Rail Baron

Last updated
Rail Baron
Designers R.S. Erickson
T.F. Erickson, Jr.
Publishers Avalon Hill
Genres Board game, train game
LanguagesEnglish
Players3 to 6
Skills Strategy

Rail Baron is a railroad board game for 3 to 6 players. [1]

Contents

Rail Baron was initially published in the 1970s under the name Boxcars by the original designers R.S. Erickson and T.F. Erickson, Jr. It was soon acquired, renamed and reissued by Avalon Hill.

Gameplay

Rail Baron is played on a map of the United States on which the routes of 28 historic railroads, such as the Baltimore & Ohio and the Southern Pacific have been marked. The map is divided into seven regions, Northeast, Southeast, North Central, South Central, Plains, Northwest and Southwest. Major US cities which are connected by the railroads act as destinations for travel. Dots on the railroad routes represent small towns along the way, and serve as distance markers for player movement.

The goal of each player is to accumulate money by moving his or her train token to map destinations which are generated at random via a lookup table. Large cities like New York and Chicago are more likely to be generated as destinations than small cities. Travel from one destination to the next is accomplished by rolling dice to determine distance that can be moved. Players then move their train token along map dots toward their destination.

Upon arrival at a destination, the player collects a cash payoff, and may use the money to upgrade his or her train engine to a faster model, or purchase a railroad. Railroad purchases are key to the game because an owner collects substantial fees from other players who ride his or her railroad during their movement. Meanwhile, the owner can ride his or her own railroads at no cost. Thus, an important decision in the game is whether to buy a variety of railroads in order to gain access to all areas of the map for oneself, or to buy railroads in a given area in order to monopolize it and collect the valuable use fees from opponents.

Winning

To win the game a player must accumulate $200,000 and then make a daring run back to their home city (their first city in the game) before any opponent can catch them via what is known as a rover play.

Railroads

The 28 railroads depicted in the game correspond to 28 actual real-life railroads that operated in the early 20th century. The table below lists these 28 railroads, their cost within the Rail Baron game, their real-life years of operation and eventual corporate outcome, and their current status as of 2009.

RailroadGame CostReal-Life Years of OperationReal-Life Eventual OutcomeCurrently¹ Part Of...
Southern Pacific $42,0001865–1996Purchased by Rio Grande Industries but retained Southern Pacific name, later purchased by Union Pacific Union Pacific
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe $40,0001859–1996Merged with Burlington Northern to become BNSF BNSF
Union Pacific $40,0001862–presentCurrently operating Union Pacific
Pennsylvania Railroad $30,0001846–1968Merged with New York Central to form Penn Central Amtrak,
Norfolk Southern
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific $29,0001852–1980LiquidatedN/A
New York Central $28,0001831–1968Merged with Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central Amtrak,
CSX
Baltimore & Ohio $24,0001830–1986Taken over by the Chesapeake & Ohio to become the Chessie System CSX
Missouri Pacific $21,0001849–1982Merged with Union Pacific Union Pacific
Chesapeake & Ohio $20,0001869–1972Renamed to Chessie System CSX
Southern Railway $20,0001894–1982Merged with Norfolk & Western to create Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy $20,0001849–1970Merged with Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Spokane, Portland & Seattle to form Burlington Northern BNSF
St. Louis & San Francisco $19,0001876–1980Acquired by Burlington Northern BNSF
Louisville & Nashville $18,0001850–1982Merged with Seaboard Coast Line to create Seaboard System Railroad CSX
Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific $18,0001847–1985Acquired by the Soo Line Railroad Canadian Pacific
Great Northern $17,0001890–1970Merged with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Northern Pacific and Spokane, Portland & Seattle to form Burlington Northern BNSF
Seaboard Air Line $14,0001880–1967Merged with Atlantic Coast Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line CSX
Illinois Central $14,0001851–1999Acquired by Canadian National Canadian National
Chicago & North Western $14,0001865–1995Merged into Union Pacific Union Pacific
Northern Pacific $14,0001864–1970Merged with Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Great Northern and Spokane, Portland & Seattle to form Burlington Northern BNSF
Atlantic Coast Line $12,0001840–1967Merged with Seaboard Air Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line CSX
Norfolk & Western $12,0001838–1982Merged with Southern Railway to create Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio $12,0001938–1972Merged with Illinois Central to form Illinois Central Gulf Canadian National
Texas & Pacific $10,0001871–1976Merged with the Missouri Pacific Union Pacific
Western Pacific $8,0001903–1983Acquired by Union Pacific Union Pacific
Denver & Rio Grande Western $6,0001870–1988Renamed to Southern Pacific after purchasing that railroad Union Pacific
Boston & Maine $4,0001836–1983Purchased by Pan Am Systems Pan Am Systems
New York, New Haven & Hartford $4,0001872–1969Merged into Penn Central Amtrak
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac $4,0001836–1991Now part of CSX CSX

¹ = As of September, 2009

Variants

Several variants are gaining in popularity. The "Home Swap" lets players switch the home city and first destination before moving for the first time in case their first destination is an easily monopolizable one, or if they want to try to get a better home city. "Free Superchief" lets players upgrade to a SuperChief engine at no cost if they already have an Express engine; this both speeds the game and lessens the dominance of the Pennsylvania RR.

Fans of the game have created dozens of alternate maps for play. There now exist game maps of Europe, New York City, Colorado, and many other locations, as well as fictional regions. There is also a computer version which both speeds play and supports online multiplayer matches.

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Acquire</i> Business themed board game

Acquire is a board game published by 3M in 1964 that involves multi-player mergers and acquisitions. It was one of the most popular games in the 3M Bookshelf games series published in the 1960s, and the only one still published in the United States.

<i>Monopoly</i> (game) Property trading board game

Monopoly is a multi-player economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a salary every time they pass "Go" and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs, and related media exist. Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages. As of 2015, it was estimated that the game had sold 275 million copies worldwide. The original game was based on locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.

<i>Scotland Yard</i> (board game) 1983 board game

Scotland Yard is a board game in which a team of players controlling different detectives cooperate to track down a player controlling a criminal as they move around a board representing the streets of London. It was first published in 1983. It is named after Scotland Yard which is the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service in real-life. Scotland Yard is an asymmetric board game, during which the detective players cooperatively solve a variant of the pursuit–evasion problem. The game is published by Ravensburger in most of Europe and Canada and by Milton Bradley in the United States. It received the Spiel des Jahres award in 1983-the same year that it was published.

<i>Civilization</i> (1980 board game) 1980 strategy board game

Civilization is a board game designed by Francis Tresham, published in the United Kingdom in 1980 by Hartland Trefoil, and in the United States in 1981 by Avalon Hill. The Civilization brand is now owned by Hasbro. It was out of print for many years, before Gibsons Games republished it in 2018. The game typically takes eight or more hours to play and is for two to seven players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18XX</span> Board games based on 19th century railroads

18XX is the generic term for a series of board games that, with a few exceptions, recreate the building of railroad corporations during the 19th century; individual games within the series use particular years in the 19th century as their title, or "18" plus a two or more letter geographical designator. The games 2038, set in the future, and Poseidon and Ur, 1830 BC, both set in ancient history, are also regarded as 18XX titles as their game mechanics and titling nomenclature are similar despite variance from the common railroad/stock-market theme.

<i>Times of Lore</i> 1988 video game

Times of Lore is a 1988 action role-playing game that was developed and published by Origin Systems for several platforms, including PC, Commodore 64/128, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, NES, and Amiga.

<i>Ticket to Ride</i> (board game) Board game

Ticket to Ride is a railway-themed German-style board game designed by Alan R. Moon. It was illustrated by Julien Delval and Cyrille Daujean and published in 2004 by Days of Wonder. The game is also known as Zug um Zug (German), Les Aventuriers du Rail (French), Aventureros al Tren (Spanish), Wsiąść do pociągu (Polish), and Menolippu (Finnish).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ace of Aces (picture book game)</span>

Ace of Aces is a two-player combat picture book game designed by Alfred Leonardi and first published in 1980 by Nova Game Designs.

<i>Arkham Horror</i> American adventure board game, first published 1987

Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure board game designed by Richard Launius, originally published in 1987 by Chaosium. The game is based on Chaosium's roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, which is set in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and other horror writers. The game's second edition was released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2005, with a third edition in 2018.

<i>Labyrinth</i> (board game) Board game

Labyrinth is a board game for two to four players, published by Ravensburger in 1986.

<i>Empire Builder</i> (board game)

Empire Builder is a railroad board game originally published by Mayfair Games in 1982 that underwent several editions and eventually branched out into international and fantastical locations.

221B Baker Street: The Master Detective Game is a board game featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and developed by Jay Moriarty in 1975 and sold by the John N. Hansen Co. in the US since 1977. The players have to solve cases using the clues provided by visiting locations on the board such as 221B Baker Street, Scotland Yard, Apothecary and Pawn Broker.

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a game originally published by Sleuth Publications in 1981. Multiple expansions and reprints of the game have since been released.

<i>Conquistador</i> (game) Board game

Conquistador, originally subtitled "The Age of Exploration: 1495–1600", is a board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the exploration of the New World in the 16th century. Players take on the role of European countries sending expeditions to find gold and establish colonies. Although the design uses the trappings of board wargames such as a hex map, combat is not a major part of the game.

Orient Express is a crime fiction board game published by Jumbo and Just Games. The game is based on the 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. The game was designed by Jeff Smets and released in 1985. The game contains 10 different murder cases, each of which can be played only once. Five new plots were released in 1987.

Wizards is a fantasy board game designed by Thomas Mosbø and Coral Mosbø.

<i>Civilization</i> (2010 board game)

Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game is a 2010 board game created by Kevin Wilson based on the Sid Meier's Civilization series of video games and published by Fantasy Flight Games. While the previous board game based on Sid Meier's Civilization, published by Eagle Games in 2002, was based on Civilization III, the 2010 version takes its primary inspiration from Civilization IV. Its expansions, Fame and Fortune and Wisdom and Warfare, also began to incorporate concepts derived from Civilization V.

<i>Wizards Quest</i>

Wizard's Quest is a fantasy board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1979.

Borderlands is a board game for 2–4 players published by Eon Products in 1982.

<i>Armada</i> (board game) Board game

Armada is a board game published by Jeux Descartes in 1986. After Jeux Descartes published a second edition, Eurogames published a third edition in 2001 that changed the theme of the game from colonisation to treasure-seeking pirates.

References

  1. ↑ "Rail Baron". BoardGameGeek.
  2. ↑ "Sur un plateau: Empires de métal | Article | RPGGeek".
  3. ↑ "GAMES Magazine #33". November 1982.
  4. ↑ "Jeux & stratégie 13". February 1982.
  5. ↑ https://archive.org/details/playboywinnersgu00free/page/60/mode/2up
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.