Making money fast??

[subzero22]

I've played a few online games and I always thought starting with coal would net you the fastest money at the beginning of the game. Yet on these online games I've seen people start with passengers or even other resources that I've tried to do on my own and still can't make money as fast as them.

I've taken a break from this game and just getting back into it so I was wondering how is it that some people can make money so fast even if I started first in a game and had a few trains to start with before them?

[planetmaker]

General rule: make long routes, connect industries which are far from eachother.
Depending upon game settings (plane speed), planes with passengers may be much more profitable

[subzero22]

Well I don't like to use planes much for one they seem to make money too easy and most online games dont' have them.

As for trying long routs I seem to run out of money fast. Is it better to plan sever small routs then extend one rout at a time to make them longer. Or do one train at the beginning and extend it into a long rout?

[planetmaker]

If you want trains only, go for the single longest route with coal or oil you can afford - just my 2ct

[audigex]

Start with industries first... passengers, especially on short routes, don't make that much money.

Make a line (non-electric), single tracked following the flat land as much as possible (building on slopes is a lot more expensive). Make your stations fairly long and buy a good power/running cost locomotive, then just fill it up with as many wagons as you can afford.

Coal is the best since you only need one train (others require two, one for the raw material and one for the goods). As production increases, add more trains to the line and add passing loops.

[Conditional Zenith]

You don't have to transport the secondary goods.

[audigex]

Well, no - but that makes for a boring game. Besides which, coal is the highest paying at the start of the game and doesn't have the hassles of farms/oil. Granted Iron and Wood would do the job too, but it's best to go for coal initially.

[Conditional Zenith]

That may be the case, but lack of secondary cargo is not a good reason.

And I was never suggesting the whole game should be played like that, I just meant that using lack of a secondary cargo as the reason for choosing a particular route is flawed.