Loads - [EBP Help Contents]
Loads (goods) are key to the game because to collect payoffs players must transport loads from their supply location and deliver them at the demand location specified on a contract. Each player's engine can haul a limited number of loads at one time. To manually open your train's Loads window, select the Turn, Loads pull-down menu.
FINDING LOADS
Loads are typically represented by icons. If you zoom into the map, the loads supplied by a city are displayed by icons. If you see load names as text instead it is either because the map's designer did not include load icons, or because you have turned the icon display off via Display Settings. EBP shows the same names and icons on demand contracts.
In the contracts box left of the map, on the left half of the contract, mouse over or touch the name of a demanded load to make EBP boldly blink on the map the cities at which that load is supplied. If the blinking is not bold, but rather is a thin line, it means that load is not currently available for pickup, something that can happen if all loads of that type are already onboard your train and/or those of opponents.
You can also find loads by city: when you mouse over a city, above the map EBP displays a list of loads supplied by that city, as well as the number available. If all loads of a given type are already aboard trains, temporarily none are available and you cannot pick up another of that type.
To learn of (other) cities that normally supply a given load, right click the map city, and from the pop-up menu choose Blink, (Load name). Alternatively, if you mouse over or click a load name on a contract, EBP will blink the cities that normally supply it.
SETTING A REMINDER
To remind yourself about a particular delivery, in your contracts displayed left of the map window, double click that contract demand to toggle the display of a RR crossing icon. This reminder is not shown to opponents in Web and Pbem matches. If a particular delivery is locked and must be done (honeymoon variant rules), a padlock icon will automatically be displayed. As a further reminder, EBP will also overlay these icons in the Loads window.
PICKING UP LOADS
To pick up a demanded load, move your train to a city that supplies it, and EBP will automatically open the Loads window. If your train is already in the city, use the Turn, Loads pull-down menu to manually open the Loads window, or click the loads area of your train above your contracts.
In the Loads window, use the mouse to drag and drop loads from the supplied area to your train, or from your train to the delivery/warehouse/toss areas. Mouse over an icon to see a load's text name, or drop a load onto itself for information, then repeat for additional information. A load name in ALL CAPS means the current city is the only source of that load.
KEYBOARD
Instead of dragging and dropping loads, you can use the keyboard. Press:
....Alt+1, Alt+2, etc. to highlight an available load
....Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, etc. to highlight an onboard load
....Ctrl+w to highlight the warehoused load
....o to put a highlighted load onboard
....d to deliver a highlighted load
....t to toss a highlighted load
....r to blink remaining cities that demand the load
....w to warehouse a highlighted load
....F4 to open the contracts window (which you must then close to be able to continue)
DELIVERING LOADS
When your train arrives at a city that demands a load onboard, the Loads window opens and you can deliver the load by dragging it from the Onboard Loads box to the Deliver box. Doing so satisfies that demand, and EBP assigns you a new contract. An event may also occur. Delivering a load makes it immediately available for pick up at all cities that normally supply it. If you find it necessary to reopen the Loads window manually, use the Turn, Loads pull-down menu.
SPECULATIVE LOADS
There is no fee to pick up or carry a load, so many players carry extra ones in case of a derailment event, or in hope of later getting a demand for them. Typically the best spec loads are ones for which many demands remain. Note that if you enable the Light Trains variant, instead leaving slots empty allows your train to move farther.
When you mouse over a load, EBP displays its "spec load rating" based on your current contracts
(especially a delivery for which you have toggled a reminder icon), the remaining contracts, and your train's location on the map. The larger a load's rating, the more money that load is expected to generate for you when carried speculatively. The values shown for loads are relative to each other given the current game situation. To see the spec load rating of any load, in the Loads window click Info, then in the Map Details window click the desired load.
FINDING DEMANDS
There are several ways to learn which cities demand a load on the remaining, yet-to-be-drawn contracts:
* right click a load supply city, and while holding down the Shift key from the pop-up menu choose Blink, (Load name)
* in the area above your contracts, Shift+mouse over the loads aboard your train
* on a contract left of the map, click in the area between the load name and its icon
* in the Loads window, click repeatedly on a load to cycle through various information, including the remaining demands for that load
* use the Show, Map Details pull-down menu, then in the Map Details window click the name of a load, and scroll down the information to its "Demanded by" section
WAREHOUSING
Warehousing is a variant rule that lets players store up to one load at a city that does not normally supply it. Unless you choose the private warehousing game option, any player may pick up a warehoused load. You can enable warehousing in the Game Options window. Warehoused loads can be set to expire after a certain number of rounds, remain indefinitely, or be private to one player. When a warehoused load is in a city, on the map EBP displays a small box around the city milepost. If you mouse over the city, above the map EBP will display the name of the warehoused load along with either (w) for permanent warehousing, or (r_p_) for the round number and player turn at which the warehousing expires.
CIRCUS
A Circus load is available on some maps, such as Europe. The Circus stays in the city at which a player delivers it, occupying the warehouse. The Circus is a variant rule you can enable via the Game Options window before a match starts. If a player tosses a Circus load, EBP places it in the nearest city. On some maps the Circus goes by a different name, for example on Mars it's called a Road Show, but its function remains the same.
XSPOT LOADS
Certain maps have certain loads that become available only upon building to what is called an xspot milepost; this is true of Coal in the Agent of Change map (also known as West Virginia Rails). Xspot mileposts are shaped like the letter x (think treasure map). When a player builds into a xspot milepost, one load of a given type becomes available for pickup at a city designated by the map's designer; typically this city is near the xspot milepost. To learn which city will gain the load, right click the xspot milepost and choose Information.
Any player may pick up the load that has been generated, unless the Xspot novice variant is enabled in which case the load is reserved for the player who had built into the xspot milepost. Be aware that unless the Xspot novice variant is enabled, the total number of such loads that become available in cities may be limited.
Xspot mileposts that are desert or water colored typically generate different loads than do normal xspots.
INFO
For expanded details about a particular load, drag and drop it on the Info button of the Loads window.
CANCEL
If you moved to the wrong city and the Loads window opened, close the window via the Cancel button. Those steps allow you to undo the move via the Turn, Undo Move pull-down menu. Note that you cannot cancel after delivering a load.
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY
Certain events, such as a Supply Scandal, permit you to pick up a load from a nearby source even when it is not your turn. Follow the directions displayed. Note that if you close the Loads window (via Cancel, OK or other means) without using the special opportunity, such opportunity may be forfeited.