Engine Age and Replacement

[Gwizz]

I have been reading more with a little posting.  I wish I could spend less time with my doctors and more time posting. 

I know there is a lot of talent that read this forum.  I hope they continue to post.    

[RobS]

On 4/25/2016 at 4:27 PM, jeffryfisher said:

Saying that maint is the only consideration is incorrect. Reliability is a valid reason to replace engines even if no better engine has appeared and even if maintenance remained constant. I think that reliability is an under-appreciated aspect of the game since its effects are so hard to quantify (how much money did I lose because a train was delayed, and all trains behind it were blocked, and a traffic jam ensued...?). You can only ignore reliability if you play with accidents turned off.

Increased maintenance costs and decreased reliability go hand in hand, as far as I'm concerned. I should have said that locomotive aging, and its associated effects, is really the only reason to replace them.

[MaglevForever]

Fuel cost increases slightly with age as well. Not as much as maintenance does, of courses. Something else to swing the balance toward shorter loco life. In one case, by the time that maintenace had doubled, fuel cost was up by around 30%. That may not matter for most engines, but, for some of the 20th century steam on Expert mode, fuel costs can be high enough that this might be strategic to consider.

 

@Gwizz, Good to see you stopping by, hope you stay strong. In exploring Styria 1840, I came across one of your China saves where you had 1307 locos. It's the last one on this page: http://doconnor.homeip.net/rt2/. The link to your description is now dead. If you feel up to it, would you mind reviewing how long it took you to make, and what your main goal was, or where you just trying to build as much as you could on the map?

[Gwizz]

I don't remember.  That is a big map.  I've made so many maps. I still have many I never finished.  I was always looking for something different and difficult.

Thanks for the question.  I will look for that china map.   I'm feeling better now.

 Stay clear of Kidney Stones.  They are beyond painful.  I have too many other medical problems.  So I didn't need stones.

 

 

 

[Gwizz]

I thought about that map today.  If I'm remembering correctly, I had a bunch of AIs running.  When I  merged an AI, that AI started another company with the extra cash the AI earned when I bought him out.  That is how the map got so large.  It wasn't planned.  I finally figured out that I needed a lot of cash to control each AI. 

The way I won the game was being able to make enough money to buy out every AI at the same time and remove his ability to earn more cash to start another company.

 

TO stay on topic.  I seldom updated locos.  I ran them until they died.  I did slow an old loco down.  Kind of like me, I slowed down a lot as I got older. 

Chow ------- Gwizz

 

[RRslowM]

Additional information about locomotives:
1) Locomotive speed decreases by 0.5% each year
2) Locomotive maintenance costs increase by 8% each year
3) Locomotive fuel consumption increases by 2% each year
PS: The percentages slowly deviate from the above figures each year.

Analysis of all locomotives from the point of view of minimum costs (purchase and maintenance):

	years	$	$/year
2-6-2 Prairie	11	262	23.7
F3A+B	16	707	44.1
Alco PA-1	14	583	40.7
4-6-4 Hudson	12	636	55.1
Trevithick-1	5	47	9.0
Stephenson Rocket	7	65	9.8
2-4-0 John Bull	7	88	12.0
0-4-0 Dewitt Clinton	8	67	8.8
4-2-0 Prussian	8	124	14.7
4-4-0 American-C	12	137	11.3
4-2-2 Iron Duke	12	235	20.0
0-4-0 A3	12	203	17.6
4-4-0 8-Wheeler	14	167	12.3
2-4-0 Vulcan	11	98	8.7
2-8-0 Consolidation	10	164	16.3
3-Track Shay	6	177	27.6
4-8-0 Mastodon	9	209	24.3
4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler	10	216	22.0
2-6-0 Mogul	10	262	25.0
1-3 BoBo	15	233	15.7
4-4-2 Atlantic	9	315	34.6
2-6-0 Camelback	11	228	19.8
4-6-2 Pacific	10	394	41.4
0-10-0 Class G10	6	402	61.9
2-6-2 Prairie	11	262	23.7
4-4-0 D16sb	11	203	19.0
2-10-0 Class 13 H	7	407	59.8
USRA 0-6-0	11	284	27.1
2-8-2 Mikado	8	477	58.2
Be 4/6 II	9	203	21.5
4-6-0 Class B12	13	423	33.0
Ee 3/3	10	150	14.5
Class 1045	16	255	16.3
USRA 0-8-0	9	328	35.1
Class A4 Mallard	13	578	44.9
GG1	15	773	50.6
Class E18	10	316	32.1
4-6-4 Hudson	12	636	55.1
4-8-4 Daylight	11	710	64.4
4-6-4 J3A Streamliner	12	759	63.3
Ae 8/14	12	631	53.6
4-8-8-4 Big Boy	9	1281	142.9
Class 1020	10	380	37.0
4-4-4-4 T-1	13	827	65.5
F3A+B	16	707	44.1
Alco PA-1	14	583	40.7
F9	17	882	51.8
GP9	18	603	33.2
TGVx	13	2454	189.8
E 69	13	248	19.0
GP18	16	655	41.1
V200	12	484	41.9
Penn. E44	16	985	60.9
Class 55 Deltic	22	1172	53.0
Shinkansen Bullet	12	1905	152.9
FP45	20	915	45.7
SD45	14	775	53.7
SDP40	16	782	49.2
E60CP	16	829	52.1
TGV	13	2174	169.7
Class E111	19	992	52.8
E656 FS	14	626	43.4
Dash-9	20	1193	59.1
AMD-103	16	1129	69.5
Thalys Bullet	14	2787	196.8
Eurostar	19	4030	207.2
Class 232	15	1349	91.1
BD 18 201	9	1345	145.4
Brenner	11	3897	360.4
Mag-Lev TBX-1	14	7000	500.3

[RRslowM]

In the previous message, I forgot to add one more year to the total costs (for the first line it will be 262 + 23.7 = 285)

PS: New locomotive, displays 0 year. 1 year is added on January 1st.

[jeffryfisher]

If I understand your calculation, the "years" number is the total-cost optimal age when I should replace a loco type with itself (if I'm not up against some other constraint)?

[RRslowM]

Yes.