Tasks problems (establish an express connection).

[Breachperson]

What counts as an express connection?

Example:
On free mode (the east) I have a task to establish an express connection between New York and Wilmington.
I have tracks running through a staition in Baltimore (New York - Baltimore - Wilmington).

If I set up a route New York - Wilmington (trains travel through Baltimore but don't stop there) the task doesn't check.

I can't build a track bypassing Baltimore because it isn't the shortest path - trains wouldn't use it. (BTW that would be a nice feature to be able to set waypoints for lines. Currently only possible with stopping at stations.)
But even if I delete Baltimore station and connect New York to Wilmington directly task doesn't check for me.

Specifying "express goods only" for this line doesn't help.

What am I missing? Or is that a bug?

[Thyriel]

Not that i already had that particular task, but it sounds like it wants you to establish a train between NY and Wilmington that counts as being an expresstrain (marked with the flame symbol).
While i did not got behind that mechanic entirely yet, currently it seems to me for a train to be able to get that flame symbol you need to stay under a certain timeframe (so you want to use as direct as possible connections and keep the track as flat as possible) between both stations and use the fastest available locomotive. Usually for a new train it takes some rounds to get it too.

[Tazilon]

I assume that task requires you to have an Express Train on the track. In order to become an Express train, it must meet 2 criteria:

1) It has to use one of the fastest locomotives avaialble at that time.
2) It has to have set a speed record.

This should be pretty easy to do from New York to Wlimington and you can hug the coast and have almost completely level terrain the entire route. Build a track from NYC to Wlimington traversing as little terrain change as possible, set the train to "express goods only" so you are guaranteed lightweight loads, and if available, use crew members which provide speed boosts.

If that doesn't produce a record, the next time you research a new engine, upgrade that train first so it is the only train with the new fastest engine and it should get a record for you.

By the way, the HELP section of the game fully explains what Express trains are - as well as many other facets of the game.

[Breachperson]

Thanks, got it now.