Transport Tycoon is very easy and ridiculously addictive, which probably explains its ongoing popularity. It's not difficult at all to find a
warezed copy online, and there are still a few odd places where you can buy it at bargain bin prices.
renderer has already explained the basic strategy: use trains when you can afford them, and buses when you can't, and you'll do well. That said, you can't claim to be a real Tycoon unless you know:
How to cheat in Transport Tycoon
"Cheating is bad!" you say. Obviously, you don't know anything about Tycoonery. Read on, young apprentice.
Level crossings
One of the silliest bugs in the original TT is that when you build a railway line crossing a road, the entire crossing square magically becomes yours, and you can take the bulldozer to it without repercussion from the AI or the local authority, whose roads are usually sacrosanct. So, if your opponent is running a lucrative truck route, build a level crossing in the middle of his road and then bulldoze it so his trucks can't get through. It's simple and very effective: Chris Sawyer apparently noticed it, because you can't do it in Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
Kamikaze into the abyss
What if your opponent has trains? Build a train depot that empties into the open end of his station, and buy the cheapest engine available. When his train pulls in, start the engine and click the "ignore signal" button. It'll come out of the depot just far enough to collide with his train and send it up in a fireball. The AI will then shut down the route.
So much for those plans
Every now and then, you'll see the AI building railroad tracks right before your eyes. When this happens, you can derail his or her plans by building diagonal tracks in the way. Eventually, you can push them all the way back to their station, and then cork it up with a well-placed piece of track so that they can't build out of it at all. It all makes for a good mouse workout.
Big money
If you just want a cool billion to get those Concordes moving, then build a tunnel from one end of the map to the other. The game will tell you that you don't have the gazillion dollars that are required, and then dump a ton of money in your account. Easy!
The vehicles
All the trains, road vehicles, and aircraft in Transport Tycoon are based on real vehicles, but their names are replaced to avoid trademark infringement. Some are obvious: the Eurostar train is called "AsiaStar," and the TGV is called the "TIM." Most of the new names come from Microprose staffers' names, or from towns in southwest England (depicted in the "West Country 90201" scenario that comes with TTD).