and with traffic building at Tindham and Kedwood, we must turn to Johnstown itself to avoid putting unneded pressure on the inner city.

Thus, a third track is added to the station, with a waypoint put in place to guide it's train home. Using signals, all through trains will want to go to the middle track, even if the signal into it is red. This is good, as there is no room for a second waypoint.



The junction to the north of Johnstown is altered to allow for a new line branching to the north west, up to Little Frundhall. A pity the houses are in the way, because then we could double-track this section and avoid unneeded waiting times for trains. Oh well.



When this line is completed all the way to Frudhall, I decided that the tracks at Kedwood could cope with one more train, and added a 10-Wheeler to the line, to run from Kedwood to Frudhall, stopping at Johnstown. Ideally we would have two, and ignore the terminus at Johntown, but I would prefer to avoid having to rework the junction at Kedhall if it can be avoided.



Both trains terminate at the new terminus built at Frudhall.



However, to get the moneys worth out of the Doodlebug (another one displaced by another wooden interurban being added on the Henham line), instead of returning to Johnstown, it kicks back onto a spur, and heads east to Frabourne.

After visiting Frabourne, it then goes back to Johnstown, stopping at Frudhall again. Again, this gives Frudhall the service capacity of 3 trains, instead of 2 .



Currently a small bus service also connects up Frabourne and Drunpool, resultling in a nice circle of access (ie you can get anywhere from anywhere with a minimum of service changes)



By 1932, this line is fully operational.

To cope with the added potential adding more trains to the north will have on Kedinghall, it was decided to split the Western Line off from the other lines, and give it it's own terminus. This would also make it easier to electrify, as it has to climb some grades when it expands further west.



That just about covers the basics, read on for more details about where my network goes...

Now, although it was not realised how big it would become, in 1932 the above terminus change was to be part of a massive reworking of the network, to attempt to double train capacity, and triple it in the long term. It was the start of the "Network Colours" plan, which happened when I started doodling on a map of the network.

The main thing holding the network back from growth was that all the lines interacted, which lead to Kedwood junction growing larger and messier, and more trains cramming into it. This was combined with a very gradual shift west of the regions population. Rather than building a static, inflexible network, the goal of TTD is to get a flexible network that can adjust to such sublties as this.

The original plan was to make Tindham a massive through station, with all trains routing through there to their various terminii. This proved to be impossible, as the landscape at Bubourne and Henham didn't allow for much expansion of infrastructure, and secondly, it would also get very ugly at Kedwood station, trying to fit it into a network.

So, I poked around the map putting down little reminders about what needed doing. These took the form of signs, that said what was wrong, or what needed doing in a certain place. From there, I devised a way to divide all the routes into various seperate entities, which would then be upgraded to take more trains, thus increasing the size and capacity of the network.

Remember, there were still more passengers at Tindham and Johnstown than I could handle, so, rather than taking the easy option and lengthening trains (which would work in the short term, but not the long term), more trains were needed.

Thus, the following solution was devised with the coloured pens I found lying around as a hangover from my studying days, and a rough drawing of where everything was currently.

Green Line - Tindham - Dindingbury, NOT via Kedwood*.
Blue Line - Kedwood - Drunnwell** via Tindham and Bubourne.
Red Line - Tindham - Frudhall via Johnstown
Purple Line - Tindham - Frudhall via Medingbury***

Or, the desired result in map form:



(Excuse the scrap paper, I prefer to save the environment at all costs)

The first thing to do was to set up a grand new terminus at Tindham, to allow for the eventual flowthrough of trains through Kedwood to Tindham via Bubourne.

The first step was the removal of the roads, and the planning of where the terminus would go. The bought land shows where the plans where.



The next step was the expansion of Bubourne Station from 2 tracks to 4 tracks, however because we didn't have a bus service in this town, they were not as keen to let us do more work on the railway. This would prove to be a major problem until the 40's (work started here in 1934), holding up the completion of the major leg of the network



It was around now that Kedwood Station was expanded again, this time to split the Green Line away from the other lines. Below, you can see the end result of this, as it allows a much faster turnaround time for all trains visiting the station.



As this work was progressing, the line was also electrified, with double tracks added at the stations, to allow for the passing of trains.





As well as the line being extended to it's terminus, at Dindingbury:



This now provides a solid money making link between the three towns and Kedwood. As all the towns are producing a decent amount of passengers, the current line can handle them all as well as make a decent profit on the side. The upside to electrification is that the trains can move faster, meaning we need less trains on the line, which again maximises profits, as we pay to run less trains that can transport the same number of passengers.

To further improve Kedwood, it was dropped down a level, to save the trains having to climb up into the station each visit:



By 1935, the houses were finally out of the way, and the land bought to finish expanding Johnstown too.



This resulted in the final expansion of the junction:



And the soon to be complete expansion up through Drunpool:



This is a good time to bring up another point. Never remove old track unless it's in the way of current development. This junction is a good example of this. When the line eventuall stopped going Kedwood-Johnstown-Frudhall, and became Kedwood-Johnstown-Drunpool-Frabourne-Frudhall, the junction was closed. Due to the magic of PBS*, it could be left there, and not used. The line remained there unused for a few years, but later, as Regional Services started running, it was reopened to allow these trains to bypass Drunpool and Frabourne.

Leaving old tracks down is ESPECIALLY important in urban areas, even if it's only on the outskirts of a town. Eventually, the town will expand around the rails, and if it does, suddenly that abandoned industrial shortline is a vibrant inner city connection to the rest of the network...

TIP: PBS, or Path Based Signalling will become one of your best friends whilst working on junctions and networks, especially as crowded terminii stations. Take some time to read about it here, if you have not done so already. Be sure to read it all, as it's quite important.

[Raichase]

1935-1950 - Getting Complex

As mentioned in the previous section, the next part of the line to be built is the connection between Drunpool and Frabourne. This connection is quite important, because (for those of you playing at home), it will allow us to remove the train running between Johnstown and Frabourne via. Frudhall, instead allowing us to run 3-4 trains bewteen Kedwood and Frudhall via Johnstown, Drunpool and Frabourne.

This is the connection we need to make, to scale. The only tricky part about this connection is if it needs expanding to 4 tracks further down the line. However, unlike the rest of the network, we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Below shows the work done to Frabourne Station, making it a dual track through station rather than a single terminator.



Once that work is completed, attention is turned back to Bubourne, which is starting to hold up the development of the Tindham-Kedwood connection for the Red/Purple Lines.

As you can see, platform 1 has now been completed, which will, with the removal of another house, allow the Blue Line trains to run through platforms one and two, leaving 3 and 4 free for the Red/Purple trains to go through.



With the removal of the Doodlebug from the Johnstown - Frabourne via Fruhall line, it is stabled on the sidings outside Kedwood. Ditto for the train that was running from Tindham - Drunpool without going via Kedhall. Both lines were just getting in the way, with crossing trains over other tracks.

I find dumping them on a siding helps to remember that I still own them, and can put them to work elsewhere later .



By 1939, the new terminus is completed at Tindham, now the only thing in the way of the Tindham - Kedwood construction is the station at Bubourne, still not complete.



By late 1939, after much "oiling of palms", and "slushing of funds" and even a couple of "cement shoes", the local authority finally gave the green light for construction at Bubourne.



Beyond the station, the original blue line was diverted to service platforms 1 and 2, and the new line was built. Here is a shot pre development (you can see post development in the savegame attached at the bottom, as that will be roughly around the time this guide ends.



Also in 1939, Kedwood Station is completed to allow the through trains to go through Kedwood, along to Bubourne and beyond to Tindham. The current solution is still a little sticky, and is prone to slowing trains down, as the blue line terminating trains have to cross over the red/purple trains to get into the terminus. However, it shall do for now.



By 1941, Kedwood had been updated and is (more or less) in this state today. The Blue and Red/Purple lines have swapped over, and now can run independant of one another. The only reason for the large amount of cross tracks, is to share trains between the two lines (ie, if another train is needed on the blue line, and one spare is running the red line, it can be transferred)



It is also in 1941, that the passenger levels at Tindham start to go through the roof. To cpmbat this, more trains will be added to the Red/Purple lines as the years go past (by 1960, we have about 4 8-car Budd RDC DMU sets running the line, and about 6-7 6-car Budd's). However, a more long term solution is to redirect the Green Line to terminate at Tindham instead of Kedwood.



Work is completed by 1943...



Also in 1943, and again in 1945, expansion on the Green line is completed to allow for the higher volume of trains:

In 1943, it is expanded to double track:



By 1945, the track itself is lowered down to save the lives of bus passengers:



Thats the end of the "game walkthrough" part of the guide. Below, please find attached the savegame. Please note that you WILL need to have the Canadian Set installed (Version 0.2c, iirc). Some of the trams used will not show up correctly, which is an unfortunate side effect, but something that must be dealt with. Really, what you want to do is pause, and have a look around.

The story itself will continue in the Pictures of Your Games thread, as well as subsequant savegames in the Savegame topic.

If you have any problems running the game, and need cfg's, just drop me a PM and I'll send them over. However, the newgrfw.cfg contains unreleased and some out of date beta/test sets, as well as some of my own work, so please only apply it to my savegames .

[Rob]

Ah building networks is my passion.

If you look at it as a whole you might think that guy is crazy.
But I'm not. This game started out with no trains and tracks, just like any other game.

The early days:

I always start my game by building some point to point connections, preferably coal to powerplant as they bring in the most cash.
While the first money poors in I start to make an outline for my future network, only in my mind or on a piece of paper, so that after a while I do have the money and the knowledge to start building.

The growing days:

As soon as my network starts to shape up, stations and trains are added to bring in more and more money.
The first lines of the network are single lines with overtake parts in it. Those overtake parts will grow bigger and bigger as the need arises to do so.
In these times multiple receiving industries are integrated in the network, but only one of each will remain in the end, to have as many industry slots avaiable for raw industries.
Now it's also time to buy some busses, aspecially in those towns that need a lot of landscaping. This can be done directly, or by buying up a competitor that already has some busses in that city.
Other competitors can also be bought up, mostly becasue they are in the way of my ever expanding network.

The consolidating days:

When the network is sort of complete, which it probably never will be, my real enjoyment of this games starts: adding as many usefull trains as possible and optimising my network as much as possible. All in line with new devellopments of the patch.

Last words:

My game is now in 6530 and I don't think, hope, it wil get much further, since I plan to start a new game as soon as the new stable version of the patch comes out.
I build my networks, not according to real life but as optimised as possible to allow as many trains as possible. But I do try to build realistically, which means no 90 degree truns or crossing short tunnels or the like. I also like to give my trains a smooth ride as possible, so no multiple short turns after oneanother.

As a last remark I want to thank the entire patchteam for their tremendous work on this already legendary game. Thank you all.

RobC.

[m3henry]

freight networks

1. Setup
no competitors.
low/normal town number
normal/high industries
£250,000 loan
low/normal running costs
breakdowns none/reduced
1.5x/2x subsidaries (passengers aren't going to play a major part in this game)
low/normal cost of constuction
Hilly (for realism and a taste of how to deal with them)
low seas
flucturating economy (so industries will shut down if you dont service them)
train revesing at end of line only
NO disasters.

2. its 1921!
after scouting the mini-map m3henry transport has found Tenningpool Falls to be an ideal place to start, having an oil based industry it looks perfect for a good start.
Ive highlighted the possible industries in this area.

3 a basic route has been constucted from one of the oil wells to the oil refinery routing its way over the hill instead of digging under it as we dont have bottomless bank accounts.

to be continued...

[m3henry]

4. Ive added an extra branch to a second oil well with a its own train and a passing place. note where my depots are. By now funds have taken a hit and the loan will become important.

5. A small seperate line is added to take the feul oil to the Engineer's Yard. with only a litlle slow train on it to pull what little feul oil appears at the station.

6. A small bus service is added to te town to keep it frindly with the coming terraforming.

[m3henry]

7. The Oil terminal is incresed from one platform to two, this will decrese the traffic when more trains come.

8. A new shortcut has been made through the hill so full trains can go through the tunnel withh no extra slopes and the empty can go over the hill because they will manage. I've highlighted the routes and the trains.

[m3henry]

9. A high performing oil well was situated north-west of my exsisting servises and so I decided to expand to this. the oil well required two trains to service it (hence the expansion in the previous post.)
An extra passing place was installed to help.

[boneyman]

These guides are extremely helpful. god bless the people that make them. one problem not all of us get greatly generated random maps. i never get one that works as well as urs raichase. Maybe its just bad luck....................