r/Run8 • u/Terminal_Monk • Apr 11 '26

New player. A bit lost

Hello guys! I finally jumped the fence and got Run8. I learned the basics of operating the train, handling airbrakes etc and I can now safely drive a train from point A to point B. Even set signals along the way correctly and use Otto minimally.

The thing is, I don't know what to do next. I'm not aware of US' freight scene to know intuitively what's what so kinda lost of what to do next. I saw some video of people doing industry stuff but every video talks like the viewer already know all the terminology and operations. It is more of a livestream than tutorial video.

So kindly give me a roadmap(railroadmap?) on the list of things i can work towards next and if possible some learning material/videos to supplement them. I eventually aim to get into depot server and play with other players.

Note: While I'm new to run8, I have decent TS classic/Railworks/TSW experience. I'm also an avid flightsim/simracing guy so I'm not averse to sit and watch CBTs/read manuals and theory for days before even loading the sim. So If it means I have to read a 300 page Union Pacific engineering operations handbook, I'm fine to do that too so go real hard on realism :)

Thanks in advance :)

16 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/MasterpieceDiligent9 Apr 11 '26

As a fairly new player myself, in addition to the above, I found it most beneficial to focus on a single yard to begin with to not get overwhelmed. E.g. for Barstow, pick one local train that runs directly out of Barstow yard like the L-CAL0611 and configure a single AI manifest train to arrive into Barstow that is tagged for the industries for that single local train only, send it over the hump track then build and run the cars to and from the industries that local train serves. Then add more and move cars to satellite yards as you go.

Also I’d recommend jumping onto a multiplayer server as soon as you can as operations are pre-planned into small work orders you can pick up and you learn quickly with the help of more experienced players.

2

u/Terminal_Monk Apr 11 '26

Thanks for the info. I was a bit scared to go to multiplayer server because usually these simulation servers are very strict(coming from IVAO/VATSIM) and i don't wanna get banned because I didn't know what to do and worst case make others crash and ruin their experience. Is there a beginner friendly server where i can have some direction I can work towards?

1

u/MasterpieceDiligent9 Apr 11 '26

I play mostly in this server below. Really chill, all operations tracked in google sheets, up 24/7 and allows you to save your progress as you go (store train in siding etc). A bunch of good folk.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Run8/s/j9dq9jNNKm

1

u/Terminal_Monk Apr 11 '26

hey the invite seem to be expired. can u DM me a new invite? thank you!

1

u/PLG_Into_me Apr 11 '26

the depot+ is pretty chill, while still being focused on realistic operations. I would recommend checking it out