How to mega-train: Multiple Steam Power Unit.

Ok, so I've seen about 3 dozen posts that I think my strategy for building a consist can help with here. This may also be helpful to console players as well, depending on how much of this holds true to console (I'm a PC player, so I can't test it, sorry my fellow engineers).

For those who are unaware, if you board a loco in a given consist using F so you're driving in third person, all engines in the consist will take regulator, brake and reversing gear input from both your little sliders on-screen and keyboard inputs.

This means that if you drive from third person, you can multi-unit run any train, this has some distinct advantages for those looking to haul lots of wagons, or negotiate more difficult slopes:

1. More tractive effort, plain and simple, more choo choo is more power.

2. More braking force without using wagon brakes; simple too, more choo choo is more brakes you can remotely apply.

3. Ability to space your locos (and their tractive and breaking forces) out, they don't all have to pull from the head, nor should you want them to! This achieves two major advantages that will be in points 4 & 5.

4. Spreading your locos out through the consist lets you reduce stress on couplers during acceleration and braking, that means no more snapped couplers, and no more rebounding tension causing the carriages near the break flying off the rails (this is what happens when you reach the fores needed to make the couplers snap, it is very dramatic and probably seems like a pur physics bug, but I think it's at least partially intentional in the coupler's braking, but probably not in sending cars flying into orbit).

5. No more accordioning, when you brake, if locos further back, or at the tail of the consist are helping ,cars will not start to mount up on each other and cause derailments, this is especially true for the 4 axle cars; those sugar cane and plantation wagons need to be kept under just the right tension to stop them twisting, jackknifing and derailing.

6. You can detach consists at the loco to self-switch them into industries, this is VERY useful, as you will not have to back the whole train to drop them off, and can pick them back up on the way back, including bringing them up behind the rest of the train at speed if you're running alone. You can be very brazen in this to maximize your earnings per time!

Now, on to how to best build your train:

Something I think that many might need to know is how to build a train, this uses the same rationale as loading a trailer. The heavier cars need to go towards the front of the consist; the heavier the car, the closer to the lead loco(s) it should be, this minimizes heavier wagons causing lighter ones to hop off the rails under braking.

This also applies to your tender, you don't want a dinky tender like the Montezuma's in front of a 33' gondola loaded with gold ore. That gondola is a big bully that can and will shove smaller wagons into a jackknife under heavy braking and cause them to derail.

Speedy locos in front, slower, heavier pushers behind: Your fastest loco should be your leader, it will pull you up to the fastest speed, while your slower ones help get started, and get you up inclines. The big, heavy locos being your braking force against your heaviest wagons is also bueno.

Ideally you want 1 fast boi per heavy boi in your train to get the best of both worlds. My recommendation is one engine per 10-12 plantation wagons in the consist, between them, while with the heavier wagons with bogies you can get 20-30 between locos. My lumber train is 30 staked 29' flatcars with 2 mastodons at the front, and a heisler at the rear; for example.

My biggest ever pull was 100 cars, broken into 25 car consists with a loco between each, and a couple at the front, with another at the rear, plus a caboose. That's 110 pieces of rolling stock including locos, tenders and the caboose. Not a single wagon hopped the tracks in that config while maintaining 25 MPH average speed.

Hopefully this guide has helped some of you ambitious engineers out there who want to run big trains! :)