Transport Tycoon Forums

Tell a lie, there is one more tonight....just to put the game in context. First, a map of the Oulton area where Waveney Island Transport are having a lot of success.
However, the Campsheath lines have been making a loss with only 5-10 passengers using the lines at best. Campsheath station and the lines have been closed so that efforts can be placed on Oulton.

Penshaw is going to develop into a nasty place in the future, tough to double track! New station required somewhere else!

Certainly is going to cause some problems if a lot of traffic uses that line. Two other solutions would be having mainline traffic using another approach to Oulton or rebuilding the road bridge and junction. When that line was built in 1830, it was only designed to handle one train. However....as you'll see later....Waveney Island Transport has some larger and more concerning issues to address.

In 1838, a decision was made to make the island's first intercity service. It was to link the two largest cities, Oulton and Campsheath with the closed Campsheath East being a base for a new station. Oulton Hall Road also needed a complete rebuild. A lot of money was put into building this line. The company went into debt several times and all loan options were used. Meanwhile, a new circular line was built around Oulton to link the four city stations...which also cost a lot of money. However, the lines into Oulton started to lose passengers and some trains started running at a loss and these services were scraped with the trains sold. By the time the new mainline was ready...Waveney Island Transport had very little money with only one train to run the new express route. All hopes rested on this....

Here is the new Oulton Hall Road station
And the rebuilt Campsheath East. In the top right corner you can make out a disused level crossing from the old Campsheath lines.
However, the new intercity service did not make the profit the company needed. Only around £7000 a year. Trains would also sometimes run empty. The company was now in deep trouble. A decision was made to take on subsidies out in the country for various industries. But with so little money, lines couldn't be built in time and trains used were now ineffcient and old. A second intercity line that had started construction to the city of Ashburnham was also abandoned.

An emergency board meeting was held on the 17th November 1851 in the Oulton headquarters. After hours of discussing options, the decision was made to find a successful industry and put all profits made into servicing that industry.

As it turned out, a new coal mine just outside of Oulton near Whitby was producing 216 tons of coal per month.
An approach was made to the coal mine owners and a power station a long way in Burgh was to be included as part of the deal. This was the best option possible as Burgh is beyond Campsheath and the mainline to Campsheath could be used for 2/3's the distance saving a lot of money.

The company has made some poor decsions and has taken some risks that haven't paid off. With so little profit, the new coal line could take some time to construct. But it appears to be the only chance that the company has to survive.

So in the end, the coal line worked even though all passenger trains were sold...it made enough to fund another couple of coal lines. That made enough money to get the intercity services running again. One of which was very full. The coal train and the Oulton-Campsheath intercity between them made loads of money, things were just looking up when due to a signaling error, my two most profitable trains collided and i was in the red. The remaining trains were only making small profits and were not enough to keep up with costs or couldn't replace the crashed trains.

So...The End...

The story of the one of the worst games of OTTD I've ever played! (Although I was quite pleased with my recovery before the crash!)

I've got an up to date build of cargodist now...so i might start the same map again on that. The challenge of not using path signals in the early years really is quite demanding on such a tight network....but proved to be my downfall in the end!

So I started again. This time, I went to the big cities near the west coast as there is far more room there. I also learnt that it is best to start with linking large cities when using cargodist. Surburban services can make a little money on their own but they come into their own when they start feeding long distance services. Also started by setting up some long distance coal lines (with no gradient in them!).

So a bit more of a conventional start and none of the silly risks taken last time. These shots are from 19 years into the game in 1849 so I don't have to bore you with the start! Things have gone very well this time. There is a long distance intercity service that goes between Elmtree and Pakefield stopping in the cities of Bloodmoor and Gisleham. The game started with a non-stop service between each city to bring in the cash....now the new long distance service has been introduced, these service now form stopping services between each city giving some small villages and towns a train service.

As you can see from my shots, my need to keep services seperate in stations has resulted in some fairly unusual layouts. Might have to fix this over time...we'll see!
As we enter the 1850's, more powerful engines should be introduced and the push inland over the hills towards the east coast, and eventually the capital city Oulton can start. Fingers crossed the money keeps rolling in this time!

And here is a map of the area I'm working in. The cities of Whapload and Lothing that you can see in the middle are my next targets....but I need some more powerful engines first before I can reach there.
The gradients aren't that big and will be no problem later on...but even a one tile uphill is a problem in the mid 19th century!

Fast forward to 1886. Two main intercity routes are now running, one on the west coast and one in the centre of the island. Both go the whole length of the island and are making huge profits. A 3rd line is planned for the east coast. Here is an incredibly bad network map showing what's been built so far and a couple of token station shots.

3 more for tonight.

First, an intercity passes a reminder of how the game started in the 1830's.
Next, in Lothing, building the northern station throat was quite tricky.
And finally, the end of the West Coast mainline in Elmtree. This is part of the original pre-1850 network. The local trains still have rolling stock that are now over 40 years old. Also, the signaling needs an urgent upgrade as southbound intercities are getting delayed on this stretch of line.
There is still one coal line from 1830 still running somewhere on the map. The only coal mine from the ones I picked that's still producing enough to make a profit. I've replaced the rolling stock on it since 1830 though.

Liking these, keep em comin

It's now 1906. The network has expanded greatly as shown in the 2 network maps, (had to make a separete for the south-east quadrant as it's a bit crowded there).
Lots of east-west connections needed next.
There is a link between the four stations in Oulton. But it's capacity is very low right now. Consists of one tank engine pulling two carriages. Not ideal but will do until higher capacity trams come into play.

And just one shot for tonight. This is Normanston on the east coast.

The scenario you use.. Roads already built in the scenario editor?
If so, could you upload it please

I used a Puerto Rico heightmap I found somewhere on this forum as a base and simply rotated it and made changes to it to make it my own island, including adding roads. Would I be allowed to upload the scenario if the basis of it isn't my own work? I don't know who made the heightmap. I did build the scenario in OTTD 0.7.2 with no new GRF's so it would be useable for people to muck about with as they wish.

I would guess it would be safer to send it by PM (is that possible?), but I don't think people would mind as long as you state that it is based off the work of what is probably this guy here.

Thanks for the reply. Bit of a grey area there...i certainly wouldn't pass somebody else's talents off as my own effort. I'm happy to admit that I had to find someone else's heightmap to get the results I needed. The scenario editor just didn't come up with the kind of island I wanted. I feel I've cheated using a real world heightmap as my base...but I'm getting a good game out of it...and thats what we're all here for right?

More shots to come tomorrow as I'm off out into Birmingham for my dinner tonight. But ive got to 1920...and things aren't looking as rosy. The good times of the late 19th century are behind me and passenger line cuts have come into place....as well as the first coal service in 75 years.

I will survive this time....i spotted the problems before i fell below 2 million pounds and I think I've made the changes in time this time!

More on that later......

I did survive (turned inflation off!) Want my game to be about building the network up now rather than survival. I'm not cheating for money...no need to because without inflation on my network can make enough. I've got a secial savepoint for just before i turned the inflation off if i fancy revisiting it and challenging myself.

Anyway...

The first real west to east network has been completed linking the three mainlines further north. I chose Lothing as an intersecting point as a lot of passengers are being generated there.

if you look back at my network map, the new route uses exisiting tracks between Gisleham and Lothing and new tracks have been built between Lothing and Whitton. There are a couple of intermediate stops included to give some rural areas a service.

So, we start on the west coast mainline at Gisleham. If you look back at my early shot of Gisleham, you can see that its been drastically changed, smartened up and takes nowhere near as much space!
Next the new cross island route intersects with the central mainline at Lothing. The cenral mainline is by far the busiest and most profitable route on the island. However, space to expand the station at Lothing is simply not available. So, a new station called Lothing North was constructed with a shuttle link linking to Lothing's mainline station. Lothing North has been built to intercity specifications as an additional route to Oulton and the southeast may be required if passenger number continue to increase. The mainline through Lothing is already quite full so Lothing North would provide a good alternative. You can see both stations here. The original Lothing station and the new Lothing North nestled next the canal.
Finally, the corss island route ends on the east coast mainline (profits from this mainline are very dissappointing, people in the northeastern cities just dont seem to want to travel anywhere!). You can see that much less money is spent here on impressive station buildings. Here is a very bleak and windswept Whitton station.

Here are the 3 new stations on the new section of the cross island line....giving rural communities a much needed boost.

Some more changes around the network.

The biggest change is the western approach to Campsheath station at Clintonville. It became a real bottleneck as the central, west coast and south west mainlines all meet here. New suspension bridges were built alongside the original viaduct to help flow in and out of the station.
Next is Kirkley and it's new station buildings.
And finally, the biggest visual difference is Pakefield. Again, in my earlier shots you can see what a mess of a station it is. Well here it is in 1918...78 years on. A big difference I'm sure you'll agree.

Nice looking game.

Way! Swedish houses and the dirt roads from NA roads looks nice together, almost looks like the country side in Sweden

International travel has arrived!

Oulton Harbour has been constructed at a great expense. It has been built to handle many imported and exported freight (which will come later!). A passenger terminal has been built with a tram link to the main rail terminals in Oulton.

Here, the first passenger ferry to Portsmouth, England is leaving.
A smaller harbour has been built to the north of Oulton..also with a tram link to the stations. This doesn't deal with international travel though. The purpose of this small port is to provide a link to Sunderland island...a few miles off the coast to the north east of Oulton.
Edit: Just realised I've got the switches the wrong way round in my marshalling yard in Oulton Harbour!