Well, it actually solves!
The key is to deliver goods to towns who demand them, and mining industries will follow.
Even with the very first version of the game I had one Oil Well, train to Oil Refinery, and from there i delivered goods to 5 cities, close ones by trucks, further ones by trains. The production went up to 200 in 2 years; and with cities growth, in 20-25 years 400 production was not enough for 5 cities, so i had to use more sources.
All and beautiful trains with 8-10 tank wagons, and now with easily customizable wagons capacity you can have really long trains if you wish.