Introduction

Nordale is unique in having a complex creative economy system that gives employees a realistic feel with running both passenger and freight trains across the network; the further they travel, the more money they make. Each type of freight has a different cost depending on the rarity and weight. Food will tend to be far cheaper than fuel as per in real life. Passenger trains will vary in profits depending on the coaching stock used.

Freight Services

Freight trains start at a primary source, for example a clay pit where clay is produced and is taken to a processing plant to be made into bricks. From there, bricks can be taken to a city or a town to help aid construction work. The company owner will set out which settlement requires which resources, with a variety of sizes of export points, depending on the size of the settlement. Freight can range from food to construction to fuel, and many more. These resources must be secondary or tertiary, i.e. products that have been processed.

Cross-company traffic

Companies can sell freight to another, for it to be distributed across a company. It is recommended some form of identification system is used to distinguish which wagons belong to which company. It is up to the receiving company to decide where the cargo goes, from a expansive yard, to the smallest branchline station.

Passenger services

Employees are allowed to drive passenger services whenever they want and for how long. They can drive down other companies’ lines as long as the company owner is happy for them to do so. Services can be of a variety of length depending on the destination and type of service. For example, a short-formed train often will be used for going down a branch line in contrast to a longer train that would be used for an express or a dining train. It is often recommend the size of the locomotive used would be the correct size for these trains. For example a LMS Coronation would be used to pull a coronation set compared to a Pannier tank or a small tender locomotive to go down a branchline.

Mail services

Mail is a special type of service that can be driven down a company’s mainline connecting the major stations. A station or town will require paper first before it can produce mail that can later be sold to various places along the network. Since the cost of paper is the same as mail, the only profit made will be by the distance travelled as outlined below. Mail services can run on their own or be attached to pre-formed passenger rakes that would inevitably save running costs. Some branch line trains can be seen formed of a variety of stock from passenger to mail to food all part of the same train!

Finances

To produce cargo at a primary industry (for example a colliery or a mine), players must put money into the industry first for it to produce anything. In real life this would be the rail company purchasing the cargo from the company that would own the industry. When money is inputted, the system will produce the amount that corresponds to the money going in and will keep half of the money that can be collected by the company owner so they are able to afford resources like coal or fuel so employees can continue running trains.

Each secondary/tertiary resource is worth 10% more than its primary/secondary resource counterpart so companies can pay their running costs. Companies can then gain extra profits depending on the distance travelled. This would be considered as postage in real life. Once an employee has delivered the freight train to its destination, the system will dispense the money automatically rather than relying on the company owner. If however, the money is delivered to a port, 95% of the money is kept by the driver whereas the other 5% is given to the company that owns the port.

Distance Bonuses

When an employee is driving a freight train and travels more than 10,000 blocks from their start location to their end point, they will gain a bonus. The bonus will not exceed more than 60,000 blocks since this would create huge profits and would be unfair for those on the server. The distances are calculated as the crow flies so you don’t gain any additional money for any diversions. When you have worked out the distance you must round down to the nearest margin. So for example, if you have travelled 19,999 blocks you will be paid for a distance of 10,000 blocks. 

Locomotive & Rolling Stock Works

The locomotive and rolling stock works will only receive 10% of the money that comes through to them. It is up to the company owner whether they want to pay their employees for building the stock or not. Steel melted from the scrapyard can be reused at these works and can be used alongside the steel produced by the steel mill.