Scenario 5 - Great Britain | Game scenarios Railroads Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Important! Following hints are based on these scenario settings:

Time limit - 1829-1957; Number of AI Players - 2. Randomize landscape and Randomize locations features have been deactivated.

The game won't force you to do anything. As a result, you will be able to customize the gameplay. For example, you have an opportunity to play each scenario without having to worry about the competition.

Here's the list of main mission objectives. You will have to fulfill them in order to succeed:

LEVEL 1 - Of Rockets and Rainhill

You will have to complete all of these tasks by: 1850.

Level one objectives:

1) Make history by connecting Liverpool and Manchester, the world's first railroad.

Important! You will have ONLY 20 years to complete objectives from the first level of the scenario. As a result, you will have to be in a lot of hurry. Also, you won't be allowed to spend your money on some foolish constructions or buildings. Thankfully, this is a much easier goal, so you won't have any additional problems finishing it. I'd strongly recommend that you start off in Wrexham. Thanks to that, you won't have to wait for the first part of the connection to be completed. Bear in mind, though, that a lot of these connections are going to be quite expensive, mostly because there are a lot of hills here. As a result, you will have to build a lot of tunnels and other expensive structures. Sadly, there's no way for you to avoid this. As for the connection itself, you've got two choices here. You could try creating a shorter connection. This would allow you to connect these cities (Liverpool and Manchester) in a straight line. Alternatively, you could go for a longer connection that would include some of the surrounding factories. For example, I was able to add a coal mine to my existing grid. The choice is yours. Just make sure that this operation doesn't take too long. You're going to have to start receiving profits here (as soon as possible).

2) Protect your fledgling line from predatory investors by acquiring and maintaining a 70% ownership stake in the company.

You'll probably have more problems finishing this mission objective. First of all, you shouldn't sell your stocks at the beginning of the game. Concentrate on a smaller number of connections. Make sure that they're very profitable. The objective here is quite obvious. You will have to start earning a lot of money. You won't have to concentrate on the cities. There are a lot of interesting objects in the area. Some of these structures will acquire rare goods. It's best to focus your attention on them, as you will receive more money from these kinds of operations. Buying your stocks will cost you a lot of money, however you shouldn't delay this action for too long, because it'll make the buying process even more complicated. Wait for the right moment to make a move. I'd strongly recommend buying all necessary shares at the same time. Thankfully, you won't have to worry about the competition here. Your opponents will concentrate mostly on expanding into other territories.

You could connect Liverpool with Manchester in a straight line, however it would be wiser to create a longer connection. This would allow you to add some of the factories to the existing grid.

LEVEL 2 - Railway Mania

You will have to complete all of these tasks by: 1922.

Level two objectives:

1) Participate in the "Railway Mania" by buying a 20% minority stake in every other railway.

Thankfully, you will have much more time to complete these new objectives. Let's start by telling what has to be done here. The goal is fairly obvious. You won't have to wait for the last minute to fulfill this mission objective. You could do this much earlier, even in the early part of the game. I have to warn you, though. This is going to cost you a lot, so make sure that you have some additional funds on your account. It would be wise to create a larger grid in the first place. Thanks to that, you'll have more profitable connections. I guess I should warn you about something. Computer players may try doing the same thing. You will have to be careful. Make sure that none of the AI players buys all shares of another railroad company. If you notice that it's happening, try buying the shares earlier. Otherwise you would have to buy them out and that's almost impossible at this point of the game. Buying the shares will fulfill this mission objective. You won't have to do anything else here.

2) Build the LNWR's "Premier Line", connecting Birmingham, Liverpool, London, and Manchester.

This is a very time-consuming objective, however you shouldn't have any major problems finishing it. First of all, you should already have a connection between Liverpool and Manchester. You needed it to end one of the previous tasks, so you won't have to worry about this part of the mission anymore. Sadly, you're going to have to build several other connections to reach the required cities. It'll be much easier to get to Birmingham. All you have to do is to connect Birmingham with Manchester. As a result, you will have to construct a large tunnel, but I'm sure that you'll be able to afford this. You could also consider creating a second connection - between Birmingham and Liverpool. You would be able to use it in the future. The choice is yours. The most important thing here is that Birmingham is connected to one of the remaining cities. Thankfully, you'll be able to earn a lot of cash here, mostly because Birmingham is a large city. You should also consider adding other towns and production facilities to your grid. It's going to be much tougher with London, mostly because this city is located at the opposite end of the map. As a result, you would have to spend a lot of money to construct a proper connection. I wouldn't recommend moving your railway empire to these areas of the map. Instead, try focusing on a single connection, especially if the computer players are currently occupying these sections of Great Britain. You should be able to connect Birmingham with London without any other problems. Like I've said before, it's going to cost you a lot. You will have to build a large number of bridges, however they may be used as an advantage during the final phase of this mission. Make sure that you've finished the construction within a given time limit. After that, proceed to the third level objectives, especially since some of them will be quite challenging.

You should consider creating a single connection between your existing grid and London. Thanks to that, you wouldn't have to create any additional lines here.

POZIOM 3 - Sunset of the Big Four

You will have to complete all of these tasks by: 1957.

Level three objectives:

1) Deliver 20 carloads of passengers from Manchester to London, and 20 carloads of mail from Birmingham to London.

If you had decided to create a single line between London and Birmingham, you should consider completing these objectives separately, mostly because your locomotives would have to use the same track. I would recommend starting out with the mail objective, mostly because you'll be able to finishing it much faster. Don't forget about the possibility of creating parallel tracks. They should appear near Birmingham, so your train won't have any delays here. It would also be wise to set a high priority for this unit. You can do this by using the same window that allows you to create new connections. One train should be carrying at least 3 carloads of mail. Remember that you will be able to start off much sooner. Also, I wouldn't recommend adding carriages to the train while it's heading towards London. Remember that the most important thing here is to speed up this entire process. There are also other cities here that will have their own needs, so you'll be still making profits. Once you've delivered 20 carloads of mail, modify this connection. This time you will be moving to Manchester. Don't forget to change the city in the settings window! You should also consider building a second tunnel between Manchester and Birmingham. Thanks to that, you won't have to worry about any unwanted delays. Well... that's it. If you have started completing this task earlier, you shouldn't have any problems finishing it.

2) Set a new world speed record with the legendary A4 Mallard.

Important! You won't be able to fulfill this objective in the early part of the game. You will have to wait for the game to unlock a new type of a locomotive - 4-6-2 A4. This model will appear on your list during the final phase of the scenario, so you just have to be patient. Once you've unlocked this locomotive, pause the game and take a closer look at your trains. I would recommend modifying a connection between Birmingham and London. There should be a lot of bridges in that area, so there's a high probability that your newly acquired locomotive will brake the speed record. If this doesn't happen, you could consider creating a separate line that would go through mountain areas. Thankfully, this shouldn't be necessary. You don't have to worry about completing this objective too much. Instead, make sure that you have finished all of the remaining tasks.

3) Build an industrial force to be reckoned with by attaining a net worth of L30 million.

You've had to deal with similar objectives during the previous scenarios of the game. As a result, you shouldn't have any major problems finishing this task. All you have to do is to increase the value of your railroad empire to 30 million pounds. It shouldn't be much of a problem, especially since this is one of the longest scenarios of the game. Just make sure that you spend your money wisely. Try and connect most of the cities, as well as some industrial facilities. You could also consider buying out a few factories, however I'm sure that you still remember all of this. You should be able to fulfill this mission objective long before the time limit runs out.

Sadly, you won't be able to break the speed record right away. Instead, you will have to wait for the game to unlock a specific model - 4-6-2 A4. This occurs during the final phase of this mission.

This picture shows the most important cities of the region:

1 - Salisbury; 2 - Bristol; 3 - Portsmouth; 4 - London; 5 - Hastings; 6 - Cardiff; 7 - Wrexham; 8 - Liverpool; 9 - Manchester; 10 - Birmingham; 11 - Nottingham; 12 - Peterborough; 13 - Chelmsford.

Red line shows two cities that need to be connected in the first place (not necessarily in a straight line). Green lines show two other cities (that's a total of four towns) that need to be connected later during this mission. You won't have to worry about them right away.

Additional hints for the entire scenario:

As always, you will have to start your game by choosing one of the available towns. Sadly, there are only going to be a few of them, including Salisburty and Hastings. Most of these cities will be very interesting. You'll find a lot of other town in these areas, as well as some industrial facilities. I'd personally recommend that you choose Wrexham for your start city. There are many reasons, however the most important one is that you'll find Liverpool and Manchester in this area of the map. I'm sure that you remember that you're going to have to connect these two cities in order to fulfill one of the primary objectives. Furthermore, you'd have only 20 years to do that, so it's best that you won't have to reach the opposite end of the map in order to complete this objective. Sadly, you will have to deal with several difficulties. Like I've said before, you shouldn't be selling your stocks, because it would make a second task more difficult to accomplish. As a result, you will have to focus your attention on a smaller number of connections. Make sure that they're highly profitable. Plan your tracks carefully, so you won't have to add any unnecessary bridges or tunnels.

I would recommend that you start off by creating a connection between Wrexham and Liverpool. Make sure that this investment will cost about 150 thousand pounds. Both of these cities are quite large, so you'll be able to proceed with the transportation process. After that, you should consider connecting Llandrindod Wells to your tiny grid. You won't be able to transport passengers here. Instead, check the demand window. I'm sure that you'll be able to find a proper factory in the area. Keep adding other industrial buildings to your existing grinds. Focus on these objects that will allow you to earn more money.

You shouldn't spend too much money on the Wrexham-Liverpool connection. Make sure that there's only one small bridge here.

Don't forget about the second main objective of this level of the scenario. Like I've said before, you shouldn't be selling your stocks. Instead, try gathering more money. Also, take a closer look at this area of the map. You should be able to find a lot of mines, farms and other factory buildings here. Keep adding them to your main grid. Additionally, you should notice that a lot of new goods have appeared in this scenario - medicines, wool or textiles. Most of them will be luxurious and very easy to sell, so make sure that you have connected these types of factories as soon as possible. You should also be able to create a few production chains. This will allow you to increase your profits. Don't forget about the connected cities. They will be expanding. This means that new types of demands will be presented to you. Try supplying the citizens with much needed goods.

Take a closer look at the northern area of the map, near Liverpool. You should be able to find a larger number of factories here, mostly farms or mines. It's always a good thing to add these buildings to your existing grid. Don't forget about the possibility of creating parallel tracks, especially if you have to deliver something to a town that's not located nearby. Make sure that you don't lose any money on these connections. The second big step will be to connect Manchester to your grid. Like I've said before, you will have to make a choice between a straight line or a longer connection, that would allow you to add some of the nearby factories. Additionally, be on a look out for new assignments. Some of them are going to be quite easy. This will not only allow you to reach previously unexplored areas of the map, but you'll also earn some extra cash.

There should be a lot of farms and mines near Liverpool. Make sure that you've connected some of these factories to your main grid.

You shouldn't have any other problems with the level one objectives. Let's proceed with the second level. The first thing you will have to do here is to create a connection with Birmingham. This will allow you to fulfill a part of an important objective. I've already said before that Birmingham is going to be one of the largest cities on the map, even in the early part of the game. Additionally, this town will be demanding a lot of different resources to be delivered. I'm sure that you know what this means. You will be able to ship your goods there in order to receive additional profits. You should also consider creating parallel tracks in this area, especially if you plan on creating connection with nearby factories and towns. Also, you should take a closer look at your locomotives. Most of them will have to replaced, especially since you have started this level with one of the slowest models. Doing this will also allow you to increase a number of carriages that can be hauled to your chosen destination. You will have to wait for better locomotives to become available, but I'm sure you won't have any problems finding the best models.

Keep purchasing new tracks and expand existing connections, so you'll earn even more money on them. This is very important, mostly because you would have to spend more of your cash on new connections. It's always better to modify the existing ones. You should be able to create several new production chains. Some of them may be quite interesting. For example, I was able to begin the production of arms in Liverpool. After that, I was selling them in Birmingham. This is one of the most luxurious goods, so you'll be able to earn A LOT of money here. Sadly, in order to proceed with such a production, you will have to take care of the smaller production chains. Also, don't forget about the resources. They will have to be delivered without any unwanted delays. Try moving towards some of the unexplored areas of the map. You should be able to find a few larger cities here - Nottingham, Peterborough or Cheltenham. Keep adding other factories to your grid. Most of them will supply you with much needed resources, so you can't ignore them.

It's best to create a few production chains in order to increase your income. You should be able to begin production of steel and (later during the game) arms.

You mustn't forget about the possibility of buying new locomotives. Some of them will come in handy, especially if the trains are hauling some of the more expensive goods. You should also consider participating in several auctions. This would allow you to acquire interesting inventions, as well as some of the currently used factories. Make sure that you're choosing only the most interesting things. It would be wise to create several additional connections. Lincoln seems like a good idea. I was selling my wool there and in return I was able to acquire textiles. Remember that most of these goods will be very easy to sell, mostly because all larger cities will be demanding them. You will have to make a choice at some point of the game. You could continue to expand into other territories or try to modify your existing connections. The second option is much cheaper, however you wouldn't be able to upgrade all of them. Bear in mind, though, that creating new lines will be very expensive, mostly because a lot of other towns and factories are located far away from your main grid. Don't forget about your current objectives. Thankfully, you shouldn't have any major problems finishing these tasks.

Sooner or later, you will have to start thinking about moving towards London. You will have to reach this city in order to fulfill one of the main objectives of this scenario. You could try and add other towns from this area, however this won't be necessary. The choice is yours. I'd recommend that you stick close to the central area of the map. Instead, you could consider creating a second connection to London (preferably from north-west), although this is optional. Sadly, connecting London to your existing grid is going to be quite expensive. You will probably have to avoid other grids. As a result, you'll build more bridges.

You could try and expand into this new territory, however London is your only main objective.