This is a guide to the "Down Under" or Australia DLC (2020) for the computer game "Railway Empire" (2018).
This is a "hard" scenario. At the start getting through the initial goals on a budget is tight. At length, it takes some time to complete all the goals.
Yours is the only Railway Company. There are no competitors throughout this entire scenario.
I felt no great loss in ignoring Mail and Passengers entirely. I set some "Mixed" city-to-city trains but was not inclined to set any Passenger/Mail exclusive express trains. The complications in keeping the lines clear for them just wasn't worth it; the "easy money" comes in other ways.
You may find it valuable to selectively "reclaim" (destroy) trains, tracks, and stations when they are no longer productive, or just clutter your mind and/or map. My advice is have no qualms about pruning low profit, or old, or complex, or mentally taxing, trains, rails, stations, even abandon towns from previous goals. You get the money back, clear your map, and mind, and thus can refocus toward the next goal.
This scenario will feel like it is deliberately placing exactly the wrong industry you need into towns. Perhaps that is by design, perhaps not, but you can combat it by:
Did you know that you can build warehouses for two cities and connect them, without needing to connect contiguous track back to your home city? Plus you can always build a station on resources.
Specifically, after you complete the early goals around Melbourne, the next goals are a thousand miles away in Sydney. Yes, you could build a long single-track across the desert, or winding around coast. [b]Or[/b] you can get started right away by building warehouses to serve the cities; don't bother with stations until you have the money and track to connect the two colonies.
Once you get into the middle game, the permits to build new towns accumulate. You need to build 5 towns to complete one of the goals. The rest can, and perhaps should, be ignored so you can focus on the actual goals.
Take as much early capital as is available to grow your empire. Spend most of it on track, trains, etc, but always keep some cash in hand (~$100,000) for auctions and staff opportunities.
Once you get past the initial goals, there is bit of fanfare about "Gold". You might scratch your head at first, but my advice is to go and check the demand for Gold in both Melbourne (7) and Sydney (28). It does not last forever, but it does provide all the money you need to build whatever and whereever you like; especially if you buy and upgrade the mines to match the demand.
In the late game, the demand for gold abates from Sydney (not Melbourne however), and is replaced by Cement and Steel.
In this scenario almost all of the developed goods are irrelevant. I'll try to list them in order of relevance:
For every city always: * Fish: direct to cities (or warehouse) * Wood: direct to cities (or warehouse) * Grain: to cities and Breweries (or warehouse) * Beer: from Breweries to cities (or warehouse) * Cattle: to the Abattoir * Meat: from Abattoir to cities (or warehouse) * Sugar: direct to cities (or warehouse)
For goals along the way:
| 1832 | Connect 2 cities to your rail network |
| 1834 | Connect 3 rural businesses to your rail network |
| 1835 | Connect 55,733 people to your rail network |
| 1840 | Deliver 15 loads of Beer to Swan Hill |
| 1840 | Deliver 15 loads of Grain to Swan Hill |
| 1840 | Deliver 15 loads of Seafood to Swan Hill |
| 1840 | Deliver 15 loads of Wood to Swan Hill |
| 1841 | Gain access to the area of Victoria East |
| 1900 | Connect 8 cities to your rail network |
| 1844 | Establish the town of Walhalla |
| 1845 | Connect 1 business producing Gold to your rail network |
| 1850 | Deliver 40 loads of Gold to Melbourne |
| 1852 | Gain access to the area of New South Wales Coast |
| 1858 | Establish the town of Armidale |
| 1860 | Deliver 40 loads of Gold to Sydney |
| 1862 | Gain access to the area of New South Wales Central |
| 1868 | Establish the town of Orange |
| 1870 | Achieve an annual profit of $650,000 from freight |
| 1915 | Have 2 cities with a population of at least 80,000 |
| 1915 | Produce 40 loads of Clothing |
| 1915 | Produce 30 loads of Rail-O-Mite |
| 1915 | Produce 10 loads of Newspapers |
| 1915 | Transport 20 loads of Cement to towns |
| 1885 | Connect Brisbane and Melbourne |
| 1885 | Connect Adelaide and Melbourne |
| 1885 | Establish 5 more towns |
| 1892 | Deliver 200 loads of Sheeps Wool to Brisbane |
| 1894 | Deliver 200 loads of Lumber to Adelaide |
| 1896 | Deliver 200 loads of Rum to Newcastle |
| 1930 | Deliver 120 loads of Cement to Sydney |
| 1930 | Deliver 120 loads of Steel to Sydney |
| 1930 | Reach a population of 60,000 in Canberra |