Chapter 5 - Sierra Nevada | Campaign in Railway Empire Railway Empire Guide & Walkthrough

Guide for Sierra Nevada - Railway Empire Game Guide

• Mission objectives - part one
• Mission objectives - part two
• Side objectives

Mission objectives - part one

1. Connect 4 cities to your railway network
2. Connect 8 production centers from rural areas to your network
3. Reach a quarterly profit of 600,000 dollars

Mission objectives - part two

1. Bring the population of Sacramento up to 100,000 inhabitants
2. Build a railway network with a total length of 4500 km
3. Transport 50 passengers from San Francisco to Promontory Point

Side objectives

1. Bring the population of San Francisco up to 50,000 inhabitants
2. Build a University in San Francisco
3. Create an express line between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

This is the most difficult mission of the campaign due to the starting city and terrain. The biggest challenge is increasing the number of residents in Sacramento and connecting several businesses and increasing earnings. San Francisco can help with the development of the city, but this is not the main goal. The Sacramento area is very steep and mountainous, and half of the map will be blocked until you complete the first part of the mission. Due to the nature of the terrain, you will spend a lot of money on the precise placement of the route or you will construct tracks on very steep ground, but you will save a lot of funds. Interestingly, at the very beginning of the mission, you can acquire both of your rivals (you simply have to issue bonds), but you will have very little left to invest with.

Skilful track building will save you a lot of money and provide a fairly flat route.

The Sacramento area has a lot of resources, but they will only prove useful for a larger city. There is a lack of basic goods, i.e. grain, wood, and beer. There is a meat processing plant and a ranch nearby. You can combine these two with your first connection, but do not get overly enthusiastic about the construction in this area because first, you will try to develop the northern area. Lay the tracks for a connection to Redding in the north. Try to put tracks at the same altitude, so that you avoid costs that come with large inclines. Create a line that will connect these two cities with emphasis on freight trains.

Redding is located in the north, and it is a great place to develop your network. The picture above shows the initial state of your network. First, transport the grain (1) and wood (2), and build a brewery and sawmill (3). In the lower part of the image, you can see that trains focus on the transport of resources and goods to Sacramento (4).

Now is the time for expansion in the Redding area. Start by building a brewery in the city. It is worth doing so before you create any connections. Connect up the grain farm north of Redding (1). Not only does the city need grain, but the brewery will increase the demand, and the beer produced will be sold in Redding and Sacramento (3). You will also earn profits on the production itself and local sales. This way, you will provide yourself with a good market and a constant supply of cash. Expanding to Redding will give you a starting point for connecting to Promontory Point and other cities and plants in the area after completing the first part of the mission.

Close to Redding, there is a logging camp (2), from where you can haul wood to the city. Demand for this resource is smaller, so you should also create a connection to Sacramento, and let the same train supply both cities. You will create two separate connections later on. Watch the growth of Redding closely. When the second construction slot for is free, build a sawmill there. From now on, the demand for wood will increase and you will be able to distribute boards (3). This will become possible when the population of any city reaches the appropriate ceiling (usually 60,000 residents). You will sell the produced boards locally and they will also be useful for the development of Sacramento (4), therefore, you should create a connection for freight trains (if you have not already done so to transport beer). In both cities, improve stations to include a repair point, due to a large number of trains that will visit these places.

Developing Sacramento is an interesting challenge. First, put the station near to the surrounding production centers (1) and connect it with an intermediate station, which in this case is the warehouse (2). Now you can take the resources to nearby cities (3,4). Start transport between the cities, and if necessary, build factories that will produce the missing goods (arrows between points 3,4,5).

Now it is time to focus your attention on Sacramento. Check what goods are in demand and connect the appropriate production centers to the city (1). The construction of a Warehouse will make life much easier. Place it between Sacramento, San Francisco and most of the production centers, somewhere around the ranch (2). Now connect all businesses from the surrounding area to the warehouse (blue arrows). Then, assign lines (red arrows) on the Warehouse-Sacramento route (3) and San Francisco-Warehouse route (3). Freight trains will choose the resources that are most needed in the city themselves. You will not only reduce traffic with this system, but you will also purchase fewer tracks and trains in the long run. Do not forget to upgrade the warehouse with a repair station.

The connections between the surrounding cities will be an important part of this network (orange arrows). Earlier on, you have set up a brewery and sawmill in Redding (5), which will provide beer and boards. In Sacramento itself, (3) you should set up the clothing industry (cloth and clothing production). From the beginning of the mission, there is a meat processing plant there, which will make for a good exchange point for other cities (freight trains will not make empty runs). Do not forget about basic products that are not available in the area, i.e. grain and wood. Build connections from production centers near Redding to Sacramento. If possible, buy the industry in San Francisco (4) and build a dairy factory and/or a distillery there. With time, when the cities develop, these products will be a perfect complement to the needs of the residents. In case of problems with the development of Sacramento, build a Museum there.

Now it is time to build 4500 km of tracks and connect and transport 50 passengers from San Francisco to Promontory Point. After completing the first set of tasks, new areas east of Sacramento will become available to you. Up until now, you should have raised a lot of funds and you should be able to create tracks from Redding straight to Promontory Point. Despite the large distance, the area is mostly flat, so the cost of building the tracks will not be huge. Make sure that this connection is independent of the rest of the tracks and assign 2-3 express trains with full crews of employees to the route (most importantly the staff members who improve the engine's performance).

You can accomplish the secondary objectives, although they are not as helpful as in other missions. If you help in the rise of San Francisco, it will be easier for you to expand Sacramento and bring passengers to the other end of the map. When building a connection to Los Angeles, try to build the tracks along the coast or through valleys and use flat terrain as often as possible, or you can try to build the route at the same altitude on the slopes of hills. The first and second main engine from the research tree will not achieve the status of an express machine, but the next trains will cope with this challenge. Due to the distance and presence of your rival, Los Angeles is a bad selling point for your goods. It is better to expand the Sacramento area or develop your network in the east.