Manual or automatic control?

[Dark Messiah]

Which one generally the best for lines between cities? Right now I am using pretty much all manual but it is getting a bit tedious trying to control and update each stop.

[coenvijge]

In a lot of cases 'automatic' will do fine. Imo opinion it's more a question of taste and 'type of play you prefer'. For a connection between two cities (A to B) I sometimes use all of some of the following steps:

1. single track and one 'automatic' train (at);
2. single track and one passing lane; two at's;
3. double track and four at's;
4. double track and more trains: two train types: express and freight;
5. four tracks (two for pax and mail; two for freight) and three train types: pax, mail and freight A<->B.

With good trainnumbering/-naming the control and updating isn't that hard.

[Empty1958]

I don't know the last time I used "Manual" for the same reason you are beginning to not like it. I find in the beginning of a game I use "Auto" because I am moving everything with very few trains on 1 track. As soon as I create enough rails to separate pass/mail from freight I create trains specific to pass/mail and freight and convert my auto trains. Pass/mail trains do much better if freight trains are not in their way and you can use the fastest locomotives for the pass/mail adding to your income.

[chaney]

Manual is a niche feature. The precision it gives can be valuable, but it is also brittle if one of the required cargoes is not available.

There are pretty powerful options for the Automatic load management.
You can set the train to carry only Express (Passengers and Mail) or only Freight (everything else.)
You can set any particular cargo to be priority, or prohibited.
You can set the minimum or maximum cars for the train to leave the stop.