Running Lumber Plank Trains from the Sawmill in Railroads Online! 

Hey Kan, Locomotive Engineer here thought I would answer some of your many questions - rail is rarely perfect and it does get wobbly sometimes and can tip over cars if your not carefull -The line we run on mainly follows the nearby rivers so it does curve quite a bit - we have pickup trucks that can ride on the rail and scan it for various defects -there are a few inches of tolerance for shifted rail but derails do happen because of this and it is pretty easy to fix with the right machines - there is matanance all of the time, at my railroad we replace the ties every 5-7 years. Rail can last for a very long time as long as it's maintained ( we have rail from like 1920 still in service) - there can be washouts from rain but the large ballast (gravel) does prevent it from happening too often -there are problems with the hot and cold weather, the sun can warm the rail to a point we're it can kink and fall over and the cold can make it brittle and suspectable to cracks - we do only use sand for traction on hills and such (salt bags usually in the cab for walkways and such) Love the video like always keep up the good work

That “triangle switch-off section” is called a “wye” (pronounced “Y”) in railroad terminology. That’s good route planning there!

you can press left alt to make tracks perfectly straight instead of spending hours trying (and failing, unfortunately) to manually make them straight

FIRST-Move the rails closer to the pond so they all go in. The reason I say this is the mill actually makes two different types of wood products, but it will only make the second kind if the first one is full, then it will start to make the second kind of lumber. Keep a close eye on how much is in the pond. If the pond is full of wood delivering more won't net you any exp or cash. Your goal should be to fill up the pond and keep it as full as possible so that the mill will make the second type of lumber and start delivering the second type of lumber so you can start to make bank.

I am a track maintainer for the UK (I fix track) and I volunteer on a railway. I can guarantee that the tracks are never fully straight. There is little dips and twists here and there. But because of the bogies on the coaches you won't notice it as much

4:20 if you run engines at full throttle, you burn through wood faster. I usually get up to speed and then hold the throttle at about 10% depending on how heavy the load i'm hauling is. if its a fully loaded 12 car train and im going up a grade, then I open it up more, but usually I keep it down to about 10-20% when i'm just cruising.

Yeah, you're losing a lot of resource since the rails are too far from the drop-offs. You need to move them closer, close enough that you can walk from the flatcar to the edge of the station, same with the sawmill. You know it's good when the edge of the railroad's tie (the wood) is almost touching the base of whatever drop-off points you have.

I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED TRAINS IN MY LIFE

Track maintenance heavily depends on location. I don't know much about rails in snowy/icy areas, but down here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we live on a bed of magma. So tracks have to have high tolerances and aren't very straight, and maintenance is much harder. The crews are working 40 hour weeks and walking miles to keep the tracks where they should be. Over here the track moves so much that crews have to be trained to hammer in spikes manually, as they come out often. Rain doesn't do much to the tracks, except for 3% grades or higher. The crews do put sand on the rails, not salt, as salt is extremely corrosive to steel and can completely destroy rails and wheels. The heat and rain here in New Mexico is really taxing on the tracks, as it warps them to the point where it's very common to see random piles of rail and ties on the side of the track. I hope this is what y'all were looking for!

Fun fact: when the Yosemite railroad used to haul log cara the bottom logs were chained and secured and the top log was placed on top of the chains. The weight of the top log would tension the chains further securing the logs

I remember seeing some old film footage of a log train in my country running downhill to the sawmill. The brakeman would ride on top of the logs when he wasn't running alongside the train to operate the brakes.

My dad has started working for the railroad so he’s taught me a lot about it. Rain is a huge factor when it comes to keeping the track strait because it will washout the ballast. Also They have a range they create the tracks length at that leaves space for the tracks to expand and contract when it gets really cold or hot because the metal does expand and stuff. Also there aren’t any companies that do little track repairs if needed. It’s a business though that my dad might start of his own because it is sooo useful to any track owners

I am saddened by the derailments, mainly because it does not cruise off the lines and into the grass. rather than folding over itself. I do have to say those back cars do look like a derailment. Thanks for the content Kan.

You two need to build the parallel track line then bring in a couple others (tell them it's a race) then give them the handcart for an engine. Seriously though a 2v2 race sounds fun on this. Probably too early for it now but I'm definitely looking forward to it

I love your collaboration videos. The humor and banter that happens is hilarious

As a retiree and railfan/model railroader of many decades I'm enjoying these vids and getting a good laugh. At my age the near vision is at the point I can no longer enjoy model railroading, more frustrating than fun, so I get my rail fun from video games. Just might try this one.

Tracks IRL are absolutely not perfectly straight, especially older branch lines. I don't know how feasible it is in northern US / Canada (I'm from Germany so idk), but if you find an old, abandoned line, walk the tracks a few kilometers and watch how wavy and uneven "straights" can be!

I know it's not exactly a simulator, but you should be able to 'run through' trailing switches. The train should just push the switch rails over without even noticing. It definitely wouldn't stop dead and derail spectacularly like happened to you guys, that's something the game designers ought to address IMO.

To answer your question on track maintenance: Track maintenance happens very often and typically occurs when there is a break in rail traffic Rust is not a big issue and any rust on the top of the rail gets polished off. That's how you can tell if tracks get used often or not

Narrow gauge railways of this time period, normally small industrial railways, often did have very shoddily made tracks

Your questions on civil engineering of railroads are remarkably on point. One of the reasons the railroad is laid on crushed rock (ballast) is for drainage. Rain is supposed to drain through the rock quickly so that it does not freeze and heave the rails or puddle and encourage slumping. In the era this game is set, it was common to build poorer quality railroads with track laid on questionable beds of sand or ashes/cinders (by product of steam locomotives). Old ballast that accumulates dirt and these poor quality alternatives cause the rail to come out of alignment sooner. A track worker would be part of a section gang. The railroad would pay about three full time positions for every 10 miles or so depending on required track quality and those three guys would have different jobs depending on the season but the purpose of their employment would be keeping the track aligned and on grade. Just like in the game, it is really easy in real life to eyeball down a length of track to see if it is straight. Modern railroads survey with lasers. While it is faster and fewer people are required, the old methods can build just as straight a railroad. One guy would squat by the rail and sight down it. A second guy would drag his tamping bar along the rail until the guy sighting the line would tell him to stop. The guy with the iron bar would then heave the rail one way or another to straighten it or would jack the rail if it had sunk or tamp it if it had risen.

I literally was like “hey, I wonder if kan uploaded a new train video” and alas, tis true

A quick suggestion, add a passing loop, look that up on Wikipedia, at about the midpoint between the logging camp and the sawmill, then you can run two trains and pass there. Also quick notes on railway track maintenance: railway tracks (usually) don't use sand as ballast, they use a decently coarse grade of rocks known as ballast to keep the tracks in place, which also reduces how much the track shifts, it also helps a little with drainage. As for heat, tracks often have expansion joints at each track joint to account for thermal expansion, and the clips that mount tracks to sleepers have a little bit of play to allow the rails themselves to expand and contract without moving the sleepers. Finally, when you were talking about rain damaging tracks, that's called a "washout" and can easily cause derailments if not fixed. Railways sometimes run inspection trains to check on the conditions of the track, and when it needs replacing they then send out a team to do the necessary earthworks to replace worn-out rails, etc.

Full series on this game from beginning to end and make a story about your railroad company sounds like a great idea.

Sometimes they say a game lacks in graphics, but has crazy deep gameplay. Now this game feels like the exact opposite. At least how it is right now. (Still looks addictive tho)

In theory you could add remote switching in a way, but it would have to be modelled off the analog switch boxes with control cables and maybe even the addition of signals with the same principle.

YESSSSS I LOVE THIS GAME

27:30 the line that runs by my house is really straight. I think they accomplish this by using really long segments of rail that they lay down and tie together with a large offsets. there are a few smaller crooks? in the line when it skews off slightly from town to town though.

12:18 kAN: “I should be faster then you.” As he proceeds to jump in front of the train!

Oh man! I can't remember the last time I was so stoked to refresh my feed and see a specific video series pop up! Loving this, keep it up!

You should have 4 plank carts at the front and 4 log carts at the back so you can max out your run

The triangle is called a wye and is a poor mans turntable and bypass track where you can drop the cars on a leg and run the engine around to the other end as well as turn it around! The logs definitely de-spawned because after 4 cars of 5 logs it was 13/100 in the pond. And the freight depot too

I'm 100% into this, keep these episodes coming..

Loving this game! It's a genius game both co-op and solo and you playing it is p cool! And here's an idea: Eventually make the 2 track lines between major locations and make a "rule book" ( like: Always run on the left / right of the mainline ) so you can run multiple trains instead of one big train so you're constantly earning money

Switches give me problems, too. I did eventually get a siding built! Also, you can sell logs to the firewood depot. Unload is on the opposite side of where you pickup firewood. I'm thinking about trying to build one next to the lumber camp for making quick cash.

In the upper midwest to clear the tracks only sand is ever used. They use plows to clear the lines of snow/ice and is quite the site to see,

this is so cute seeing people running in first person with cab controls i dont see others do it much yet ive done it since day one of me playing this game

Back my day, me and another fella could run a whole rail and logging operation by ourselves. Young folks these days just don't know how to work. I could leap over and engine and meld my form into the very walls of the engine if I needed to. But try tellin' that to whippersnappers today and they won't believe ya!

I found a new favorite channel. This is just a big antidepressant watching this.

THANK YOU for making this!!! love this and I’m planning on getting it.

I’ve been waiting all day for this now it’s 12:45 in the morning

Awesome kan the bigger locomotives are more money but can haul lots more.

FINALLY! i was waiting for more of this. Please make the Episodes as long as possible!

Yessss I literally just finished the first video

Keep in mind Kan, that train tracks irl are not actually straight, especially in regions with extreme temperature changes, and if the developers add in track deformation, then you will need tracks that are slightly wavy

Thank you for this series. It's so good

I audibly gasped when I saw this video. I love this series so far!

Dapper needs an engine so you can run two trains on the same track.

This game is soo cool do a massive series on this game ,love it

I was Actively looking for the next one. I'm glad it came out soon.

You're still taking chunks of the experience, even without him in the company.

Definitely love to see this, can’t wait for the new episode

That time travel explanation for the save/load function... XD

Please do more of this. Love realistic trains

Watching this series inspired me to get the game myself, thank you, it really does seem like an awesome game, keep up the awesome work

Thank you for playing this game! I am so glad that I now know this game!

I am absolutely loving this series!

WHY DOES THIS GAME FASCINATE ME SO MUCH

Look at all those locomotives!!!!

we need lines on the map they dont need to be super acurate but i want to see the route :D also good game looks fun!

we need more not to be rude this is already on a straight track to be better then any series you have ever made more people

Liking this series, please keep it up.

Please continue on playing this game. It’s Fascinating and engaging

Thanks for the information

Please continue playing this game it’s fascinating and engaging

Love this so much and love to see more

I was laughing at you getting stuck between the cars. One thing that I found out is that when you rerail a car, you can actually get stuck under the car. I tried for 5 minutes to get out from under the car. I finally demolished the car (and it's lumber load too) and was able to start moving again. LOL

nice

I want to see more of this. I think this very fun to watch :)

Yes this game is cool please do more videos on it.And because I love steam trains.

Please do some more of this love this Series already

I love this series please make more videos on this!

Okay I’m convinced. I know what I’m buying with my pay check!

I’m sure someone said it already but if you hold left alt it makes the tracks straight

I'd love for all these train games so support the museum's that hold all these pieces of history, shoot I've gotten to operate an engine a few times because of it, good times, they could really use the help.

Moreeeee I could watch this game with you guys all day very Funny Just nice to watch

29:31 it might be because as an employed worker he only gets xp when you arent in the space of the building. Alternatively you need to set his wages or pay him directly. Or even upgrade his employment.

Generally tracks even back in the day are checked periodically, they're deliberately designed to accommodate expansion of the steel, the wheels on most especially long distance locomotives are built large enough to bridge any gaps when the metal shrinks, overhead power cables on the other hand have been known to expand too much in the heat resulting in electric lines being shut down because it he supply is too slack to work with the contacts on the loco

I work for a Class one RR in the US. And no you see all kinds of imperfections in the rail. They are not just dead straight. And Rain will mess us a railroad.

Logs and all cargo do despawn if they are too far from the sell/drop off point.

I love these train videos.

1:26 like how the train in unstoppable ran away xD

Huts next to the switches are called signal boxes, they are used in railroads all over the place.

we need 100+ episodes of this

I love this game and this series so much

You played it again! Yeeeeesss!

Amazing series Subscribed for it :)

I can’t wait for Let’s Game it Out to get ahold of this

This game needs signals too and signal boxes, in where gamers can play as railroad dispatchers. Operating switches and signals from a distance.

I really love this game only because of the aesthetics and i just love how much irl time it takes to do everything

wooo heres episode 2 but episode 3 is what we need

ice on track is not the biggest issue for trains, because of the weight of the locomotive and coaches it crushes the ice so no wheel slip there, its only if they are wet or mixed with leafes in the fall where it is the biggest issue. but going from summer to winter and winter to summer, when the track is hit by heat, the track expand, and when the track gets cold it goes back to normal length. This causes the track in the end to crack and maintenance is needed

Love this Series

Best series ever!

I almost impulse bought this game but my friend was like "wait! save up money! don't buy games without thinking about it!" and I was like "BUT TRAINS"

i love this series

I was waiting for this!

here's what I think. SOLD. Bought it. Installed it. About to play it. Got the bundle! Not even sure how to do any of this, but I am already in love with this game/sim/sandbox. I am pretty sure this is what I had envisioned when I bought Transport Fever a couple months ago. :0D

Please make these longer I love this series

I love this game so much. already looking forward to content! You guys are the best!