North to Alaska

**North to Alaska** is the first mission of the Second Century campaign in Railroad Tycoon II, as well as the first scenario of the World War II and Aftermath act. The premise is building a railroad to Alaska during the 1930's and 1940's.

 Overview

### Introduction Spiel

> *Not a lot of information to work with, but that's usually the way the government likes it during wartime. All we know is, the US and Canadian governments want a direct line from Seattle to Fairbanks. That's in Alaska, son. And by the way they're fidgeting in their seats, I'd say they need it done fast. Better make some hot cocoa.*
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### **Victory Conditions**

* **Bronze:** Connect Fairbanks to Seattle by 1945
* **Silver:** Also have a company book value of at least $10 Million
* **Gold:** the above and haul 12 loads of troops to Fairbanks by 1945.

A loss will be triggered if the player hasn't connected Fairbanks to Seattle 1945.

### **Available Bonuses**

* **Choice 1:** +30% Steel Revenue
* **Choice 2:** +200K Company Cash
* **Choice 3:** -20% Fuel Costs

### **Starting Situation**

* **Starting Year:** 1932
* **Player Name:** Cecil Rhodes (you've heard of a Rhodes Scholar? It's from this guy)
* **Starting Company Cash:** $1.350K
* **Annual Stipend:** $150K

You begin this scenario with 3 existing stations. Seattle and Vancouver are connected with electric track and Fairbanks sits alone.

### Ending Spiel

> *The Alaska line is serving everyone well. Nice Job. The extra supplies are helping to bring war back from the brink of disaster.*
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## Strategy

#### Bonus Choice

There is a guaranteed steel mill in Portland and a dock in Seattle so increased steel revenue is a good option. If you opt for electric trains (you should) then fuel costs won't be a major concern and the cash option isn't that much of a game changer so the choice seems pretty clear.

#### Starting Out

There are three priorities to achieve a gold medal - in order of urgency:

* Setup a profitable railway (this will easily fulfill the company book value requirement)
* Secure the needed 12 troop cars (each barracks only produces one per year so plan ahead)
* Connect Seattle to Fairbanks and deliver the troop cars

All new track must connect to existing track so you have two options to start from - the stations/track in Seattle and Vancouver or the lone station in Fairbanks. The obvious starting choice is to link up your existing stations in Seattle and Vancouver to Portland and run passenger/mail and steel/goods (assuming a tool and die factory exists) services. It's tempting to go with the Mikado for passengers but the flat area around your stations is too narrow to lay long straight sections of track so it won't get a chance to hit full speed anyway. It's probably better to go with the class 1045 for both services.

The other option is to start with a Fairbanks to Whitehorse passenger/mail service. This may be the better option as it would net larger payoffs but you will need to start off non-electric (running Mikados) and upgrade later (when the GG1 becomes available).

If you start from the south then the first expansion goal is to climb the switch back north of Vancouver. As the hint suggests, use the grid view to pick out the optimal route (gradients should be mostly <4 with a couple of short sections that get up to 4.5). You'll also need a sanding station part way up. William's Lake offers more industry chains (likely steel/goods, lumber and paper) so bring in new class 1045s to run these. Once you connect to Prince George, set up express passenger/mail service to Seattle and/or Vancouver using the GG1 engine (which become available 3.5 years in).

After setting up one of the two express passenger services Seattle-Prince George or Fairbanks-Whitehorse, use the revenue it brings in to fund the other. With GG1s fully servicing both routes you should be raking in enough money to fund the full electrified railway and to meet the company book value goal.

#### Send in the troops

As each barracks only produces one troop car per year, you need to plan ahead to get 12 before 1945 (or else find yourself branching off to every barracks on the map in the last few years). The easy way to deal with this is to put a small station by the second barracks near Seattle and assign four cheap engines to pick up three cars each from the barracks (with no destination stations until we complete the line). Once the line is complete, upgrade all four engines to GG1s and set them off to Fairbanks.

#### Bridging the gap

With our company profitable and our troops secure, all we need to do now is connect the two ends of our line. Pick out a flat route (grid view) from Prince George through Terrace and Dease Lake to the pass slightly east of Whitehorse. As traffic will be low, we only need a single electrified line. You then just need to release the troop trains and wait for them to arrive. If for any reason you are still short of troops, there is at least one barracks in Fort Nelson (east down the mountains from Whitehorse) and there is likely another in Whitehorse or Anchorage. Troops do not need to come from Seattle and money should be flowing now so you can run single electrified lines to each barracks and assign GG1s to pull single troop cars as they appear.