Afraid of railroads

[Torvoni]

I'm afraid to build railroads.

Is it worth connecting cities by railroad?
Is there any benefit to putting a railroad on a mine or lumbermill or any other tile?

I used to put a railroad on every tile in my territory ... starting with the mines, then lumbermills, then connectivity, then everywhere.

In CIV V they obviously wanted to stop people from that sort of behavior.
Now I'm not sure I want to build a railroad at all.

Does anyone have a specific strategy for railroads?

 

[KroninW]

I'm afraid to build railroads.

Is it worth connecting cities by railroad?
Is there any benefit to putting a railroad on a mine or lumbermill or any other tile?

I used to put a railroad on every tile in my territory ... starting with the mines, then lumbermills, then connectivity, then everywhere.

In CIV V they obviously wanted to stop people from that sort of behavior.
Now I'm not sure I want to build a railroad at all.

Does anyone have a specific strategy for railroads?

Connect your cities with them, especially your production heavy cities. Cities connect to capital via railraod get a 50% production bonus.

Take the shortest possible route to connect your land base close cities, and use a railroad to connect your capital to a city with a harbor and then harbor the other coastal cities to get the railroad benefit in them. Only need a small # of actual railroad tiles that way.

 

[ShowOfForce]

Connect your cities with them, especially your production heavy cities. Cities connect to capital via railraod get a 50% production bonus.

Take the shortest possible route to connect your land base close cities, and use a railroad to connect your capital to a city with a harbor and then harbor the other coastal cities to get the railroad benefit in them. Only need a small # of actual railroad tiles that way.

It was nice when I invaded England and they had a rail system so I could advance like crazy each turn

 

[Rellin]

They are good, but be sure your economy is booming priot to building them as they are a major financial drain.

 

[patrickkrebs]

I'm afraid to build railroads.

Is it worth connecting cities by railroad?
Is there any benefit to putting a railroad on a mine or lumbermill or any other tile?

I used to put a railroad on every tile in my territory ... starting with the mines, then lumbermills, then connectivity, then everywhere.

In CIV V they obviously wanted to stop people from that sort of behavior.
Now I'm not sure I want to build a railroad at all.

Does anyone have a specific strategy for railroads?

Only connect your production cities to your capital 1 or 2.
Believe me Sid wants you building railroads

 

[SomethingWitty]

In Civ VI, there should be an optional mini-game where, when reaching the industrial era, you can play Railroads, based on your empire's map.

Also, Pirates.

 

[Pinstar]

#1 reason not to turn on worker automation as they WILL go on a railroad building spree that will gut your economy if you aren't careful.

 

[Rathelon]

For even roads, I would also manually build them yourself. I was using the route-to mode just to connect my cities, and I noticed a few places where they placed more than was needed (i.e. did not take the most direct route).

As far as railroads, I have the tech in my current game, but I havent changed my roads over. Just trying to finish this game so I can play the next.

 

[MadmanAtW]

If you've settled on the coast, skip railroads. Undocumented feature: harbors give the railroad bonus if they have a water connection to your capital (same criteria as getting a trade route from them). In my latest game I used roads to connect for trade routes initially but when railroads came along I build harbors everywhere instead of building any railroads.

 

[agentkirb]

I think I have an interesting experience with railroads. Before being able to build railroads, I was making like 200+ GPT, but this was during a lengthened golden age.

Then I start making a few railroads and and it goes down to 80gpt (as soon as the golden age ends). So... it's possible to make railroads and not go completely broke.

And for reference, I was playing as Rome. I had was in the middle of going for a tech victory. Built enough buildings (although avoided the culture/happiness ones for the most part), had a few granaries/barracks/harbors. Built virtually all of the production/market/science buildings. And my army wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. And... had 10-12 real cities, maybe 8-10 puppets.

 

[Robovski]

They have good strategic value due to the move rate. It's great to have a fast travel corridor from your production to the front.

 

[Bibor]

Just to remind you guys,

Roads give 2 moves per Movement Point.
Engineering makes roads give 3 moves per Movement Point.
Railroads give 5 moves per Movement Point.

So it's not that SUPER-FAST as it used to be in CIV4.

Bottom line, if you don't need the production bonus, railroads are not so hot (except if you have a russian front )

 

[aimlessgun]

If you've settled on the coast, skip railroads. Undocumented feature: harbors give the railroad bonus if they have a water connection to your capital (same criteria as getting a trade route from them). In my latest game I used roads to connect for trade routes initially but when railroads came along I build harbors everywhere instead of building any railroads.

Pretty much. It's pretty ridiculous actually, as soon as you get the tech, boom, instant 50% production in all your cities.

 

[themaelstorm]

If you've settled on the coast, skip railroads. Undocumented feature: harbors give the railroad bonus if they have a water connection to your capital (same criteria as getting a trade route from them). In my latest game I used roads to connect for trade routes initially but when railroads came along I build harbors everywhere instead of building any railroads.

Sorry if this sounds stupid but does this mean, say, you have three cities in the same coast including your capital (so they can be connected via rr too). If you have harbours in all your cities, does this mean it's a waste to make railroads connecting them?

 

[Myllor]

My only question here is: is replacing roads for railroads viable?

5 movement over 3 is pretty strong.
Does it retain the gold income roads connected gain?
Is the maintenance per square any worse, and is there any social policies/civ bonuses that combat this(RR maintenance in general)?

 

[dubrown]

For even roads, I would also manually build them yourself. I was using the route-to mode just to connect my cities, and I noticed a few places where they placed more than was needed (i.e. did not take the most direct route).

As far as railroads, I have the tech in my current game, but I havent changed my roads over. Just trying to finish this game so I can play the next.

With workers and the "route-to-route" mode, I've noticed the same, they're not always building the shortest/direct route but I've also noted the reason, if the worker encounters an obstacle like another worker in a tile in the direct path, it'll build the road/railrod around the obstacle (even though it's a moveable obstacle...)

 

[aimlessgun]

Sorry if this sounds stupid but does this mean, say, you have three cities in the same coast including your capital (so they can be connected via rr too). If you have harbours in all your cities, does this mean it's a waste to make railroads connecting them?

Exactly correct.

 

[Nite Owl]

My only question here is: is replacing roads for railroads viable?

5 movement over 3 is pretty strong.
Does it retain the gold income roads connected gain?
Is the maintenance per square any worse, and is there any social policies/civ bonuses that combat this(RR maintenance in general)?

Trade route income from your Cities via road connections to your Capital remains when you overbuild your roads into railroads. Maintenance for railroads is twice that of roads. Roads cost 1 gold per hex per turn and railroads cost 2 gold per hex per turn. Under the Commerce Policy you can take Trade Unions which reduces the maintenance costs of roads and railroads by 20%.

 

[illarion]

With workers and the "route-to-route" mode, I've noticed the same, they're not always building the shortest/direct route but I've also noted the reason, if the worker encounters an obstacle like another worker in a tile in the direct path, it'll build the road/railrod around the obstacle (even though it's a moveable obstacle...)

I believe workers using route-to will build the same path that they would normally move - i.e. they will prioritise "what is the shortest path to move ME to that hex?" rather than "what is the best route for a road to that hex?".

I've certainly seen one route around a hill (which was the direct path, not to mention strategically better), presumably because it could move onto the grassland next door and still initiate construction that turn.

Basically, don't trust workers to not be stupid, as always Micro them yourself.

 

[alpaca]

The harbor thing is in my opinion more of a bug than a feature. It's just ridiculous to give you a bonus for connecting your cities by railroad to your capital and all you ever need is to connect inland cities.