Max Days To Deliver?

[jimmyh]

Does this actually mean any thing?

For the passenger car it is about 300 days, does it mean any thing if a trip takes more than 300 days to get to it's destination?

Cheers.

[Gwizz]

If I remember correctly, once the passenger or cargo cars are picked up they can be hauled any distance, but the most you will earn for hauling will be 50% of maximum value if you take more than the maximun # of days to deliver.  But on a long haul the total earned starts at a higher amount.  Therefore long hauls pay more than short hauls per mile.  I believe the days include time the cargo waited at the station to be picked up.

If the time expires at the station for cargo waiting to be picked up the car disappears.

[RTPlayer]

I tend to treat the "max days to deliver" number as a kind of index number indicating the time-sensitivity (the rate at which it loses value while en route) of a particular type of cargo relative to other cargo types.  I didn't understand it as well as Gwizz before I read his post, but I understood the part about the carload dissapearing when it's not picked up on time.

[loco_motive]

Confusion reigns. As was mentioned only a few days ago in another thread, "delivery time days" or "maximum days to deliver" and "rot factor" are independent variables.

For example, as shown in the table in the Appendix to the Strategy Guide, cement, paper and autos all have 800 maximum days to deliver but have rot factors of 3, 5, and 6 respectively.

"Maximum days to deliver" represents the time after which an item will no longer exist in its home station, even if it is absent for a while and then returned. I believe that's all there is to it.

"Rot factor" represents the rate at which the cargo value decreases with time, down to a residual value which may be 30%, plus or minus, of its value when created. For a particular cargo, this decrease is a fixed amount per month so if the delivery price for a more distant city is higher, or if station improvements have temporarily cut the rot rate in half, it will take that much longer to reach the residual value.

[MagnusA]

That "rot factor", I understand now the meaning of it, but what stands "rot" for? Is is an abbreviation for "Rate Of Time", "Return On T*" or similar? Or is it rather that the cargo become "rotten" with time (that happens to for example food if not properly stored)? I can't find this

[Gwizz]

Rot as I understand it is a decrease in value over time, whether waiting in a station or loaded on a train.  Days to deliver has more to do with the time a car sits waiting to be pickup before the car disappears at the station.  If loaded on a train the car can go past the days to delivery time.  Cars left at a drop station don't disappear either.  Technically they are on route to a destination. 

Another factor to consider is the number of cars waiting to be picked up.  Does the train pick up the car that has been waiting the longest or waiting for the shortest amount of time.  One will pay much better than the other.  I don't know the answer to this question.     

I've often wondered if I placed an Atlantic locomotive at two stations and had them wait for one passenger car to haul.  They would load it as soon as it appeared and run fast with a light load on a green flag on double track to the others station.  They should earn maximum profit.  The delivery of one car would cause a minimum decrease in demand keeping demand and price high.    Expenses for hauling only one car may well eat up the profits from that one car. That is why many players will do this for a 3 car train with it taking any two cars (Pass or Mail)  It would be an interesting experiment.