Crossing the Great Divide

**Crossing the Great Divide** is the sixth mission in the classic campaign of the game Railroad Tycoon II. It is the final mission of the North American act of the classic campaign. The premise of this scenario was the construction of the Canadian Pacific's transcontinental railroad during the late 1800s. The map used in this mission is representative of Canada.

## Overview

### Introduction Spiel

> *Six-thousand miles of iron rail! Hoo-ee! That's what's going to have to be laid to reach across Canada. Raising the money in the east is just the beginning to completing this Canadian transcontinental. You need to keep your crew supplied and on track as the wilderness of Canada will challenge your every step. Your goal is to see a train pulling up to the shipyard in Vancouver. Good luck...and bring your long johns.*
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### Victory Conditions

* **Bronze:** Connect Halifax to Vancouver and haul six loads between the two cities by 1896.
* **Silver:** Also have a company book value of $20 million.
* **Gold:** All of the above, but company book value of $50 million.

A loss will be triggered if the player does not connect Halifax with Vancouver by the end of 1896.

### Available Bonuses

* **Choice 1:** Manager Van Horne, 10% lower track costs
* **Choice 2:** 2-8-0 Consolidation, +10% engine speed
* **Choice 3:** One level higher credit rating, 10% faster station turnaround.

Choice 1 is probably the standout choice for this scenario. Lots of track will be laid by the end, and the Van Horne (15% lower track costs, 20% lower mountainous track costs) really is the ideal manager for the situation. A further 10% lower track cost is really icing on the cake. It really enables a faster start, as it is possible to develop earlier long-distance moneymaking lines for less money, and in turn earlier in the game. Choice 2 is also a considerable option. 10% engine speed is a nice bonus, which effectively means 10% increase in revenues. Having the consolidation available 10 years early is useful, but not game changing, as the Eight-Wheeler is probably a better locomotive to use anyways. However, Choice 1 is probably better overall. The hardest part of the scenario is the start, as the large cities are too close together to generate major profits, and the lower track costs should help you expand faster to create more moneymaking routes. Choice 3 is hardly considerable, it's not like the player gets enough of a credit rating boost to float an extra bond at the beginning, and once the player becomes established the bonus is meaningless. The faster station acceleration is not a strong enough bonus that will heavily influence a game.

### Starting Situation

* **Starting Year:** 1868
* **Player Name:** Sir George Stephen
	+ **Starting Player Cash:** -$15K personal cash
	+ **Starting Player Stock:** 2,000 shares of Canadian Pacific (10% of the company)
* **Company Name:** Canadian Pacific
	+ **Starting Company Cash:** $925K

The player starts with no infrastructure.

### Ending Spiel

> *Well, well... Nice job of putting North America on the fast track to success. As a result of your history-altering efforts, you've managed to get quite a reputation.*
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## Strategy

This scenario is difficult to gain gold on, because a lot of track needs to be built in a cryptically short time. While 28 years seems like a long time, it goes fast considering that there is a transcontinental railroad to build, and the fact that $50M company book value is a tough task on a map with not many big cities and profitable routes to earn money off of. The two most profitable cities are Vancouver and Halifax (considering ports give 3 passengers/year in this map), and thus a connection between these two must to be made fast. This is not only for the scenario goal of hauling 6 loads between the two cities, but also trains between these two cities will probably provide the bulk of the income that will get the $50 million required. Time is needed for these trains to cross the map, so the player needs to probably finish the connection by 1888 or so to stand any chance of gaining gold.

### Starting Out

As with most scenarios, the hardest part is definitely the first ten years. There is not much money available, and a bond will certainly be needed to construct a route of any substance. There are starting routes to consider, but the best would probably be between Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa. This is because these three cities are decently sized, and there are a few solid expansion points thereafter that can really get the player going. However, it isn't a perfect start either. These cities are probably a bit too close to each other, and therefore individual trains won't generate huge incomes. But the important thing is that over time this route is profitable enough to give a decent start for the player. The route built between these cities should be single-tracked with wooden bridges just to save costs. A bond will be needed to complete the full track. Medium stations are preferred. The complex river system near Montreal can be tough to work around, but the most effective track layout from Quebec is to cross the city in a north-south alignment and curl around to cross the Lake Erie river at a North-westerly direction eventually straightening for Ottawa. If industry or house placement means this is impossible (and no alternative is viable), a restart should be considered. Medium stations are preferred just for cost-saving. Run a couple of Iron Duke trains with 3 or 4 pax/mail carriages triangulating between these three cities. Micromanage loads for the first couple of years.

In the first couple of years, profit will be slow to come by. Once $500K is in the bank, float another bond, and this should be enough for a connection to Halifax from Quebec. Using single tracks and wooden bridge, cross the hill by using the grid view and finding the softest grade through (there is a smooth area). Scoot around the American border, running through Fredericton (city is pretty small so station is optional), and finish the connection to Halifax. Halifax is as big as the other cities, but has the advantage of having a port usually, which results in nearly double the passenger production. A medium station should do here, and if money is left, start running a couple more trains between Halifax and the other cities. Also reroute the existing trains to run to Halifax as well. Use any remaining money to build a station at Fredericton, a medium station that covers both logging camps should do. If there are any lumber mills or paper mills in the other cities, the player should set up a couple of trains to run between the Fredericton camps and the mills of the other cities. The Eight Wheeler is probably the preferred locomotive for freight, while the Iron Duke is faster and thus better for passenger services. Eventually, the money should start coming in at a quicker rate, and it will be time to expand again, westwards this time.

### Heading West

At this stage, the player faces an interesting choice, to start expand directly westwards towards Vancouver, or build up their network to become more established. The second choice involves building routes towards Toronto and Jonquiere, and running passenger trains to and from these cities. However, this isn't the ideal choice, since you are not making progress on the Transcontinental Railroad by building to these cities, and in reality building the transcontinental railroad faster will provide a greater impact on getting the gold medal. The better option at this stage would be to expand to Sunbury (reroute some trains to run there). Expanding further to Sault Ste. Marie is not really recommended unless it has a port (extra passengers). Meanwhile, start to double some of the track between Quebec and Ottawa (it's likely becoming clogged by now), but keep the wooden bridges at this stage. Again, more money should be coming in, and when $1,000K is in the bank, float a couple more bonds in order to begin construction towards Winnipeg. Using single track and wooden bridges, from Sunbury, head Northwest through Hornepayne, Armstrong, before going back down through Kenora to Winnipeg. Compared to a more southern route through Thunder Bay, generally the grades are nicer running via Armstrong, and there is better opportunity to take advantage of industry. Winnipeg is a fairly sizable city, so it's a good idea to run a few long-distance passenger services between Winnipeg and Halifax.

Nine times out of ten, Winnipeg will have a steel mill, and if either Hornepayne or Armstrong have a tool and die factory, use the nearby coal mines and iron mines to set up a steel mill chain with finished goods ending up at Winnipeg or Sunbury. If not then the player can instead haul logs to the lumber mills and eventually the finished lumber to Winnipeg. At the start of 1878, an interesting event chain begins. The player receives a gets a choice between using substandard sleepers or having track building costs increase by 30%. The 30% increase certainly isn't exactly ideal, considering there is still heaps more track to build at this stage. But if substandard sleepers are used, there is a chance that another event will trigger saying that continuing to use substandard sleepers will cause reliability to slip, and track maintenance to rise by 10%, or the company can pay $200K to get out of this situation. At this stage it's best to pay out, otherwise the event chain will continue to the extent that the player's company will be charged with negligence, the penalty being $1,000K and trains will be stopped for twelve months (cargo rotting in the mean time). In 1879, the player is notified that they can purchase the rights to the USA. While this would grant the player large cities like Minneapolis, Duluth and Boston, it is really worth it in the end, these end up proving to be distractions rather than focusing on the task of building the Transcontinental Railroad. This is especially considering there are no cities in between Minneapolis and Seattle that the player can use to build the railroad to Vancouver.

### Vancouver and Beyond

The player should keep pushing west as soon as possible, so floating another bond to reach Regina and eventually Calgary is a good idea. Run the appropriate passenger trains as necessary. Bypass Red Deer to reach Edmonton. Sometimes a steel mill industrial chain can be created Then, use the grid system to find the smooth pass just east of Prince George. Finally from Prince George, the player can head south towards Vancouver. There are two possible passes to descend into Vancouver. The pass to the north of Vancouver is very steep (grades of 10%+), and this isn't really viable at all. However, the pass to the east of the city has a maximum gradient of around 7% which is reasonably acceptable. Build as big a station as necessary to encompass all the houses as well as the ports. Remember to construct a small station at the top of the Vancouver hill so that trains don't run out of sand on their way to Prince George.

Now that the transcontinental railroad is complete, start running express trains between Vancouver and Halifax. Reroute some of the existing trains away from Halifax. The Consolidation locomotive should probably be used, because it has the best hauling and grade ability of the available locomotives. It also has a better reliability than the Iron Duke and the Eight Wheeler, which is important on long routes with a large sections of single track (where a breakdown can be deadly). They should probably haul 3 passenger cars and a dining car. As supplies build up in each city build more and more trains as necessary. 6 loads are needed between the two cities for the Bronze, which is fairly simple. The silver goal of $20 million book value should have been completed. Since these long-distance hauls between Halifax and Vancouver will earn over $1,000K each, given time, the $50 million book value and the gold medal should be gained as long as the player has allowed for enough time to do so.

## History

"It’s 1867 and trouble is brewing in Canada. The country is tearing itself apart without a tangible representation of unity. The Canadian Parliament wants you to build a Trans-Canadian railway by 1896 in order to strengthen relationships between provinces.

Started in 1875 and technically finished in 1887, the Trans-Canadian Railroad carried passengers and goods from Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic Ocean to Vancouver, British Columbia, on the Pacific Ocean. The railroad was enormously expensive to create and presented an engineering nightmare of the highest degree. The Canadian government had to grant over 39,000 square miles of land to developers, but reaped its rewards when it was able to send troops to put down a rebellion in the west using the mostly completed rail system. As George Stephen, you must reorganize the existing eastern line to generate enough cash to finance the rest of the line to Vancouver by 1887. Your start date is 1875."

-- Railroad Tycoon II Strategy Guide