Help on high school physics question on Newton's laws and forces?

So our class is currently studying Newton's laws and forces,etc. and there are two particular questions that I have come across that I don't really understand. Help would be much appreciated.

1) The engine of a train has a mass of 50000kg. It can accelerate six railway cars having a total mass of 300000kg at 0.40m/s2. What acceleration can it give to four railway cars having a total mass of 200000 kg?

2) A delivery boy throws newspapers onto his customers' front porches. At a particular instant, the boy is riding due north at a constant speed and aims a newspaper to land on a customer's porch at Y. He throws the paper so that it travels EAST relative to his position. For the newspaper to reach its intended destination, should he throw it before he gets to, the instant he reaches, or after he has passed point X?

Sorry it's very wordy, but the answer should be simple if you relate it to Newton's law of inertia and/or Newton's second law. Here's a diagram for question #2 for clarification:


^
|
|
|    X     ============= Y
|  (boy)
|
|


Thanks in advance!