How to deploy 6 express trains at the same time task

[Ovimik]

Hello fellow railway people,

Like the title sais I have a task that I need to deploy 6 express trains at the same time. I can't seem to get it done.
I know how to set up an express train, I know how a train achieves an express status and I know I can copy the trains I set up.
I can't pauze the game when setting up trains so I can never deploy 6 at the same time.

How do you get this task done?

[chaney]

Are you trying to set out 6 new express trains at once? The task typically is to have a number of Express Status trains operating at once. It sounds like you understand an "express train" is restricted to carry only passengers and mail, while the Express Status needs the train to have a fast performance history, the difference can be confusing. Just trying to understand where the disconnect here is.

[Thineboot]

Most trains that connect two cities on straight, flat routes will eventually become "express trains". It happens all the time to me and they run on "automatic", thus exchanging industrial goods, too.
Using point-to-point connections helps a lot. Don't mix them with slow freight trains. Let them run as smooth as possible and you don't have to take care. Once utilization of a station track becomes three digits stop adding trains to the "line".
The further away two cities are, the harder it becomes to achieve "express train" status.

[Ovimik]

ahh that's how it works, thank you :)

[chaney]

No, nobody really knows how it works ... but those are the kind of things to do that seem to get results ;) That may sound like a joke, but it's more true than I'm happy to admit. I wrote up my summary of conventional wisdom in my guide ... but what Thineboot wrote covers most of the practical stuff.

[Mudfog]

You can increase the maximum speed of a train by using train personnel with the correct traits. Look for Engineers and Stokers who have a lightning symbol trait that indicates that "through skilful control of steam flow increases a trains maximum speed". They can provide that extra 5% to 9% increase in maximum speed that can just get the train to express status over the complete journey.

You can check how close a train is to obtaining "Express" status on the Manage Train screen. There is a speed gauge on the top left hand corner of the picture the train which shows how close the train is to obtaining express status.

Every bit helps.

[mbutton15]

You can also restrict the number of carriages being pulled. I quite often set it to 1 carriage for the specific city-to-city tasks.

Also be careful of track elevation. Try to lay track so the gradient as close to 0% as possible.

[Ovimik]

Woa thanks for the tips! All those things should help me get that task done :)

[AimlessArrow]

I connect nearby towns in different part of the map early in the scenario, and dont spam more than one train-pair/route until the job done. Tthey'll become express without personnel or specal cars. As others said above, flat terrain (+a pair of one-way tracks IMO) seems to be your best friend here.

[The_10th_Man]

The express services work just like the game's manual says they work.

You need to be using the fastest trains available and they need to run without stopping between two city stations. They need to run up and back without stopping and they will invariably gain express status. The only thing that will normally stop them gaining the status is if your competitors have researched faster trains than the ones you have access to.

The express trains are the most profitable part of the game, so don't just meet the task and then stop at six.

To maximise the benefits of express services, try using twin stations in every city and using the second set of stations to create a parallel network that is dedicated to passenger and mail trains. It is important to connect all of your stations with twin rails fitted with multi-directional signals along the whole length of the tracks. Also use the mail, dining and caboose bonus carriages on every passenger and mail train and then you will see your income multiply exponentially.

I've had 106 simultaneous express trains in Hibernation (Northern Europe DLC):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2544916535

I've had 113 simultaneous express trains in the Rising Sun scenario:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2650802956

I've also got a screenshot of 8 simultaneous express services running between two neighbouring cities in the Germany DLC, but I've had more than a dozen express services running simultaneously on the one line on longer distance intercity connections:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2562799741

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by The_10th_Man:

The express services work just like the game's manual says they work.

You need to be using the fastest trains available...

Not true !!

I was struggling to get an express rating on some long distance route with the fastest train. Switched it to a train with lower top speed but higher traction and got the rating.

The reason was the higher traction rated train could cope with the gradients better (of which there were many) so was able to achieve a faster average speed.

[mbutton15]

For info, here's the thread I wrote on my experience:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/503940/discussions/0/1742260304699954456/

[Thineboot]

Originally posted by mbutton15:

Originally posted by The_10th_Man:

The express services work just like the game's manual says they work.

You need to be using the fastest trains available...

Not true !!
[...]

... true, what mbutton15 says ;) I even did an extended test using Grasshopper to gain Express status while there was EMD available. It was off topic, as well as a bunch of other posts, so you'd have to use the search function to dig it up.

Oh, and btw, this discussion went a bit off topic, too. Yeah, we're talking about how to make Express trains but that wasn't the OP question. And since chaney said "nobody really knows how it works ... but those are the kind of things to do that seem to get results ;)" we're in the area of those are the kind of things to do that "seem" to get results adding our own experiences "without" really knowing how it works... :)

[AimlessArrow]

https://youtu.be/2dCVms0b_Qg

What the guys does is works.
I now have 4 pair of express trains with Reindeer loco. The earliest which is express. But I keep trying with mixed locos too.

[Thineboot]

It starts with https://youtu.be/2dCVms0b_Qg?t=54 "I know that's sometimes impossible to do" which can be avoided without problems by not placing a track point next to the river crossing which, in most cases, results in steep slopes like the 7% he isn't capable to get rid of for reasons... he's just making content for his channel...

"Express", "Mixed", and "Freight" are just labels, general classification based on various percentages favoring their usage for the respective tasks and not for gaining "Express train" status or "Howling train"... wait, that was last weeks special ;)

[AimlessArrow]

Most likely hes just another influencer "out of the mill". I dont follow any of 'em anyway.
But taken aside his intentions, what he showed is not bad at all. I did it before similarly but with one-way tracks.

"Express", "Mixed", and "Freight" are just labels, general classification based on various percentages favoring their usage for the respective tasks..."
You basicaly mean, that a train with freight loco could be express too? In this case Im more puzzled by the mechanics of this game, than before.