hard long maps

[letsdance]

i prefer to play scenarios/maps that have a long duration (30+ yrs), are not easy and start before 1910. there seem to be very few :-/ so i thought i'd start a list here, and ask the community if you know other maps fulfilling that critera. i think no map is really hard if you know the game well enough. but most are so trivial that i just have to look at them to know how i can win easily.

US-History probably the most famous and best one =) i've still not played it because i don't like overwriting the game files, but it seems to fit the criteria quite well. features historic accurracy and many events.
duration: 1836 - 2001
difficulty: don't know =) but i think high.

my own modified Eastern USA map. needless to say my favorite *lol* but i've already played it so often. features balancing changes to upkeep, engine availability and territory costs (while not caring about realism or history). it has only few other events. download link in OP is broken, updated link in the replies.
duration: 1830 - 2000
difficulty: high

Williamsport & North Branch this is the kind of map i'm looking for. i assume more maps like this exist, but i don't know any others. you start with a seemingly worthless company and have to get it back on track. expansion is difficult because of mountains.
duration: 1894 - 1937
difficulty: high if you restrict yourself to connected tracks only (at least in spirit - i often prefer to build them from the other direction, but do connect them). yes even on first try i had fulfilled the goal 10 years before the end, but it was a challenge. i rarely micromanage and plan as much as i did in this game, and it was absolutely required.

 

i've looked at many other maps in the database here (though still probably not even half of them), but i didn't find any other that have a long duration and do not seem trivial. but most of the maps in the DB don't tell about their duration and i didn't look at the details of those at all.

Edited August 2, 2016 by letsdance

[MaglevForever]

On 02/08/2016 at 1:32 PM, letsdance said:

are not easy and start before 1910.

Because of high express revenues for properly planned routes and low engine purchase and upkeep costs, profit is easy on maps in the 19th century with the seeding settings that were established when the game was released. I remember few maps that use lean seedings, yours and US History being the first ones to spring to mind.

If we are talking about a "hard" map in the sense that while there is plenty of money to be had, there are lots of requirements for the player to meet then you might check out the maps JSS made. In my opinion Williamsport & North Branch is of this class. JSS made KVR 2.0 (Kettle Valley Railway) and Styria 1840. JSS has a site. Look in the winners list for Styria 1840, if you want a real challenge try to match/beat the record: December 1846.