Topic: Taking up the Rogaland Challenge.

[Dutchman on Rails]

This is the first installment of what will be a continuing story. The scene is LeifInge's Rogaland Challenge. However, as this story will consist of many different posts, I feel it's better to start my own thread rather than clog up his.

Please feel free to comment or make suggstions. Part of my reason for being on a forum is to exchange ideas on how we have different playing styles.

Chapter 1: Q1 1930, A fledgling company.

Total Population January 1930: 8595.

Rogaland was a small province that apparently was mostly forgotten by the industrial revolution. Though it did have some industry to service the local needs, the various villages only support a partial road network and vary from almost 2000 souls to less than 800.

The village councils along with the provincial chamber of commerce decide that in order to bring the province up the economic ladder, modern transport is needed. They can only spare half a million in funds, with which they found a transport company, RogaTrans.

The management of Rogatrans gets two main targets. First of all, the population must increase. Second, the province and villages want a good return on their investment, therefore the company should achieve as high a Net Wealth as possible.

With these targets in mind, RogaTrans new director presents his initial plans. Aware that it is politically undesirable to ignore any of the villages at this time, he proposes creating a network of very basic low-cost roads between the various villages and use those and the existing road network to set up bus services. This network will initially consist of six lines:

1) Stavanger-Bryne-Sawmill-Haugesund.
2) Haugesund-Ore Mine-Oilfields-Sandnes.
3) Stavanger-Randaberg.
4) Tau-Randaberg-Egersund-Sola.
5) Haugesund-Tower-Coal Mine-Manor.
6) Refinery-Sandnes-Factory.

[Severous]

Hi

Looking forward to this.

Can you build it all and add sufficient buses with the initial capital?

[Matthi205]

It must not be buses.Better build a big rail network with just one train per line than running hundreds of buses. However,build Line 4 first,and make it be in several parts.

[Dutchman on Rails]

@ Severous. Yes, there was plenty of capital with some room to spare. I'm a bit ahead of my story in gameplay, partly because of redaction work (finding the right start and end time for chapters in the history) and partly because I sometimes backtrack a little for experimenting.

@ Matthi. Indeed, rails present an attractive alternative, and before settling on this one I did some experimenting. The final reason I settled on buses as an initial investment was the maintenance prices. A square of rail costs 1.60 (low quality, 65km/h) or 8.00 (better, 110 km/h), while the humble gravel road costs 0.40 at 45 km/h. However, in later stages you will see rails, especially as I already see some distinctive growth in Stavanger and Haugesund and the traffic between the two places.

How it works out? That will show itself in this chapter and the next one...

Chapter 2: Q2-3 1930, the Stavanger interchange.

Total Population April: 8699.
Total Population July: 8855.
Net Wealth April: 354,879
Net Wealth July: 409,193

Operational Profit Q1: 13,865
Operational Profit Q2: 56,378
Travels Q1: 4,733
Travels Q2: 13,537

The outcome of the first quarter showed predictable exponential growth. Operational Profit was only 918 in January, but as more and more buses were put in service, it rose to 9,415 in March and 20,562 in July.

Likewise, travel increased with similar figures, 273 in January, 2,666 in March, 5,075 in June.

In the first quarter, company management put through a reorganisation. The Tau-Randaberg-Egersund-Sola has been split into three lines, each between the various cities. Given the structure of the network, with most of the traffic focused on the Stavanger-Haugesund axis, this allows for a better distribution of the vehicles in proportion to the traffic. Also, a new line has been opened from Stavanger to Bryne, parallel to the already existing Haugesund line, in order to take the capacity there.

Most of the major stops had their capacity upgraded by adding a mailbox.* While these boxes existed anyway, a basic mail service, first of one line, then split into two for capacity reasons, has been set up.

However, capacity continues to be a problem at many of the main bus interchanges, most notably Stavanger. Just adding more buses doesn't appear to be the answer, some of the buses drive half empty, while the stops are still overcrowded.**

The answer RogaTrans proposes is to add waiting rooms to the major interchanges.*** In Stavanger, they decide to go a step further and reorganise the lines and road systems. Two small sections of road allow for bypasses around the city center for the Haugesund and Randaberg lines. The previously quiet stop in the east will function as the main bus terminal. The Bryne line will serve as the connection for the center of Stavanger.



The situation in Stavanger. The red and yellow lines correspond with lines 1 and 3 from the previous chapter, the blue line is the new Bryne line, which functions like a citybus line in my country.

Lines: 11 (9x passengers, 2x mail).

* Mailboxes have the interesting feature of also increasing passengers capacity.

** The reason for this is also visible in some real-life bus routes in my country. As the buses to the 'rear' of the service arrive at a bus station that is empty, they take less time to let passengers on board and slowly creep up on the one in front of them, while that crowded one is being delayed a bit at every stop due to overcrowding. Eventually, the buses drive right behind each other, creating the problem of gaps in the service where extra capacity is most needed. If anyone knows a way to keep the buses at regular intervals, that could improve service considerably.

*** A waiting room is a station building added to a bus stop.

[Matthi205]

No,that is because I use trains only for larger ditances.For lines 1 and 3,I suggest airplanes.
PS:I taught you to use Trains!!!

[Severous]

Hi

If the buses had order to wait until x% full orders might that cause the empty ones to wait and thus space them out?

I notice that when using the wait %full order you can type any % ..it doesn't have to be the preset % amounts. 

I'm not sure how the other wait feature works...some fraction of a month I think. I can find no documentation. But that might help you even more by limiting a wait and spacing as desired. If you find out how it works mention it in a later post please as I've got a similar problem in 1815 where is multiple sailing ships that I need to space out.

[Combuijs]

If the buses had order to wait until x% full orders might that cause the empty ones to wait and thus space them out?

Yes, this works in principal okay. Only problem is that if other lines stop or pass the halt, they'll have to wait for the loading bus. So you better do this on a location that won't block other lines. If you have money enough, you could build a large busstation just outside the city, with parallel halts for every line (or less with choose signals). That has the added advantage that city growth is not slowed down by overcrowded stations in the city.

some fraction of a month I think

It's indeed the fraction of a month, so 1/32 is about a day.

[Dutchman on Rails]

@Severous, Combuijs,

I've considered the loading percentage and the cutoff at part of a month for much the same reasons you mentioned (I also struggle in 1815 to get all the coaches / ships spaced out). Eventually I came up with your (Combuijs) solution of a bus terminal, be it with a small station building to act as a buffer storing passengers.

Other than that, here's another chapter. After this, it will take some time, I need some time to experiment further on in the game and also during Tu-Fri I will normally not have time to post.

Chapter 3: Q4 1930-Q3 1931 Q2, RogaTrans Freight.

Total Population October: 9009.
Total Population January 1931: 9576.
1930 Population Growth: 981
Total Population April: 10140
Total Population July: 10350

Net Wealth October: 421,704
Net Wealth January 1931: 439,740
Net Wealth April: 478,074
Net Wealth July: 529,856

Operational Profit Q3: 34,994
Operational Profit Q4: 48,777
Operational Profit 1930: 154,021
Operational Profit Q1: 51,093
Operational Profit Q2: 56,171

Travels Q3: 12,844
Travels Q4: 15,316
Travels 1930: 46,440
Travels Q1: 16,975
Travels Q2: 18,969

Q3 shows the results of the upheaval the reorganisation caused. The reorganisation  in Stavanger early July caused profits and travel to drop sharply, from 20,562 and 5,075 in the previous month to 8,622 and 3,873. In the months after that, profit recovered, but levelled off at a level slightly lower than the July record, even though the travels rose to new heights.

Company management is pleased with the way the new terminal functions though. Effectively it works as a buffer, allowing the level of passengers to rise and fall with the arrivals of buses bringing customers to and from the interchange. Customer satisfaction is high, the people of Stavanger even built a monument to commemorate nearby*

Haugesund, Randaberg and Egersund each got a waiting room as well. While occasionally a bus needed to be added, the passenger transport flowed smoothly throughout the period.

The mail service has been slightly expanded, with a few mail stops added and the lines further split into four sections.

The encouraging developments prompted RogaTrans management to begin work on starting up a freight service in the industrial heartland. The roads already existed to bring raw materials to the factories and finished products to the next factory and eventually to the shopping mall. These services have been slowly but steadily expanding, partly because company management doesn't want to create a service imbalance or overload**, and partly because of slowly reaching the end of the available ready cash (while profit brings in a steady flow of cash, the appetite of company management for new vehicles and services is insatiable).

The building of a monument in the north of Haugesund in January caused the end of this long, relatively quiet, period. Already in April, a bypass road was built north of the steel mill, to allow a smoother flow of the steel traffic and the Haugesund Manor line. At the end of June, the decision was made that this northern bypass would become the place for a bus terminal like the one in Stavanger.



Again, the red, blue and pink lines correspond with the lines in the original map.

Lines: 12 (9x passengers, 3x mail).

* The monument of course is sheer coincidence, but I couldn't resist the temptation of attributing it to the building of the terminal.

** I've yet to develop an understanding how the cargo flows stay balanced, like many more things...

[Dutchman on Rails]

Well, time for another update. This will be another relatively boring period, but after this one, pace will go up, making things become a little more interesting.

First, though, a little housekeeping. I know I have a rather long username. Personally I use the standard shorthand DoR, so if anyone finds that more convenient, please be my guest.

Taking up the Rogaland Challenge.

Chapter 4: Q3 1831 - Q2 1932, Tailback.

Total Population: October: 10,584
Total Population: January 1932: 10,775
1931 Population Growth: 1,199
Total Population: April: 10,955
Total Population: July: 11,188
Net Wealth: October: 546,786
Net Wealth: January 1932: 585,912
Net Wealth: April: 612,684
Net Wealth: July:  670,964

Operational Profit Q3: 40,170
Operational Profit Q4: 58,232
Operational Profit 1931: 205,670.32
Operational Profit Q1: 43,330
Operational Profit Q2: 63,609

Travels Q3: 17,288
Travels Q4: 20,405
Travels 1931: 73,637
Travels Q1: 19,748
Travels Q2: 22,612

The third quarter again shows a sharp drop in profits in July in response to the reorganisation, followed by a strong recovery in August and September. Two more highlights are that in November the monthly profits topped 20,000 for the second time in company history, nearly missing the record of April the previous year, and that the fourth quarter was the first one where the profit outweighed the new additions to the fleet.

In September, RogaTrans management felt compelled to add more capacity to the Stavanger and Haugesund bus terminals. As a preparation for a possible future rail line, they built covered platforms, which for now are used as waiting areas. November saw the addition of a waiting room to Bryne's bus stop, while Sola got her waiting room in February.

However, by the same month, trouble started brewing in Sandnes. The inhabitants got increasingly annoyed by the large volume of traffic running through their streets. Recently they got the local government to place a stop sign at the entrance to the village from Haugesund, causing a tailback for miles.*



Company Management, engineers and Sandnes local council consult, but in the end there's simply no way around it. The road network in the southeast region is stretched to the limit of it's potential. Therefore it's time to start laying rail lines to handle the increasing volume of traffic in this industrial area. Fortunately, most of the high-volume traffic can be handled through a single trunk line.



While there obviously is a solid income base, there's little in terms of ready cash available, so the new network southeast will have to be built in stages. It is decided that the first stage will be to get the oil traffic off the road.

Lines: 22 (9x passengers, 5x mail, 8x Freight).

* The reason is not entirely clear, but almost all vehicles stop at the first crossing in the village, even though there's no crossing traffic at all.

[LeifInge]

Just want to say that I love your story! Keep up the good work
Do you have som numbers on how many busses you have, remember that selling thin can sometimes finance most of the railroad

[Severous]

Like the tailback.  Must have set you back thousands in lost income 

If you work out the cause and a solution it would be interesting to see.  Ive not used any traffic management techniques except demolish of the usused crossing roads.

[Dutchman on Rails]

@Severous, I do not yet know how to calculate the potential profit of vehicles based on factors like distance, speed and things like that. A little clarification might help though. It was not a traffic jam, all vehicles were moving, but at 5km/h instead of the 40-ish km/h they and the road were capable of. So traffic was still flowing and I was still making good money as the figures show.
In the end the road was simply overcrowded and traffic had to be diverted to rails. It was my basic plan from the beginning to use the roads to 'kickstart' the network profits and then move on to tracks to expand where greater capacity and speed were needed, and in the following chapters you'll see me swinging back and forth between them, sometimes expanding the road service and sometimes moving more road services to rails.

@Leifinge, yes, selling off the vehicles did help the further development to some extent. The problem I had with the first line is described in a Dutch proverb that says so much as: "The cost comes before the gain", meaning that first I had to spend the money building the rail line and only then could I recoup the money from selling the redundant road vehicles.

As for a vehicle list, I made that for you based on the figures of July 1st, 1932, which will likely remain the highest number for some time to come. I don't make vehicle lists, and I'm also stopping the line lists, because they take me a lot of time sorting them out from counting individual vehicles and lines of the various types. Anyway:

Passengers: 72x RVg-KS 45 bus, 27x RVg-KS 69 bus
Mail: 7x RVg-KS 4051 Post Truck
Wood: 3x Ford V8 coe Timber Truck
Coal: 4x Sindor-Praga N Bulk truck
Iron Ore: 12x Sindor-Praga N Bulk truck
Oil: 28x Sindor-Praga N Cistern Truck
Planks: 14x Ford V8 coe Timber Truck
Steel: 23x RVg-LK V38 Steel Truck
Plastic: 10x S.Kroytor Gaz-4 Goods Truck
Goods: 4x S.Kroytor Gaz-4 Goods Truck
Total: 204.

And now back to the story. This time it will be a short chapter, as with the first rail line I have something relatively interesting to show.

Chapter 5: Q3 1932, putting the oil on track.

Total Population: October: 11,420
Net Wealth: October: 699,191

Operational Profit Q3: 55,377
Travels Q3: 23,607

Construction of stage 1 starts in July, and immediately on completion work starts on phasing out the oil trucks and closing that line.



The result on traffic is clear, it immediately starts flowing reasonably smoothly again.

The rail line itself is not expected to be profitable, but company management is pleased to see that the difference is less than 50. A second train in the future would make the line profitable, as does of course the expansion where parts of the line are shared by more vehicles.

A more important issue is that the volumes of plastic in Sandnes refinery are rising faster than the existing transport can handle. As an interim measure the lines serving plastic and goods are merged into one, taking on goods from the factory as available.*

The next preparatory step is at Sandnes, where the bus stop existing in the west is transformed into another interchange. In terms of traffic, this isn't strictly necessary, but the site is close to the shopping mall and therefore company management considers it a good place for the rail station to be built for stage 2. That reorganisation of course causes the usual drop in profit, but company management is pleasantly surprised to see that it only amounts to some 4000 this time, or just under 20%, in August, making a slight recovery in September.

* This reorganisation is the result of a hint I noticed on this forum (I forgot the name of the person who mentioned it) after setting up separate lines at first.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Chapter 6: Q4 1932, Network southeast.

Total Population: January 1933: 11,652
1932 Population Growth: 1,123
Net Wealth: January 1933: 684,386

Operational Profit Q4: 54,370
Operational Profit 1932: 217,053.29
Travels Q4: 24,710
Travels 1932: 90,677

Stage 2 starts in October, with a passengers service from Haugesund to Sandnes. This in turn sparks a reorganisation, closing the line between the two places, and adding a local line in each. The newer RVg-KS 69 buses are still considered useful and transferred to different lines, the older RVg-KS 45 are not so lucky and are retired.

Before October is out, stage 3 is started, with a siding at the iron ore mine and an iron ore train laid in.

Late November, the Haugesund-Sandnes line receives a capacity upgrade with a second passengers train. By the end of Q4, company management can conclude that Network Southeast is firmly established.



The fledgling Haugesund Station. A passengers platform, a freight platform, and some room for trains to wait. Not much to write home about.



The original oil line now forms part of the Haugesund-Sandnes Line. A friendly pilot from a neighbouring province sent this picture with the two passengers trains and the oil train all in this section.

[Matthi205]

I like your story,but what are you doing for Sola,Haugesund,Randaberg and Tau? i'm only hearing from sandnes and haugesund.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Well, Matthi, the primary focus is on the busy passengers and freight traffic in the southeast. In the other areas, the focus is to keep the service up to satisfactory level with relatively minimal investments while the bulk of the available money is pumped into the network southeast. While this does cause certain changes, these are fairly minimal, and probably a bit tedious.

I did hear you though. For this chapter I've added a few lines of summary to the policy in the other areas and a nice screenshot of Stavanger.

In other news, I can not make the deadline of July 11th. That's alright, my response to the challenge was first and foremost because Leifinge wanted to see different ways people handle the same province. I think we all succeeded in doing that. However, I feel the game is still assisting me in learning more about the infrastructure, so for now I'll play on in my own pace before starting a new game (and story) in the 19th century.

Chapter 7: Q1 - Q2 1933, steel on steel.

Total Population: April: 11,876
Total Population: July: 13,240*
Net Wealth: April: 739.827
Net Wealth: July: 748,448

Operational Profit Q1: 63,457
Operational Profit Q2: 60,140
Travels Q1: 27,590
Travels Q2: 26,713

The first quarter of 1933 starts quietly. The projects in the previous quarter have depleted the reserves of ready cash, so this quarter is spent saving money.

April sees company management awaking from it's hibernation, this time building the rail extension to the goods factory and transferring the steel service to the trains. At the end of the second quarter, a second train adds more capacity.



Meanwhile, in the other areas of the province, not much happens except regular maintenance. Company management makes frequent inspection tours of it's lines and updates them with vehicles and stops where necessary. Occasionally the lines are also reorganised a bit to be able to provide better service, especially in and around Stavanger. But there are no major infrastructure projects.



* This sudden jump was caused by successive building of monuments in Haugesund, Bryne and Stavanger.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Here's the next chapter. As so little happens in this chapter that I have no screenshots, I'll add a set of Bryne and Randaberg, the two largest villages not yet shown.

Chapter 8: Q3 1933 - Q2 1934, distractions.

Total Population: October: 13,473
Total Population: January 1934: 13,724
1933 Population Growth: 2,072
Total Population: April: 13,977
Total Population: July: 14,972
Net Wealth: October: 790,946
Net Wealth: January 1934: 846,196
Net Wealth: April: 896,648
Net Wealth: July: 959,700

Operational Profit Q3: 56,053
Operational Profit Q4: 64,677
Operational Profit 1933: 244.325.10
Operational Profit Q1: 69,568
Operational Profit Q2: 73,484
Travels Q3: 28,495
Travels Q4: 30,384
Travels 1933: 112,282
Travels Q1: 32,459
Travels Q2: 33,115

The months of July and August again are months for saving and reflection, but in September the next phase of rail expansion starts as the Plastic and Goods services are brought to the rail line...

...At least, that was the plan. But during construction it turned out that the Refinery had an oil shortage, so priority was shifted to an extra oil train.

After that, the plans are forgotten for a moment, as capacity runs out quickly in Stavanger. With over 3000 inhabitants, it's becoming more like a small town than a village. Several reorganisations, as well as the purchase of some new and faster buses, solve the problems here for now.

In Haugesund, too, similar problems arise which require a reorganisation of the lines.

Also, small scale reorganisations in the rail lines are needed to cope with earlier engineering mistakes. It's sometimes a learning curve, but we'll get there.

A novelty in the development of this region is marketplaces (tourist attractions), meaning more passenger traffic...

All this means more traffic, more vehicles. While the profit steadily keeps increasing, the investments needed mean company budget keeps just short of money to buy the trains needed in the Network Southeast program... Finally, in June 1934, RogaTrans Management reaches a decision. Trains are still the long-term solution, nevertheless the roads can take some more traffic now, and there is some extra profit to be made by adding trucks for plastic, planks, and goods. Therefore management decides to suspend the policy of not buying trucks in order to save money for the trains. Also, they will invest in modernising the existing fleet of buses where traffic requires.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Another chapter. This time an unrelated picture of Sola.

Chapter 9: Q3 1934 - Q1 1935, inching forward.

Total Population: October: 15,241
Total Population: January 1935: 15,522
1934 Population Growth: 1,798
Total Population: April: 15,818
Net Wealth: October: 1,033,558
Net Wealth: January 1935: 1,106,731
Net Wealth: April: 1,160,576

Operational Profit Q3: 84,738
Operational Profit Q4: 84,294
Operational Profit 1934: 312,091.27
Operational Profit Q1: 75,164
Travels Q3: 34,410
Travels Q4: 35,115
Travels 1934: 135,099
Travels Q1: 35,572

Stepping back for now takes a lot of investment. More trucks are added, and a large proportion of the buses is replaced by the more modern Gaz-4. The effect on profit can be seen in the jump in profit, some 10,000 in the quarter after this policy was implemented.

The trade imbalance in the goods chain continues to be a headache for the time being. More trucks helps a bit, but there's simply too much plastic production. The extra profit helps though to oversave on the investments made.

February 1935 is finally the time the first goods train comes in service. As large volumes of plastics have piled up in the refinery, the existing fleet of trucks is retained for now.



The junction at the refinery now works in three directions, servicing up to six trains.



Sola has grown somewhat, but not spectacularly so far. It's still a nice and quiet village. The unservices houses at the bottom-right were missed at the time and did not get a stop until later.

[hApo]

Why do you use 2-tiles trains? I usually use a 6-tile train, because the wagoons are not so expensive as a locomotive.

[Matthi205]

I see that your freight stations get crowded,so may I tell you something?

You can use railway waithalls such as the "Stellwerk"(forgot the english name,capacity is 128 everything)to expand your stations in capacity(even ports,airports and busstops).But,to avoid this:build bigger trains!!!

[Severous]

Hi DoR

May I enquire, What type of signal is that just ahead of the oil train?  Its yellow so is different from other signals on the same line.

And the goods train. That's heading to the factory right?  But its going away! No income will be earned for travel until that train gets closer to the factory than it was when it started.

Keep it up.  Do you think you might get to the end before the end of this week?  I will add your results to the summary no matter when you do it.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Lots of responses this time. I hope it can be forgiven to post a second chapter within 24 hours and reply while I'm at it.

@hApo, I was wondering when this question would come, and a bit hoping for it (it should bring out some interesting talks).
I basically have two reasons and one that is not so legitimate for using such short trains (which are about the maximum a C11 can pull without slowing down on the basic track).

The first is the monthly cost. Costs per car per block go slightly down with more powerful locomotives. Discarding the Ceres and other locomotives that are too slow for my taste, the C11 can pull three cars for 1.53, while the 2-5-1 can pull 7 cars for 2.75, or 0.51 per car for the C11 versus 0.39 per car for the 2-5-1. The 2-3-0 is probably much better, I haven't tested it, but given it's power it should be able to pull 12 cars for 2.94, or 0.24 per car. But 12 cars, a locomotive and a tender take 7 blocks of platform. At 72 per block per month, that's a monthly cost of 504. After some experimenting with early trains, I found that this offset the gains the 2-5-1 made. So I took up a basic philosophy of making short trains and lots of them. This may not be the best way though, and I welcome others to point out their reasons for longer trains.

The second reason is quite simple. As you can see, I cast some eyes on the 2-3-0 later on in the game. But it and it's tender cost a combined 65,000 excluding the cars, which at this stage of the game (with a seasonal income of some 40,000) I simply do not have. I already had to temporarily retreat from expanding the rail network at all in the previous chapter. So my policy is that I prefer a smaller train that I can afford today over a much larger one that I have to save for and can buy several seasons later (I don't want to go into debt).

Eventually, this basic strategy will prove untenable the same as the buses. I'm aware that eventually I invite overcrowding of the lines. That will be the signal to consolidate into more powerful trains, and upgrade the tracks (I'm a bit surprised no one has started about that yet).

The not so legitimate reason is that I like to 'spread out' delivery at the industries a bit. With one big train all the goods arrive in one big delivery, and then nothing for a long time. I hope four trains bring cargo every quarter of that period or so. It's not so legitimate because with double track and even passing tracks, I find the trains pile up behind each other, though at the busy lines around Sandnes the many different kinds of traffic keep the trains separated.

@Matthi, the refinery crowding (which is pretty bad, at one point there were over 400t plastic in the factory on top of the overcrowding in the station) was the result of neglecting to take out the goods for too long in chapter 9, due to being distracted by the passengers traffic while trying to save for a second train. My freight stations by the way are constantly crowded, which is more or less intentional neglect. Warehouses and infrastructure cost me money, which is still at a premium. Taking away the goods would be a good idea, but I can't buy vehicles fast enough (yet) at this stage without going into debt. And also I'm worried of merely moving the problem further down the line, with eventually the stockpiles of the Shopping Mall running over. I'm still a long way from that, but I'd like to approach that slowly. By the way, do factories start to produce faster if they have more stockpiles?

@Severous: The yellow signal is a pre-signal, of which the technical term would be an entrance signal (the real pre-signals tell a train to slow down because the main signal shows a red light and the train needs a kilometer or more to come to a full stop). Pre-signals in Simutrans are connected with the next signals (in this case the station platforms). If the platform for the train is not clear, the train will stop at the pre-signal instead of in front of the other platform, allowing the other train to leave and preventing jams.

The goods train is hauling a load of plastic to the goods factory. On the way back it will pick up what goods are available and drop them off at Sandnes station, where the line passes through. I'm not sure, but I think you gave that suggestion yourself to one of the other forum members.

Regarding the possibility of getting to the end before the end of this week, that will be a negative. I'm at early 1938 now with the game, and that took me three weeks to get there. Thank you though for promising to update the summary. I've noticed that my way of dealing with the situation is somewhat different from most people and raises some eyebrows , so it will be nice to compare if the results are much better or worse. So far it seems to be more or less comparable.

Anyway, time for another chapter.

Chapter 10: Q2 - Q4 1935, the wood madness.

Total Population: July: 16,430
Total Population: October: 16,713
Total Population: January 1936: 17,389
1935 Population Growth: 1,867
Net Wealth: July: 1,183,908
Net Wealth: October: 1,235,303
Net Wealth: January 1936: 1,313,413

Operational Profit Q2: 71,126
Operational Profit Q3: 73,036
Operational Profit Q4: 93,709
Operational Profit 1935: 313,040.53
Travels Q2: 36,010
Travels Q3: 36,300
Travels Q4: 38,860
Travels 1935: 146,742

Apparently Haugesund has a large number of Russian immigrants, as it builds a Russian church.

In April, the wood line becomes ready. In this case, trucks bring the planks to a station opposite the plantation, where a train brings it further to the factory. The trucks then go empty to the plantation and pick up a load of woods for the sawmill, where they pick up planks again.

Not surprisingly, this new line quickly turns out to be the highest capacity of all. In just two months, three trains are running.

Meanwhile, the normal expansion and vehicle replacement programs continue. Stavanger gets it's Russian church in August.

With Stavanger and Haugesund now both topping 3,500 souls, it is clear to company management that a rail link between the two cities has a rightful place on the priority list. However, analysis* have shown that the investment in the necessary high-speed infrastructure and rolling stock currently goes beyond Rogatrans' means. Therefore, management continues to pursue quick wins in order to get the profit increase needed to fund this future project.

* Read: Experiments. It turns out that a rail line RogaTrans can afford earns 10,000 less than the buses do. I suppose higher speed trains can redress that balance, but I don't have half a million in ready funds to buy tracks and especially multiple runner-pulled trains. So right now I keep giving the highest priority to transporting more freight, which boosts the monthly income.



The situation around the tree plantation. The zigzag in the rail line is for a future rail line to Stavanger, that can go straight ahead. The empty space in between is reserved for the second track, which connects in a straight line to the passengers platform at Haugesund station.



Haugesund Station after the planks line was completed. There's one through track in the middle that doesn't have a platform, in the long run this is supposed to become the Sandnes-Stavanger passengers platform. In Dutch stations it is fairly common to have three tracks between two tracks.

The empty steel train in the middle is on a waiting track, for which it has a special waypoint order. Other trains pass on the outside track to it's right, but as the steel trains have a 100% load order, if one train is loading and another arrives, the entire station would grind to a halt. In the waiting track, up to two steel trains can wait without hindering the rest of the traffic.

[Severous]

Interesting to look at and I will have to think carefully about your style of short trains.

Here is my rendition of the oil trains in Ragoland showing train length, cost per tile, and signals.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Well, for the next chapter I don't have any screenshots anyway, so I might as well use one to answer you.



So let's crunch the numbers: Both your trains have 9 cars of oil. That gives a monthly income of 123 per car for the 2-5-1, and 136 for the 8 wheeler.

The C11 does far less well, at 108 per car. But surprisingly the B6 does slightly better, at 144 per car.

Another interesting part is to calculate how the price per car is including the platforms and with the same capacity (I simplify this by not adding the maintenance cost for the tracks, as they are only 1.60 per tile).

For the purpose of that argument, it depends how many trains you have. One of your 9-car trains effectively needs 72 per car extra costs in station platforms (/2 for two cars per tile and *2 for two stations). That would bring the earnings down to 64 per car. If I would have 9 cars, I'd need 3x a C11 (the worst one, but the only one available after 1934). So the platforms cost 72/3 = 24 per car. That would mean I'd earn 84 per car, fully 20 more.

But with two of your trains sharing the same platform for six of mine, the balance swings again, because you earn 100 per car to my 94. The more trains you have in service, the bigger your advantage per car, if you have 3 trains, and I'd need a ridiculous 9 trains to match capacity, you'd have an advantage of 112/100. 4 trains/12: 118/102. And so on.

And that's not all there is to say. If you'd use the RVg 2-3-0 instead, which should be able to pull your 9 cars, but at 2.94 instead of 3.83/3.93, that should increase your lead by a sizable margin, as you'd have almost 25% less running costs than you have now.

I'd say that there's something to say for both, depending on circumstances. For my relatively small-scale startup services (even now I only have 2 oil trains running), I'm doing better with 2 small trains instead of one big one of the same capacity. But once I get five or more trains on one line in service, especially given that the quarterly income keeps increasing and I can afford more expensive trains over time, I should seriously consider replacing them with longer trains and more powerful engines.

That said, I might as well throw in another chapter.

Chapter 11: Q1 - Q3 1936, double trouble.

Total Population: April: 17,691
Total Population: July: 18,021
Total Population: October: 18,358
Net Wealth: April: 1,403,352
Net Wealth: July: 1,484,880
Net Wealth: October: 1,567,559

Operational Profit Q1: 104,078
Operational Profit Q2: 103,986
Operational Profit Q3: 104,477
Travels Q1: 42,186
Travels Q2: 42,773
Travels Q3: 43,512

Q1 sees the addition of no less than three freight trains, one for planks, one for iron ore, one for steel.

In April, the Nabe-JNR OHA 31 Steel Passenger Waggon goes out of production. It will be sorely missed, as company management views it as an important combination with their C11's.

Late April sees the addition of a fifth planks train. As the increased pressure of trains spells capacity problems on the Haugesund-Sandnes line, the remaining single track sections of the line are doubled.

In June, one more plastic and goods train is added, and Rogatrans is finally ready to phase out some of the goods trucks, a longstanding plan, the following month. The other trucks take off excess goods at the factory, but no longer stop at the refinery.

September sees the addition of a third goods train. By now, Stavanger has passed 4000 souls, and Haugesund is approaching the same number. The freight service is running in reasonably good order, though company management is unsure how things would go if more capacity is added (the shopping mall now seems to be getting a steady supply be only slightly below the balance between production and consumption. A stable quarterly profit of 100,000 allows a good base for future expansion.

There's plenty on the to do list of RogaTrans management though. Sooner or later, a rail line will be needed between the two largest towns of the province, and also between Stavanger and Randaberg. Not even a start has been made yet on transporting waste and bringing power to the industries. Two of the tourist attractions have not been connected yet. And if the shopping mall can cope with the extra goods delivery, more capacity is needed on the various freight lines too.

[hApo]

My another calculation:
11-wagons + Eight wheeler (oil train)
Earn per month: 1290(min) - 2135(max)
Maintenance cost for platforms (6 tiles x 2 platforms): 720
E-M = 570 up to 1415
Profit by one year: 17 813 - 8 640 = 9 173
Could the train pay up itself?
The train cost: 76 940
So it takes more than 8 years (accuratly 8 years and 5 months), but that's good. And what about your short trains? How long it takes to earn that money that the train cost? My calculator says that it's about 10 years and 2 months.

[Dutchman on Rails]

This is getting really interesting, because together we're getting all the pros and cons of the various trains, as well as lots of variables that can influence decision making. And we see how the context of purchasing is reflected in the type of trains we buy.

To my surprise, I spotted two slight flaws in your calculation. For the end result it doesn't matter though.

I earn 108 per car per month, that's 324 per train per month, and 3888 per year per train. The train itself costs 3x2740=8220 + the locomotive = 36420. 36420 / 3888 = 9.36 year, so 9 years 4 months instead of 10 years 2 months.

In this case the platform purchase prices (1000 per tile), are important too and should be added in both cases. So 76940 + 12000 for the platforms = 88940 / 9173 = 9.7 years, a rounded 9 years 8 months, versus 36420 = 4000 = 40420 / 3888 = 10.4 years, or 10 years and 5 months. So the 8 wheeler is the better long-term choice by 8 months. Not bad.

Interestingly enough, when it comes to short-term gains, the advantage more or less seems to swing, car for car, three of my trains would make 84 per car per month (as calculated before) and even with two cars more, your one train  would make 9173/12/11 = 70 per car per month. As we saw with Severous of course, having two trains such long trains rockets up the earnings per car per month.

Another question I'd have would be acceleration. I was also wondering when the question why I don't use five cars behind the C11 would be asked. In my case, I didn't like what that was doing to the acceleration. Right now, the C11 with 3 cars does  0-60 in 11 seconds (empty) or 21 seconds (fully loaded). With 5 cars, that would be 21 seconds (empty) and 46(!) seconds (fully loaded). Given that my network is based on many trains on shared (and crowded, the part between the two junctions for the oil train is shared by twelve trains) tracks, I can not have a train taking 3/4 of a minute to clear the area, and I even frown a bit upon a train that can do only 60 when I have tracks rated for 65.

I find it interesting how context-driven this is. My choices were to sort of use the smaller trains as the starter engine on a car. With some 30-40000 earnings per quarter when I started setting up the rail line, I could afford them quickly, set up some limited traffic, earn a relatively high income per car for the small volumes transporting, and then when traffic will outgrow their usefulness (and the growing income allows) replace them with stronger machines. The two of you make quite a convincing demonstration that in the context of a more advanced rail network with greater volumes of traffic, the larger engines are the better choice.

While I'm here, I might as well add another chapter. It's the last one in my backlog, after that, I have to play to get new ones and it will take a while before I can send one in again.

Chapter 12: Q4 1936 - Q3 1937, the value of rubbish.

Total Population: January 1937: 18,645
1936 Population Growth: 1,256
Total Population: April: 19,017
Total Population: July: 19,322
Total Population: October: 20,037
Net Wealth: January 1937: 1,616,093
Net Wealth: April: 1,696,382
Net Wealth: July: 1,767,486
Net Wealth: October: 1,852,241

Operational Profit Q4: 100,866
Operational Profit 1936: 413,384.18
Operational Profit Q1: 100,878
Operational Profit Q2: 110,206
Operational Profit Q3: 125,521

Travels Q4: 44,734
Travels 1936: 173,187
Travels Q1: 46,151
Travels Q2: 47,943
Travels Q3: 54,696

The next priority on the list of RogaTrans management is to transport waste. Not only are the inhabitants of Sola and Egersund now clamouring to get rid of it, but the people of Rogaland also use it to generate electricity.

A comment from the passengers department that a railway line from Sola to the incinerator covers a large proportion of the remaining distance to Sandnes is not wasted on company management either. True to form, the line is built in such a way that it can later accommodate passenger services without too much trouble.

While the waste service is being built up, Egersund gets a bus terminal and a local line to keep the service up to good level.

In April, the Bus Terminal in Stavanger gets a second bus platform to separate some of the lines. As traffic is running high there, this has to be settled first before continuing with the waste. In May, it's Egersund again, and in June Randaberg, where another bus terminal is built along with another local line. Finally, in late July, Tau gets a reorganisation.

In other news, by now plastic is the bottleneck of the goods production. As a result the remaining goods trucks are sold off and an extra plastic/goods train is added to the fleet.



Stavanger from a difficult angle. Even from here, the second bus stop (in front of the waiting room) is barely visible.



Sola, three months later. The stations' location is not exactly ideal. For now it's good enough to the taste of company management, but in the future it will cause trouble.

[Matthi205]

Factories don't start to produce faster if they have more Stockpiles,but they produce approx. 2 times more per month if they have electricity available.

[Dutchman on Rails]

@ Matthi, thanks.

I must say I'm itching to start a 19th century game and bring in the many lessons this challenge, and especially comparing with other players, taught me. But I also want to see how my end result will be compared to the other people...

So here's the next chapter:

Chapter 12: Q4 1937 - Q2 1938, refurbishment.

Total Population: January 1938: 20,773
1937 Population Growth: 2,128
Total Population: April: 21,539
Total Population: July: 21,944
Net Wealth: January 1937: 1,960,394
Net Wealth: April: 1,997,864
Net Wealth: July: 1,974,344

Operational Profit Q4: 134,021
Operational Profit 1936: 470,632,77
Operational Profit Q1: 132,042
Operational Profit Q2: 129,783
Travels Q4: 56,948
Travels 1936: 205,738
Travels Q1: 58,660
Travels Q2: 60,156

As more and more waste trains join the fleet, the line is doubled.

In February, the decision is made to branch off the waste line, having each garbadge dump served by three of the trains.
 One of the reasons is that the Egersund branch will come very close to completing a Sola-Egersund rail line.

From March, it becomes clear, as the stocks in the waste incinerator start climbing slowly, that the capacity for this service is maxed out.

April sees a relatively large amount of new bus stops being placed: 2 in Bryne, Haugesund, Sandnes, and Egersund each.

The priority list is as long as ever. Still, two tourist attractions have to be connected. Electricity must be distributed. Rail connections must be established between the various towns and villages, most notably between Stavanger and Haugesund (the perpetual wish of company management). The goods production has not completely met with demand yet and can be increased further still with electricity. And engineers have long suggested larger, more powerful and faster trains as well as tracks. It is the latter that company management makes a priority.

The section of the line between the refinery and the goods factory is the first to be upgraded. Refurbishments are necessary anyway, as all three stations were designed for smaller capacity, and because the line was never designed with a future extension to Sola in mind. The refurbished line will be rated for 110 km/h.



Work starts at the goods factory, where the only work needing to be done is shift the line a bit so that any extension to Sola will clear the factory. This section is done halfway in April.



Next comes Sandnes Station. The line to the goods factory is still single track there, with a siding for passengers. The line is doubled and the platform for the goods trains is moved. That section is completed by late April.



The refurbishment of the Sandnes refinery station is more difficult. RogaTrans engineers point out that increasing the capacity of the station in it's current position would mean that the entrance tracks would overlap with the main line. Therefore the decision is made to move the station entirely to the east side of the refinery. Early May, this section is completed as well.

In the same month, capacity problems start to arise on the Sandnes-Haugesund connection. As ready funds are low, a ' free of charge' interim measure is taken while awaiting more budget. The two passenger trains are pulled by B 6's, while one of the oil trains is headed by a C 11. The oil cars, however, can't go faster than the B 6, so the engines of two of the trains are switched, allowing one of the passenger trains to get the benefit of the C 11's greater speed and the oil train the benefit of the B 6's lower running cost. In June, the decision follows to upgrade the line as far as Haugesund, in preparation for faster trains.

[Dutchman on Rails]

Another chapter.

Taking up the Rogaland Challenge.

Chapter 12: Q3-Q4 1938.

Total Population: October: 22,403
Total Population: January 1939: 22,827
1938 Population Growth: 2,054
Net Wealth: October: 2,066,933
Net Wealth: January 1939: 2,109,510

Operational Profit Q3: 134,256
Operational Profit Q4: 136,208
Operational Profit 1938: 532,294.96
Travels Q3: 63,172
Travels Q4: 63,821
Travels 1938: 246,172

July sees a major mail reorganisation in the entire southern half. Following up on advice from a colleague manager* that full mail coverage is an essential for more rapid town growth, regional lines are set up between Stavanger and Haugesund, and Haugesund and Sandnes. Each of the three regions gets a web of local lines.

In the same month, capacity problems at Sandnes and especially Stavanger (again) become clear. The decision is made that a rail link carrying passengers and mail between the three southern towns can no longer be postponed.

The first step is to have a new train enter service on the Haugesund-Sandnes line, a two-part Monatetsu-KIHA 110-141. Advertisements are posted in the newspaper of this new, 90km/h, service.

Needless to say, this train is a little too efficient. It's fast service quickly reduces the shortage of capacity into a surplus. So the C 11 drawn passengers train is called in to have one of it's coaches replaced by a mail car. The passenger coach is stabled.

The next step is to upgrade the line from Haugesund to the planks station for 110 km/h. This is completed in October, and immediately followed by the construction of the long desired rail line to Stavanger.

Haugesund station receives an upgrade to accommodate the new rail connection, in the form of a second platform. For now, the B6 is diverted to the Stavanger line, as the capacity surplus on the Sandnes line continues.

The usual process of adding capacity and phasing out the buses can now begin. This is a gradual process, as it's necessary to guard against too gross capacity shortages.** But pretty soon, Stavanger too sees advertisements of 90km/ services.

* Thx Severous. That explains by the way why Haugesund has been growing faster than any of the other towns, it has almost complete mail coverage.

** A major interruption of the traffic flows could potentially break RogaTrans' profit on which future expansion depends.



Our train for Stavanger is departing from platform 2. Platform 1 is for the services to Sandnes. Also, platform 1 sees the planks trains on their way to the goods factory passing through and platform 2 is for the return journey of those trains.



Stavanger station is a quiet outpost of the rail network, and is expected to remain so for some time to come.

[Severous]

Nice to see this carrying on.

Notice the white arrow on top of the pink passenger waiting line at Stavanger Station?  I believe those white arrows mean overcrowding. The station has more passengers waiting than it can hold comfortably.  As soon as that happens prospective new passengers from surrounding buildings look for another, less crowded station.  If there isn't one then they wont travel.  And every no travel is slowing growth. 

As I didn't think I could keep the main stations empty I located them outside the cities.  Thousands could wait there without adverse impact on travels.

[Dutchman on Rails]

@Severous, I noticed the orange bar saying the same thing. In fact throughout the first half of 1939, capacity at Stavanger kept being a headache.

Most of the time the station buildings form a nice buffer. Other than that, fast, high capacity trains keep the travellers happy most of the time. But sometimes the network overruns capacity, especially during transition. Not by much though.

Anyway, this forms a nice introduction for the next chapter.

Taking up the Rogaland Challenge.

Chapter 13: Q1-Q2 1939.

Total Population: April: 23,263
Total Population: July: 23,688
Net Wealth: April: 2,229,804
Net Wealth: July: 2,302,548

Operational Profit Q1: 148,392
Operational Profit Q2: 149,833
Travels Q1: 70,835
Travels Q2: 71,075

Throughout the first quarter of 1939, the process of increasing capacity on the Stavanger-Haugesund line and phasing out buses continues. Also, an extra train is put in service on the Haugesund-Sandnes line. At the same time, most of the line up to the planks station is doubled. The one exception is the hill near the coal mine. It is intended to dig a cutting through there when funds allow.

Early May, the capacity seems to have stabilised. So company management feels it's time to add mail capacity. Again, this takes the form of a complex shifting of engines to pursue several issues at once.

The B 6 on the Stavanger-Haugesund service is called in and replaced by a C 11 with a mail car and two of it's passenger coaches. A second C 11 with another mailcar, the other coach and the one stabled earlier joins the first one.* The B 6 in turn is put on oil duty.

At the same time, the cutting through Mine Hill is dug and the track is doubled there.



* This episode revealed a rather interesting feature. After adding the stabled passengers car, it turned out I could buy more of this type, despite them being off the market for some time already.

[Dutchman on Rails]

And one more chapter. I'm still learning a lot from this first major 20th century game.

Chapter 13: Q3-Q4 1939, electrification.

Total Population: October: 24,456
Total Population: January 1940: 24,947
1939 Population Growth: 2,120
Net Wealth: October: 2,347,155
Net Wealth: January 1940: 2,436,230

Operational Profit Q3: 125,330
Operational Profit Q4: 129,833
Operational Profit 1939: 553,439.84
Travels Q3: 71,905
Travels Q4: 74,723
Travels 1939: 288,538

As usual, there is a lot on the priority list. By now, there's an oil shortage at the refinery. Also, Sola is growing so much that the bus routes becomes a bit strange. And of course the passengers and mail services in the south are still in reorganization.

Company management starts with Sola. The pagoda to the east can function as an anchorpoint for a new line covering most of the town. At the same time, a reorganization is implemented in the mail transport, bringing full mail coverage to the northern region.

Next comes the oil service, in August. Not only is there a need for more oil delivery, RogaTrans management does not want to overtax the already crowded lines by adding more trains.

Management seeks the solution in electrification of this section of line, and upgrade of the trains to more powerful RVg-RHF 401 "Crocodile" electric engines. This means curtains for the aging B 6 engines. as management doesn't believe lines can be found where they can be of use anymore, they are phased out. In the meantime, interim measures are taken to carry the extra plastic in the form of one extra cheap C 11 pulled train.



Some activity on the line. As one of the oil trains is pulling out of the refinery station, the other is just arriving and the mail train from Haugesund is steaming past on the way to Sandnes.

[Dutchman on Rails]

And one more.

Chapter 14: Q1-Q2 1940, the dance of the crocodiles.

Total Population: April: 25,444
Total Population: July: 25,923
Net Wealth: April: 2,492,568
Net Wealth: July: 2,553,219

Operational Profit Q1: 142,238
Operational Profit Q2: 142,229
Travels Q1: 78,544
Travels Q2: 80,486

The last quarter of 1939 saw the stocks of Steel at the goods factory falling off. Therefore the next focus of attention comes to the steel transport. Being fairly content with the result of having the oil transport done by crocodiles, RogaTrans again opts for electrification. While Haugesund station is upgraded for higher capacity anyway, the east exit is refurbished to allow for a smoother flow of trains.

Having electrified the line from Haugesund to the goods factory, it's only a small step to consolidate the 5 goods trains into 2 crocodile pulled ones, which is promptly done. One goods car is stabled.



One of the steel trains is clearly visible on platform 3, along with the catenary. A train from Sandnes is arriving on platform 1 as one for Stavanger is just departing from Platform 2 and an empty iron ore train is on it's way back to the mine.

[Severous]

I never saw the option to have electric trains when I played.  Never knew they were available as an option.  Presumably I needed to electrify the depot first then they appear.

Updated summary:

[Dutchman on Rails]

@Severous, the electric trains indeed appear when you electrify the depot. I hope to find a way to see the specs of available vehicles without having to build a depot first.

Chapter 14: Q3 1940 - Q1 1941.

Total Population: October: 26,409
Total Population: January 1941: 26,914
1940 Population Growth: 1,967
Total Population: April: 27,408
Net Wealth: October: 2,621,863
Net Wealth: January 1941: 2,721,780
Net Wealth: April: 2,813,166

Operational Profit Q3: 139,580
Operational Profit Q4: 123,298
Operational Profit 1940: 547,349.77
Operational Profit Q1: 137,315
Travels Q3: 81,106
Travels Q4: 78,748
Travels 1940: 318,884
Travels Q1: 78,755

In the third quarter of 1940, company management shifts it's attention to the passengers service. Congestion problems are brewing at Egersund and Randaberg. Company management assumes that the issue is the single route stretching from Sola to Sandnes. As rail connections already exist on two thirds of the route between Sola and Sandnes, RogaTrans connects the two disjoined rail lines to form a complete network.

Needless to say this does cause some initial capacity problems, not just in terms of passengers, but mail as well. Eventually the capacity issues are solved by deploying several 4-part KIHA's and by converting the C 11 to an all-mail train.

In March 1941, Sandnes builds a cathedral.



Sandnes in 1941, with the cathedral and the refurbished station. A train to Sola is just leaving, but otherwise it's unusually quiet.

[Dutchman on Rails]

And another chapter, this time with a screenshot from greater altitude.

Chapter 15: Q2-Q4 1941.

Total Population: July: 27,887
Total Population: October: 28,360
Total Population: January 1942: 28,865
1941 Population Growth: 1,951
Net Wealth: July: 2,914,137
Net Wealth: October: 3,015,671
Net Wealth: January 1942: 3,030,583

Operational Profit Q2: 146,698
Operational Profit Q3: 122,217
Operational Profit Q4: 131,778
Operational Profit 1941: 543,014.12
Travels Q2: 82,773
Travels Q3: 84,640
Travels Q4: 86,707
Travels 1941: 332,875

In April, another passengers service is opened, this time between Haugesund and Egersund via Sandnes. This helps to take pressure off the Randaberg-Stavanger axis still further.

By October, the network is functioning smoothly again. The opportunities for more transport are waste and oil, as there is a shortage of both. Waste is especially tempting, the way to increase transport is to feed electricity, and further transport increase can be achieved by electrification, saving on cost.

Therefore, RogaTrans starts work on the first HSP lines.

As it turns out, bringing power to the waste dumps already nets more supply of waste than the incinerator can cope with. So attention is turned to transporting more oil.

Here, the Sandnes oilfield, after having served as the main supplier of oil in the first few years, was not reconnected when the trucks stopped operating. Now, the service is resumed, with a crocodile-pulled train.



A view of the rail network around Sandnes. A few trains can be spotted, two carrying oil, one for plastic, two for planks, and a single one for passengers.