Fact Check: Shipping fees paid based on "as the crow flies" distances.

[Havan_IronOak]

In the screenshot below I have a farm on one side of a wide river and a food factory on the other side. They're much closer "as the crow flies" than if one follows the land route.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1244358173

In this example it would NOT be profitable to establish a route from farm, down (through the city), over the bridge, up to the food plant and back, correct?

[Thork]

A single line would probably not be very profitable, but that "as the crow flies" payment applies to every transfer on the route. For this specific chain, it would probably be best to split the route into 2 lines and have a transfer point in the town to maximise profits.
The farm>town/transfer line would run empty half the way, but the food-factory<>town/transfer line would run full all the way.
This in-town/near town transfer point might even be the best solution for connecting/exchanging additional towns, although a heavy traffic transfer directly in the middle of a town might not be the best idea in the long run (at least for trucks).

It might also be worth a thought to build the most direct route/bridge possible with a full 2-way transfer and redistribute the food from the farm station... Really depends on how you plan to proceed.

*Btw.: I love your avatar picture and have seen that you're a fellow RRT3 fan ;)

[Havan_IronOak]

Thanks for that. If you've read my review of Train Fever, you'll know I'm more of a RRT3 worshipper. That game does so much right that this game SHOULD have done.

Still, this game has features that RRT3 doesn't that I really enjoy.

The town I was born in was a Railroad town and their high school teams are called "the Railroaders" My dad, 2 uncles & 2 cousins worked on the railroad for most of their adult lives.