PC Hints and Tips

Railroad Tycoon for PC Hints and Tips

This page contains ALL the hints and tips we know of for Railroad Tycoon for PC. Please DO NOT contact us asking for additional Railroad Tycoon hints. As soon as we discover any new hint, we publish it here immediately. If you have a Railroad Tycoon for PC hint that is not listed here, please submit it.

Ride Names
Here are some names for Rides: Steel RC: Eliminator,Terminator,Python,The Tomb indoor/underground), Vortex, Blaster, Vertigo. Wooden RC: The Dipper, Wild one, Mean Streak, Thunderbolt, The Beast. Swinging Ship: Searay, Pharo's Fury, S.S. Swinger. Scrambler: Sizzler, Observation Tower: Hawk's eye Hawk's nest Sky Spiral. Whoa Belly: Power Tower, Up Draft, Down Draft.
Submitted by: TomcatDude Added: 24 Oct 2002	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

The Competition
Building a profitable railroad is challenge enough, but the game achieves a new level of excitement with J.P. Morgan trying to conquer the same territories. A number of tactics will help defend and attack against the competition but all of them require cash. A large portion of your profits will be consumed in the battles of board rooms and in the war to conquer the world. If an opponent begins to buy your railroad's stock, either buy your own stock to achieve a majority share or reset the game to friendly competition for a few years. Owning your own stock is always recommended. Switching to friendly competition though, while unsportsmanlike, will prevent a hostile takeover - which is the most frustrating way to lose the game by far. (Experience is speaking here.)
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Record Keeping
Those bi-annual reports pop up for a reason: learn to use their data. Graph the various revenues your railroad generates and, if a certain type of cargo can't justify itself, discontinue carrying it. Ending each year with more cash than the previous will help your stock to increase and replacing trains will keep maintenance costs down. Watch these balance sheets. Also learn to interpret the efficiency charts. Since the Earth cannot maintain more than 32 trains, try to build the most efficient line possible. Minimize empty travel.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

The Stock Market
Making a profit in Railroad Tycoon's stock market is nearly impossible. Competitors tend to buy their own stock when it is low and the broker's 10% prevents any easy, short-term cashing in of stock. To truly make a profit, one must be patient, buy when a railroad is in its infancy and sell when the stock grows. This helps occasionally with cash flow, but doesn't provide much revenue compared to other methods and requires a great deal of time. The real value of the stock market lies in the opportunity to take over other railroads. In the early stages of the game, allow a competitor (you won't have any choice) to prosper. Buy your own stock to prevent any surprises and keep an eye on cash heavy railroads. Then, when you've cash enough to support yourself, make a run on an opponent's stock. Don't mess around: either commit to taking over another railroad or don't bother even calling the broker. Take out as many bonds as it will require to conquer the target railroad - don't worry about interest or debt: they will be taken care of as soon as control is achieved. Buy the competitor's stock as fast as possible, ignore the price, and without fail take it over. When you've achieved ownership, don't bother with trying to make the line profitable: suck it dry for cash. The game will allow a player to take $100,000 from a controlled railroad for as long as it exists, regardless of its actual cash and debt load. A railroad which cost $2,000,000 to takeover can provide $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 dollars from cash raids which more than pays for itself and the bonds necessary to win control. Here lies the way to win the game: seize control of a railroad as soon as possible in the game, bleed it dry for four years, and unload its stock before it goes bankrupt. Your once formidable competitor will drown in debt once you release control and will within two or four years be dissolved - freeing up virgin territories for your line. The windfall cash from the takeover will allow you to buy other railroads or to build so quickly that you'll soon outstrip the competition.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Setting Up
After the opening credits have ended, select your geographic location; each offers tests of your skill with perhaps Europe containing the most economic complexities. Next select Tycoon level for the greatest challenge and fun. Then choose a complex economy and cutthroat competition. Last you must decide whether or not you enjoy playing traffic cop. Railroad Tycoons have divided into two camps: purists who think Dispatcher Operation is actually entertaining, and those of us who believe life is too short for worrying about train collisions. This column will unabashedly favor the later bias. (However, for those of you who have never tried Dispatcher Operation it is well worth one or two sessions. There's a theory advocating that Dispatcher Operation was the inspiration for Lemmings.)
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Your First Line
Your first terminal is important: find a level area between two cities and lay a straight, short line between the two. It is more important to make the line short than to link two huge cities: simply find one large city and an adjacent serviceable city, make sure your elevation remains flat, and try to build a track no longer than twelve squares. You'll depend on this section of track for speed throughout the game. Named trains are extremely valuable: use this short, fast section to make speed records and to quickly build revenue.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Profit Vs. Service
Since the game so cruelly imposes a 32 train and station limit, a player must maximize his or her resources: some players prefer a line which services every available cargo and others go for cash, ignoring the less profitable cargoes. Either method is exciting and challenging, though money is the most quantifiable measure of success in the game.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Profit
Building revenue depends on passengers and mail. Find large cities and always build terminals - which help to promote growth - and make sure to pick up each and every passenger. Almost every station's restaurant will pay for itself in four to six years, after which you'll be pulling in direct profits for a negligible increase in maintenance. Post offices are even more lucrative, and hotels, while slow to appreciate, do also bring in profits. A profitable train line will undoubtedly focus on passenger and mail revenues.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Company Stock
Another way to increase net worth and stock profits, while leaving cash flow unaffected, is to buy your own stock. In all conditions it serves a player to do so: buying one's own stock defends against hostile takeovers and almost always pays off with profits. It also serves as a bit of a war chest if a player can afford to sell his or her own stock in times of need.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Net Worth
Profits and net worth will increase for each industry a player builds. When a railroad becomes prosperous and is no longer struggling to stake out territory, players can promote growth in cities by building industries. Each industry becomes a static bonus to your net worth and also (for those players concentrating on service) affords more cargo opportunities.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Priority Shipments
The annual cost of maintaining an engine runs from $8,000 to $18,000: the bonus from one timely delivery of a priority shipment can run as high as $500,000. Do the math - making priority shipments a priority will more than justify the cost of a train devoted entirely to such tasks. In fact, depending on the bonus, building a new, direct track may be justified as well.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Speed And Signal Towers
Learn the designations of trains. Use the limited, express, through, and local classifications to build a fast line. Signal towers will substantially increase speeds as well. Focusing on passengers and mail will decrease overall loading times and will allow trains to run faster. Bulk freight will slow an entire line down: depending on the profits from such cargo, a player may wish to build parallel lines to accommodate slower cargoes. Double tracking is also vital, despite the harsh maintenance costs. Ultimately speed will determine how profitable a railroad is, how well it delivers priority shipments, and how effectively a player makes use out of the 32 stations and trains the game imposes on your railroad.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

Service And Complex Cargoes
Making sure a city receives the cargo it will buy significantly promotes growth. It is not enough to build an exclusive passenger line. Build short adjunctive lines from industrial centers into cities, and build industries to support the development of such resources: e.g., steel mills, factories, etc. It is wise to check whether or not such industries can be built in any given area before building a station. Such checks may determine the exact placements of stations. Food and wine cargoes, while barely profitable, will markedly encourage a city's growth. If one industrial center can service two or more cities it will allow a player to devote the least amount of resources to it.
Submitted by: CheatMan Added: 08 Apr 2003	Report this Hint as: An Unlockable \| Broken

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