Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-82.95.234.39-20140124021915/@comment-15636815-20140124104054

Finding the answer to that question requires much more information than just the number of pieces of mail. Several possible bonuses can increase the amount of gold delivered by an international train, and your train may have some, all, or none of them. There is no direct relationship between the number of pieces of mail a wagon can carry and the amount of gold your friend receives.

If you wish, you can visit International Trains, especially the sections "Trip time and costs" and "Additional destinations", for some background information on how internationals work. If you already know the background, or just don't care, then keep reading.

Short method
The fastest and easiest way to know how much gold your friend will receive from a particular train is to pretend to send the train.
 * 1) Assemble a train.
 * 2) Select "Send to Friend".
 * 3) Choose your friend from the list of your neighbours.
 * 4) Click "Send Train".
 * 5) In the middle of the "Loading Up the Train" screen, look below " will receive:" to see how much gold your friend will receive if you send that train to him/her.
 * 6) Click the X in the top right corner of "Loading Up the Train" to cancel, or click "Standard Route" or "Fast Route!" to send the train.

Long way
If all you want to know is the amount, you're done. However, I recommend doing it the long way at least once. Even doing it only one time will help you understand several different things about how the TrainStation game works--and that makes the game more fun to play. ;-)

Following the steps below requires a little bit of math. Don't panic! This is easy stuff. All of it is simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication. No division. No algebra. Easy.

Although the math here is easy, it also can be time consuming. Pencil and paper are perfectly fine, though a calculator will make the math go more quickly.

Explanation
Here is the easiest way to do the math. I'll explain each step as we go. Example: Adler Mail carries a maximum of 650 pieces of mail. REMEMBER, if the Terminal is in Storage, your 2nd Station, or your 3rd Station, you will not get this bonus. - First, multiply the result from step 2 by 50%, or 0.50, to find out how much bonus to add. Round that answer to the nearest whole number (no decimals), then add it to the result from step 2. Example: 650 x 0.5 = 325 325 + 650 = 975 - If you don't have the Terminal on a street in your primary station, keep the result from step 2 and continue. - Multiply step 3 by the wagon bonus amount, round to the nearest whole number, then add to step 3. Example: Adler Mail has a wagon bonus of 10%. 975 x 0.10 = 97.5 Round to 98 98 + 975 = 1,073 - If the wagon has no bonus, keep the result from step 3 and continue. REMEMBER, if you don't see the yellow "Set" star shining brightly, you will not get this bonus. - Multiply step 4 by the set bonus amount, round to the nearest whole number, then add to step 4. Example: Adler Mail belongs to the set, Adler. Adler's set bonus is 5%. 1,073 x 0.05 = 53.65 Round to 54 54 + 1,073 = 1,127 - If there is no set bonus, keep the result from step 4 and continue. - The result from step 5 is the number of pieces of mail this wagon will carry out of your station. This number is almost always higher than the wagon's normal capacity from step 2. Be sure your station has enough mail on hand to send full wagons. Obviously, a wagon with less than a full load of mail will deliver less than a full amount of gold. - The amount of gold the wagon delivers to your friend depends on the type of locomotive pulling the train. Making things even more weird, we don't use +40% (diesel) or +100% (electric) in this step. Instead, we use different numbers that have those bonuses already included. - Multiply the result from step 5 by: 0.675 for steam or maglev 0.945 for diesel 1.35 for electric Round to the nearest whole number. Example: The locomotive for Adler Mail's set is Adler, which is a steamer. 1,127 x 0.675 = 760.725 Round to 761 This wagon's total is 761 gold. - The game always calculates each wagon's total separately. This is important because different wagons have different capacities and different bonuses, even when hauling the same cargo. One train can have many different wagons, so each wagon needs a separate calculation. - If two or more wagons on the train are identical, use this shortcut. Calculate the total for one wagon, then multiply the result from step 6 by the number of identical wagons. Example: The Adler set contains four wagons: Adler Mail, plus three different passenger wagons. Since we want this train to carry mail only, we'll use four Adler Mail wagons. 761 x 4 = 3,044 This train will carry 3,044 gold. - Multiply step 8 by 10%, round to the nearest whole number, then subtract from step 8. Example: 3,044 x 0.10 = 304.4 Round to 304 3,044 - 304 = 2,740 This train will deliver 2,740 gold to your friend.
 * 1) Start with one wagon. After assembling your train, look at the first wagon. Yes, only the first one. We'll look at the others in a moment. Let's use Adler Mail as an example so you can see how this works.
 * 2) How much mail? Find the number of pieces of mail the wagon can carry.
 * 1) Add the Terminal bonus. If you own the Terminal, and it's currently sitting on a street in your primary station, it increases the capacity of international passenger and mail trains by +50%.
 * 1) Add the wagon bonus. Find the wagon's bonus just below the mail capacity, then do the same thing as you did for the Terminal bonus.
 * 1) Add the set bonus. If the locomotive and EVERY wagon in the train belong to the same set, then do the same math as before. By now, you should be getting be good at this. ;-)
 * 1) Add the locomotive bonus. Here's where it gets weird. As you probably already know, Adler Mail on a local run would carry 650 pieces of mail out of your station, and return some amount of gold to your station, depending on bonuses and the length of the run you chose. International runs produce a similar result, but they do it in a very different way.
 * 1) Continue to the next wagon. Repeat steps 2 through 6 for every wagon in the train.
 * 1) Calculate the train's total. After you know the total gold delivered by each wagon, add them together. This will give you the total gold delivered by the train.
 * 1) Deduct the tax. It would be nice is your friend received everything you sent. Unfortunately, trains need cleaning, tracks need maintenance, and engineers need paychecks. The game represents these costs by charging a 10% tax. This means your friend will receive 90% of what your train carries.

And there's your answer. (Whew!) If you want to send to more than one friend at a time, then there's a little bit more math to do, but we'll save that for another time.

Summary
Here are the same steps again, without explanations or examples. Once you understand the steps, you can use this list as a quick reference. 0.675 for steam or maglev 0.945 for diesel 1.35 for electric ...and round
 * 1) Start with one wagon.
 * 2) Find the wagon's mail capacity.
 * 3) Compute the Terminal bonus; round; add to step 2.
 * 4) Compute the wagon bonus; round; add to step 3.
 * 5) Compute the set bonus; round; add to step 4.
 * 6) Compute the wagon's gold total. Multiply step 5 by:
 * 1) Repeat steps 2 through 6 for every wagon in the train.
 * 2) Add all the wagons to get the train's total.
 * 3) Compute the 10% tax; round; subtract from step 8.