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Oliver Burnett-Hall edited this page Apr 28, 2024 · 7 revisions

Table of contents

General information Rules highlights Rules clarifications Variants Implementation notes


Track gauges

  • There are three types of track: broad gauge, metre (narrow) gauge and dual gauge.
  • Broad gauge track is available from the start of the game. Metre gauge track can be laid from phase 3, and dual gauge track from phase 5.
  • Routes are traced from station tokens or private home hexes and cannot contain both broad and metre gauge track.

Trains

There are several different types of train:

2H 4H 6H 2M 3M 4M 5M 6M 5E 6E 7E 5D
Can run on broad gauge track
Can run on metre gauge track
Can run on dual gauge track
Earns revenue from cities
Earns revenue from towns
Earns revenue from off-board areas
Revenue doubled?
Range limited by Hex edges Cities/off-boards Cities/off-boards Cities/off-boards

Trains are wounded before rusting.

  • Wounded trains run for half revenue.
  • They can be discarded in the train buying step.
  • If a public company only owns wounded trains then they can all be discarded to enter emergency money raising.

Private railway companies

  • The game starts with only private railway companies operating. These privates act during operating rounds, laying track.
  • Privates do not have a treasury. Their owner must pay all costs for terrain and second tiles.
  • Privates do not pay terrain cost for their home hexes.
  • Public companies are formed by converting a private railway company. Only privates which have a home hex with a city may convert.
  • Private companies may also be exchanged for a share in an existing public company, if the public company has a route from one of its tokens to one of the private's home hexes.

Public companies

  • Public companies start as five-share companies. They may be converted to a ten-share company in a stock round.
  • All five-share companies convert to ten-share companies when the first 5E or 4M train is bought (the start of phase 5).
  • After the start of phase 5 it is possible to start a new public company by purchasing the president's share from the bank.
  • The president can contribute cash to pay for terrain and second tiles, if the company does not have enough money in its treasury.
  • Token costs are based on the number of provincial borders crossed from an existing station marker. This distance is calculated as the crow flies, not along track.
  • Public companies do not have to own a train. They move back a space on the stock market if they don't own a train at the end of their operating turn.
  • If a public company does not have a train it may use emergency money raising to buy one. The company can issues shares and company's president can contribute cash. The president cannot sell shares.
  • The rulebook says the owner of a private company can contribute cash to pay for terrain costs and second tile lays. It is not stated that the director of a public company may do the same (if the company does not have sufficient funds), but it is the designer's intention that this is allowed.

Quick start

These variants are aimed at those who want a quicker game, and for those who are unfamiliar with the game and want a standard setup. Each player is randomly assigned a set of private railway companies. These cannot be combined with the two-player variant, you need to increase the ‘Min Players’ setting to three or more to be able to select these options.

There are two different sets of private companies, set A and set B. They are identical when there are three, five or six players, but the sets of companies used with four players are different.

Number of players Group one Group two Group three Group four Group five Group six Unsold
3 players M&A, V&J, M&C, B&M, R&T, H&G M&V, A&S, C&B, P&L, L&C C&S, C&M, SJ&C, B&CR, M&Z, Z&P
4 players, set A M&A, V&J, M&C, B&CR B&M, R&T, M&Z, Z&P M&V, A&S, C&B, L&C C&S, C&M, SJ&C, P&L H&G
4 players, set B M&A, V&J, M&C, B&CR B&M, R&T, P&L, L&C M&V, A&S, C&B, Z&P C&S, C&M, SJ&C, M&Z H&G
5 players M&A, V&J, M&C B&M, R&T, M&Z M&V, A&S, C&B C&S, C&M, SJ&C P&L, L&C, B&CR, H&G Z&P
6 players M&A, M&Z B&M, R&T, C&B M&V, A&S C&S, B&CR, SJ&C P&L, L&C, H&G V&J, M&C, Z&P C&M

Two player

This variant is automatically selected when a game is started with two players. The differences from the normal game are:

  • Seven private companies (five from P2–P17 and two from P18–P22) are not available to be bought. They remain in play, preventing track building and token placement in their home hexes. They close as normal in the private closure round.
  • A player can hold up to 70% of a public company, rather than 60%. You can only go above 70% by exchanging privates in the private closure round.
  • 6H/3M trains rust after the third grey train is bought.
  • Starting capital is Pt500.
  • Bank size is Pt8,000.
  • Certificate limit is 21.
  • Open Issues
  • When selecting a route for a train it is possible to select the incorrect gauge of track for the train. You may need to click on a node more than once to choose the right track path.
  • Tokens show as costing Pt20. Their actual cost is calculated when they are placed.
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