[Rails-devel] Route and revenue calculation.

[<ia...@co...>]

Some thoughts extracted from a private email I sent:

Of course, [completing my old code to work with 1835 style n+m trains] still wouldn't allow for three types of station (e.g. coal mine, village and city in Lonny Orgler's Austrian 18xxs). Don't forget train/gauge issues. Also in 1825/1829 only 'T' trains may end a route at a small station. Austrian Goods trains also MUST have a coal mine on the route.

Jonathan Ferro's idea looks interesting too, but I really don't have the time (even for this email right now) to analyse it in detail.

An interesting point to note is that the 'best' answer with split train types is not clear: consider having a train which pays some money straight to treasury and some to the 'dividend pool', and a second which pays only to the 'dividend pool'. For any given possible level of straight-to-treasury payment there will be a maximum dividend-pool payment, and vice-versa. However which combination to take is a tactical choice by the player. E.g. the treasury payment might be one of {$30, $40, $60} with concommitant dividend contributions of {$150, $120, $110}. The {$40/$120} option may be what the company director wants, and he should be allowed to select it.