Track laying

Track is essential for eny rail operations. In the business world track is called a capital investment, it doesn't do anything by itself but it allows trains to run. However, its not quite as simple as just two long iron rails joined by sleepers, and the type of track will affect the profitability of your trains. So when building track, its important to try and build it as best as you can because it will effect all of the trains that ever use it.

Gradients

When you run uphill, you will not be able to go as fast as when running on a flat plane. The steeper the hill, the slower you go. It’s the same for locomotives. A really steep hill can almost stop a train, which means that you will be paid less for your cargo and running costs are still being subtracted from your balance. As a result it is desirable to minimise gradients. Because a locomotive has to pull many tonnes, it will be very sensitive to gradients. In railroad tycoon 2 these are measured as a %. This means that for a 10% grade, for every 100 of horizontal travel, you travel up 10. Today, countries usually regard 2.5% as the maximum to aim for when building across non-mountainous terrain, ie a climb of 2.5 for every 100. This is probably a good limit to aim for in railroad tycoon 2.

Of course its not always possible, but if you have money to spare, you can build a railway, then buldoze it, and built it again. Each time you do this is should smooth the landscape slightly. Unfortunately you don't have direct control of the landscape, which I think is essential, but your engineers will change the landscape when you build track. Mountainous track building isn't very rewarding. It costs a lot more to biuld than on flat terrain and trains aren't likely to be very profitable. Unless the scenario conditions dictate otherwise, I would completley steer clear of mountains. Go round mountains is almost always better than going over. True, trains do have to slow down for corners, and they may go a longer distance, but if the gradient is in the red, its almost always a better idea. If you do have to go up a mountains, you can use the technique of switch-back loops. A good example of this is in Campaign scenario number 5 "Whistle Stops and Promises" as shown in the picture. Zig-zagging often allows for much more reasonable gradients when going uphill.

Double vs Single track

Another question that arises is whether or not to build double or single track. With single track, although trains can somehow magically run through each other, one of them has to be stopped. (One must presume that single track is built with passing loops that are too small to see). Because the primary costs of laying track are buying the land and constructing the foundations, the cost of building double track is only about a third more than to build single track. You can also upgrade from single to double at little expense, although it works out cheaper to build a double track line in the first place rather than building a single and subsequently upgrading. Most of the time I use double track. It can handle a large number of trains, and if you try single track with any reasonable volume, many trains will start to loose money because they are waiting around for such a long time. Only use single track to provide a branch to a single resource, or at least where you know you will never be wanting to use more than one or two trains. Also when first settting up a company, if you are forced to make a fairly long distance connection you might want to use a single track line to ensure you have enough money for the trains. Also on long distance routes a single track line can handle more trains than a short distance one.

Other tips

Try to avoid lots of curves if possible, they slow down trains. Also remember that a train will be able to climb a steep hill much better if it has had a run up. Try to ensure that there is a long straight section before the foot of a hill because the train gain can gain speed. Experiment a bit -see what works for you!