Transport Tycoon Forums

SCREENSHOTS - RIVERBURG CENTRAL (founded 1860)
Here are a series of screenshots from my latest game, the Riverburg Central, with OTTD 1.01.
I have used a long (512x2048) heightmap designed with Paint Shop Pro V5.02, incorporating numerous water courses interspersed with rugged terrain to simulate North American style long-haul railroading.
A list of the GRFs used in this particular game. I am using the standard parameters for my mountain games per my thread on realistic North American railroading:
http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=48403

DIFFICULTY SETTINGS

• Vehicle Breakdowns: Reduced
  Train Reversing: At end of line, and at stations

ADVANCED SETTINGS

• CONSTRUCTION
  • Allow building on slopes and coasts: On
    Allow building very long bridges: On
  VEHICLES
  • Forbid trains and ships to make 90-degree turns: On
    Vehicles never expire: Off
    Autorenew vehicle when it gets old: Off
    Train acceleration model: Realistic
    Slope steepness for trains: 5%
    Weight multiplier for freight to simulate heavy trains: 3
    Vehicles never expire: Off
  STATIONS
  • Nonuniform stations: On
    Max station spread: 15

RIVERBURG CENTRAL - 1860

The history of the Riverburg Central dates to the late 1860's, as the brainchild of a certain Samuel Philbert ("S.P") Ferroequinus, a prosperous proprietor of a printing establishment and photographic studio. S.P. having been fed up once more with the antics of the ferry operators on the Vulgar River who dumped him and his trunk full of photographic wet plates (they HAD been dry plates) overboard for the umpteenth time, decided to take action.

"Damn these Vulgar Boatmen!" he fumed, as he stomped around the ground floor (literally) of his palatial one room shack at the prestige address of One Hindquarters Alley. "I shall take matters in my own hand and offer the fine citizenry of Riverburg an alternative transportation mode they can be proud of!"
With some quick talking. Espee talked the Last National Bank (their slogan "We're the LAST people YOU want to talk to when you need money!") into a $600,000 loan, and on the first of the year in 1860, the Riverburg Central Railway, Bridge, and Land Navigation Company was founded. Espee's first goal was a viaduct over the Back Water (a placid arm of the recently re-named Central River) to connect the "dry" city of Riverburg with the much smaller but economically significant village of Drondtown, whose original name was a native American word for "place where man drink too much fire water and fall out of canoe on the way back to tepee". Drondtown, or "Drunktown" as Espee's former wife referred to it, was a popular weekend getaway place best served by safe, comfortable, efficient transportation, available day or night, including extended operation hours after the local taverns closed. His vision of a nice, safe, dry ride home after his weekend inspection tours of the taverns and saloons would soon be a reality...
Espee's enthusiastic attempts to look out for the comfort and convenience of his fellow citizens weren't immediately appreciated. Some of the citizen's derided Espee's large Main Station, with its 12-tile long train platforms, as monstrous overkill, noting that the station at that time was longer than the town! Espee would be vindicated as the thirsty citizens flocked to his station in droves to partake of liquid refreshment every weekend...

ROFL! I love it! Great story sofar, and the sepia-toned images help to tell the story well.

TRAIN SERVICE TAKES OFF - 1860's
The huge popularity of the Riverburg-Drondtown passenger service vindicated Espee's predictions as the Riverburg Main station was packed every day with commuters, shoppers, tourists, and revelers, as well a few patrons of the last train each night sleeping it off on the platform benches. "Cross the River in Comfort and In Safety" was the official slogan of the Riverburg Central Railway, Bridge and Land Navigation Company, and Espee himself instructed his shop workers to paint this slogan on the sides of every passenger coach, along with the company name. The company artisans, dealing with the limitations of the 8 bpp graphics of the time, came up with a more abbreviated slogan: "Riverburg Central - Get Wet without Getting Soaked!". The wives has another name for it: "The Dry Way to H-ll".

EXPANSION EASTWARD (1865-1871)
Espee's success, although encouraging, did not lead him to rest on his laurels. He realized that the restrictive blue laws that kept refreshing adult beverages away from the citizens of Riverburg wouldn't last forever, and while the weekday traffic to Drondtown was now sufficient enough to ensure ongoing profitability of his venture, those double-headed trains of late-night revelers would literally "dry up", leaving many of his fine 200 class 4-4-0 steamers out of work. On a recent venture to the opposite shore, he noted the significant growth of the city of Penninsulus as well as its prosperous neighbors.
Service between Whitworth and Penhall was inaugurated in late 1865, as the American Civil War fought many miles to the east had ended, and the railroad anticipated growth as young soldiers discharged from the war sought new lives and fortune in the American West. Espee hoped to develop a strong customer base to justify the expense of the longer, more ambitious route over the Drowntown Hills, as his bank had sent him a gentle reminder to "pay up" in the form of two representatives from the bank's New York headquarters named Moose and Rocco who offered to bring Espee for a ride and have "a widdle chat" about fiscal responsibility (the local didn't call it "the bank of last resort" for nothing). However, Espee was able to pay off the loan in full before 1870, assuring that for the time being, he would have both arms and legs intact...
1871 photo of Riverburg, showing the new Main Line trackage cutting to the north of Drondtown.

Passenger & Mail Operations - 1871-1872

In the early days, the Riverburg Central was leery of servicing local industries that had a nasty habit of disappearing before expensive lines could be completed. Espee stuck to his profitable passenger service, with the idea of building a hefty cash reserve to lessen the impact of such calamities should they happen once the RCRB&LNC chose to branch out into freight operations.
As of November 1871, the Riverburg Central was served by 11 trains (9 passenger and 2 mail) serving the following routes:

• Riverburg-Penninsulus (through) - Passengers
  Riverburg-Drondtown (local) - Passengers and Mail
  Whitworth-Penninsulus (local) - Passengers and Mail
  Whitworth-Penhall (local) - Passengers

A roster of 16 each 4-4-0 American type steam locomotives, numbered 200-215 and producing 450 HP each provided power for the passenger and mail trains. Each loco was rated for a maximum of 4 wooden coaches or mail cars, providing 3 HP per ton to meet the relatively leisurely schedules of 50 MPH (80 Km/hr). Double-heading was already being implemented on the busier runs due to the considerable traffic load out of Riverburg.
2 additional 4-4-0s are placed in service in early 1872 to inaugurate mail service between Riverburg and Penninsulus. These faster and more powerful "220 Class" steamers are assigned numbers 220 and 221. At 650 HP each, they are rated for 5 cars each, and can attain top speeds of 60 MPH (97 Km/hr).

This is a great start. However, I do think that maybe as a company that had just been founded, you started with a little too much already in place?

The story is really good, as are the screenies. I am just jealous now

jake.grimshaw wrote:This is a great start. However, I do think that maybe as a company that had just been founded, you started with a little too much already in place?

I agree, you have huge stations with very little in them.

And the lack of buffers doesn't look right.

jake.grimshaw wrote:This is a great start. However, I do think that maybe as a company that had just been founded, you started with a little too much already in place?

How's that? The company started with a man. and idea, and a loan. That's pretty much it...

Great story and I really like the sepia and black white photos concept. I do have to agree with the other posters though that a more organic approach in terms of station and network size might better suit the concept. As players we know that those huge stations and a complicated network might be needed in the future but as a realistic (forgive me for the use of that dreaded word Belugas) endeavor the "company" would only build what it needs at the moment. Some of the screenshot threads that I find most enjoyable are those that show the progression of stations and of the network over time, highlighting the changes that have been made to improve things. Starting out with your stations and network already 'fully grown' goes against this most enjoyable part of the game. Of course it is your game to play as you see fit and any suggestions made by me are my opinion only, based on how I (and a few others) play the game. I look forward to this thread's progression.

Nite Owl wrote:Great story and I really like the sepia and black white photos concept. I do have to agree with the other posters though that a more organic approach in terms of station and network size might better suit the concept. As players we know that those huge stations and a complicated network might be needed in the future but as a realistic (forgive me for the use of that dreaded word Belugas) endeavor the "company" would only build what it needs at the moment.

Three points in response:

(1) For starters, my passenger networks generate considerable amount of traffic within a few years that often justifies the need for the larger stations. My typical strategy for a new game is to start passenger service at one of the most populated (if not THE most populated) cities on the map, and I can typically double the size of a city every 12-15 years with consistent good service. I start many of my games in 1870, meaning a city with 2000-2500 inhabitants can quickly become a city of 8000-10,000 in 30 years. I am often running double-headed and even triple-headed trains out of my busiest stations, which is not inconsistent with North American practice, even during steam days. I am doing this while maintaining rather high capacity on my track (you will note that my games do NOT have umpty-zillion tracks running all over the landscape, but are in a realistic ratio of tracks to station platforms). Building a large station to deal with expected future capacity MAY be an issue to European and UK players who are sensitive to NIMBYesque town councils, but in fact this was practiced in America more often than not. Many contemporaries of Vanderbilt thought he had gone over the top when he build the huge Grand Central Terminal too far "uptown" in Manhattan in 1871 at 42nd and Park Avenue - today this area along with the nearby Times Square is considered to be the CENTER of Manhattan.

(2) Building large stations ahead of demand is also considered to be a way of acquiring and reserving necessary real estate so it will be available at a later date, and a price within reach. Planners will balance the additional cost of completing a station ahead of anticipated demand to that of building only what is absolutely necessary at the time and paying the additional penalty later. Obviously cash flow is a major determining factor in this area.

(3) Everyone seems to neglect the issue of SCALE, which is interpreted a bit subjectively. People need to keep in mind that TRANSPORT TYCOON based games are NOT "to scale" on a macro basis, something that is conveniently overlooked by most players. Look, we have SIX separate scales in place: one for road vehicles, one for trains, one for ships, one for planes, one for structures, and one for landscapes! Even the road/building scales are out of whack: how many towns do you know have a 2:1 or 3:1 or even 4:1 grids for a city block? A typical US city block is about 1/10 to 1/8 of a mile (528 to 660 feet) with a road that is 40 to 60 feet wide from curb to curb. That's anywhere from a 9:1 to a 16:1 ratio. Two train cars take up the same space as a Boeing 747 or Airbus 380, which can take off on a runway length of 2 or 3 city blocks? How about trains climbing 45-degree angles, and spacing of those same 2 cars between adjacent tracks and platforms? There IS no overriding scale to OTTD, and we happily overlook it for the reason that any SERIOUS attempt to reconcile ALL scale components would make the game an unplayable MONSTER in terms of complexity! Therefore, we each make our own subjective ideas about what constitutes properly sized, and live with it. Sure, I would like to be able to shrink some aspects and expand others, but a 4 or 6 track station in a major city in my mind is HARDLY an excessively sized structure. In fact, many of the smaller stations I have used to start on many a railway trip - Landstuhl, Germany (DB), Fussa, Japan (JR), even San Diego (Amtrak/MTS/Coaster) have as many tracks (and as long as platforms in terms of train/car length) as I have used in this game so far.

I'm sure others will disagree, but I welcome your comments...

GoldRush wrote:And the lack of buffers doesn't look right.

We believe in saving costs by eliminating buffers. Any locomotive engineers caught running their trains off the end of the track get their beer ration cut in half...

Anyhow, moving right along...

COMPETITION ARRIVES (1872-1878)

The Riverburg Central experiences a banner year, closing out 1872 with record profits. The Riverburg Temperance Times, the local newspaper of note, takes heed and stops adding the preface "That worthless inebriate" when mentioning S. P. Ferroequinus in print, at least the "worthless part"...
In the last dozen years, several companies in the mapworld have been founded and commenced building competing transportation networks. As with the dawn of many new technologies, the marketplace eventually shakes out many of the original entrants into the fray. However, a couple of entities with well-written AIs have made their presence felt, and are starting to encroach upon what Espee considers his prime expansion territory.
The Tillyfield Transport, founded in 1867, has done reasonably well in transporting passengers, and has made a foray into freight hauling, in particular the local coalfields just to the northwest of Riverburg. Espee believes that there's plenty of business for all comers at this point, but this one may be a future adversary for tapping critical raw materials markets.

Espee makes a strategic decision and purchases 25% of Tillyfield Transport for $71,200 in 1873.
Standon Green Transport, founded in 1870, has a very profitable passenger service operating out of Fronby, a city on the northwest end of the map far from Riverburg Central. However, a freight line delivering goods from Standon Green to the town of Dreadingney Falls, just north of the the RC-served municipality of Penhall, has caught Espee's notice. This line is currently a marginal performer due to the fact that the Standon Green factory is not being properly supplied with adequate raw materials. Espee believes that President MacDonald of the SGT has bit off more than he can chew, and is in somewhat precarious financial condition. However, acquiring this line could come in handily with his future plans to extend passenger service north from Penhall.

Espee will keep an eye on his northern neighbor, and evaluate a possible stock purchase when trading is allowed in 1875...

BIG PLANS UP NORTH (1873-1874)
S.P Ferroequinus, president of the Riverburg Central Railway, Bridge, and Land Navigation Company, did not let the activities of nearby competition distract his attention for too long... The impulse to lay down trackage to some faraway coalfield, iron ore mine, or factory that could go out of business at a moment's notice in these uncertain early days could present Espee with a financial debacle that could drive his fledgling road to bankruptcy. Keeping with his original plan, he once again focused on his passenger and mail service, considering avenues for expansion that would be self-sustaining and show a solid return on investment.

Espee realized that while local service was necessary to nurture and build up his traffic base, the REAL money was in long-haul passenger service. In his view, trains took as long to fill up for local short-distance runs as they did for longer ones, and the disproportionate time spend on non-revenue-miles on the short runs wasn't good utilization of capital. Espee was also conscious of the need to haul balanced traffic loads, to ensure that his trains generated revenue in both directions, not just one (another little point that bothered him about freight railroading). He envisioned main stations 150 to 200 tiles apart, running long trains filled to capacity in both directions, as the key to a profitable passenger network. Local trains serving small towns could best serve as feeders to the long-distance trains, transferring their occupants and ensuring that those trains ran full. As long as those long-distance express trains ran reasonably quickly over the road, the higher efficiency would make up for the gradually diminishing payment schedule for longer passenger delivery times.
Espee saw the best opportunity to clone his initial success with Riverburg-Drondtown service with the twin municipalities of Gruhead and Grenway, located across each other on the Grenway Sound, 185 tiles north of their counterparts on the RC. Not wishing to tip his hands to potential competitors (as well as the ever-present detractors), he set up his convivial partner in the pursuit of adult beverages, I.M. Soused, as the president of the Gruhead and Grenway Railroad Company. Once the line received the prerequisite charter and permits for construction, Mr. Soused assigned Espee his proxy votes for consideration (rumored to be several cases of Gallo White Port from California), and the G&G commenced construction to its namesake cities, under the virtual control of the Riverburg Central.
Espee hoped that the double-tracked line, first-class station facilities, the purchasing of the "latest and greatest" locomotive technology on the market (300 class 4-6-0s providing 700 HP for the passenger and mail locals), and the planting of thousands of dollars of trees at his personal expense, would soften the impact of the local citizenry when they learned that they had been, well somewhat, mislead - but sadly that was not to be the case. "APPALLING" cried the Grenway town council. "Scandal!" read the headlines of the Grenway Gab.

A local pundit by the name of O.T.T. Dee had this much to say:

"Espee's antics and outrageous acts are beyond comprehension to this sane, rational observer. His construction plans are way too aggressive. His stations are massive compared to the paltry dribbles of traffic expected to ride on this overbuilt line. He doesn't even use BUFFERS at the end of his tracks! Some would argue that his overall plans are not very 'realistic'. I am at a loss to explain what this well-lubricated grifter has in mind in terms of a rational business plan..."

The Gruhead and Grenway had numerous nicknames: Philbert's Folly, Espee's Scandal, and others that could not be mentioned in polite company, or at least around moderators. Yet those who understood how Espee's mind worked would have noticed the provisions for expension on the west end of the Gruhead station, and the surveying crews trekking through the back country towards the little hamlets of Molow, Trepool, Funhattan, Nansay, and New Minlow. The residents of those isolated burgs, long frustrated at the lack of access to nice cold drinks in comfy saloons, would CERTAINLY welcome the efforts of this singulary determined railroader, not to mention the bigger prize - the eventual linking of these northern outposts with the rest of the Riverburg Central system...

... AND DOWN SOUTH TOO (1874-1875)

While the populace up north wails and gnashes their teeth over the G&G, Espee sends crews west into Tillyfield Transport territory to establish a foothold.
The metropolis of Rabourne, located 150 tiles west of Riverburg and just about as south and you can get without "falling off the map" as the locals would say, provides another future terminus for long-distance passenger and mail service. A double-track line provides a connection with the neighboring towns of Grudburg and Pradton.
Service starts with 4 more Ten-Wheelers as engine numbers 304 through 307 arrive in 1875.
The Riverburg Central now rosters 26 locomotives assigned to 20 assorted mail and passenger trains:

• • 16 each "200 Class" 4-4-0s, 450HP, 50 MPH max, numbered 200-215.
    2 each "220 Class" 4-4-0s, 650 HP, 60 MPH max, numbered 220-221.
    8 each "300 Class" 4-6-0s, 700 HP, 60 MPH max, numbered 300-307.

No wrecks or retirements yet... everyone is keeping their fingers crossed.

LOCAL SERVICE EXPANDS (1876-1879)

Having established the principal, termini of his future far-flung network, Espee takes time from major capital projects and works on developing feeder service:
New Stanminster, located on the western bank of the Central (formerly Vulgar) River, has been clamoring for service for some time. A new-fangled suspension bridge and trackage to Drondtown allows service to start in late 1876. Five older 4-4-0s are reassigned to this branch line, other power is shuffled around on the Main Division, and 4 new Ten-Wheelers (308-311) are assigned to the busy Riverburg-Penninsulus through line, where their speed and power can be best utilized. Those 200 Class Americans are starting to show their age, but they will last a few more years in this less demanding local service...
Up north on the "G&G", the surveyors have finished their work, made their recommendations, and laid track to the mountain hamlet of New Minlow. This scenic little terminus, now the highest point on the entire system (500 meters elevation), requires a dogleg up Minlow Creek to gain elevation at a grade acceptable to the Ten-Wheelers. Double-track is laid with smooth, wide curves down in the 'flats, converging to single track just south of MW Tower.
Seven brand-spanking-new Ten-Wheelers (312-318) make their debut on the single-engine mail train and the three double-headed passenger trains that run through non-stop to Grehall.

Haha, I like how you put the responses of your critics (including me) into your story!

Your heightmap is beautiful and I like the fact that you are using NARS. It's my favorite trainset and the only one I ever use in OpenTTD.

I'll definitely watch this thread.