18NY: The Formation of the New York Central Railroad Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction
Game Components
Game Phases
General Sequence of Play
Setup and Start of the Game
- Setting Up the Game
- First Stock Round
Stock Round
Operating Rounds
NYC Formation
Capitalization Round
End of the Game
Conflicts and Errata
Appendices

Introduction

Cross-references within the rules are denoted by square brackets – [2.2] refers the reader to section 2.2 for additional information about the topic under discussion.

Game Length

The length of the game varies with the number of players and their experience, but is typically 4-6 hours.

How to Play

Play alternates between Stock Rounds, in which players buy and sell shares of railroad companies, and Operating Rounds, in which companies are operated (for profit or loss) by their current Presidents (the player holding the most shares at the time). The same company may have several Presidents over the course of the game, or may cease to operate at all, and one player may be the President of several distinct companies at the same time.

Players win by having the highest net worth (comprised of cash and owned stock) at the end of the game [10]. Company-owned assets–such as company cash and trains–do not contribute to net worth.

Player Etiquette

Players should attempt to speed play as much as possible. In particular, players should try to determine what share to buy or what tile to place or upgrade during another player's turn.

Information about assets owned by a player or company is public knowledge. Personal and company assets should be laid out in plain view and must be disclosed upon request.

Corporate transactions are public knowledge, whether conducted between a company and the bank, a company and a player, or two companies.

Players may engage in public, verbal discussions and enter into public, verbal agreements. Such discussions should be reasonably brief in order to speed play. Performance is not enforceable except by moral suasion; a player who has performed an action under such an agreement in the anticipation of future action by their partner has no other recourse if their partner reneges on the agreement. Secret discussions or agreements, whether verbal or written, are prohibited.

Game Components

The game comes with the following components:

Map [2.1] / Stock Market [2.2] / Current Round Marker [2.3]
6 private companies [2.5], including two stagecoach tokens
11 Minor Companies [2.6], each with a charter, 1 reversible station marker, 1 stock marker, & 1 revenue marker
8 Share Companies [2.7], each with a charter, some number of station markers, one stock marker, one revenue marker, a President's Certificate, and eight other share certificates
152 track tiles in yellow, green, brown and gray with 4 letter tokens for tiles that have intermediate unlettered tiles [2.8]
38 train cards [2.9] with 1 reminder card for the last 12H-train
30 loan markers [2.4]
25 connection bonus tokens [2.10] and 6 coal bonus tokens (a spare for each is included) [2.11]
A bank of $12,000 must be provided by the players [2.12]
1 "Priority Deal" Statue of Liberty Marker
6 player number cards
These rules

Map

The map shows the US state of New York and surrounding areas. Superimposed on the map is a hex grid on which hexagonal track tiles are laid. Large circles represent large cities and dots represent towns. Blue triangles represent lakes/rivers and green mountain illustrations represent mountainous areas, each of which cost extra for building track. Destinations beyond the edge of the map are represented by light red off-board areas. The map is surrounded by these off-board areas, shaded non-buildable areas, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Great Lakes. Thick blue lines on some hexsides mark terrain that is impassible.

Stock Market

The stock market governs the value of shares in companies. It is represented by a large grid. Each grid box has a number representing the value per share of a company whose token is in that box. The movement of the share price token is determined by the rules in [2.4], [6.2], [6.7], and [7.5.1]. If movement left or right is called for at the end of the row, follow the arrow and move down or up, respectively. Movement up or to the right from the 500 box on the stock market is ignored, as is any movement below the bottom row of the Stock Market.

Certain areas are outlined or shaded that represent possible starting values for companies. The bottom-left corner is a Closed area–any company whose token moves here is closed [6.8]. Also included in the stock market is a Bank Pool which represents shares held by minority or passive interests.

Current Round Marker

The Current Round Marker (located on the map board) keeps track of when the game is in a Stock Round, Operating Round, or an NYC Formation round.

Loans

Loan markers represent money that companies have borrowed, and should be considered unlimited. The loans are taken and repaid in $50 increments and the loan interest is $5 per loan.

A company may take loans only if it does not have sufficient cash to lay or upgrade track [7.2], buy the cheapest available train if the company has no train [7.8], or pay loan interest [7.6]. The company pays interest on outstanding loans each turn, and must repay them when possible [7.7]. Also, a company operates under some restrictions while holding a loan. It may not purchase anything for more than list price, nor may a train be purchased from it for less than list price.

A Minor Company may not hold more than two loans, and a Share Company may not hold more loans than the number of its shares held by players. A company may not take on loans that will put it over the limit. The exception is during a merger or takeover if the resulting company pays off enough loans to take it within the limit before the merger or takeover is completed [7.10]. If shares are sold which lowers the limit below the number of loans currently held, it is possible for the company to exceed the loan limit temporarily, but it cannot take loans until it is below the limit [7.7].

When taking a loan or acquiring a loan in a merger or takeover [7.10], a company's stock marker moves to the left on the stock market. When paying off a loan, a company's stock marker moves to the right on the stock market. If taking a loan moves the company into the closed area, this closes the company [6.8] and the president is not liable for the additional loan interest.

Interest is always paid on a loan, even if taken after the "Pay Loan Interest" step [7.6].

Private Companies

Private companies are purchased by players during the first stock round [5.2] and pay income to their owner each Operating Round. If a Minor or Share Company later buys them from a player (in Phases 4H or 6H), the company receives the income and abilities of the private company and it may not be sold again. Any open private companies close when the first 12H-train is bought, if not before. The private companies are:

P1 - Albany Iron Works – costs $20, pays $5 per operating round, and may be sold to a company for $10 to $40. An owning company may exchange this private for up to $80 off a single bridge purchase or bridge tile upgrade (i.e., one blue triangle).

P2 - Albany-Schenectady Stagecoach Line – costs $40, pays $10 per operating round, and may be sold to a company for $20 to $80. A company owning this private company may place the Stagecoach token in the reserved spot on the green Albany tile if that tile has already been placed on the board (hex F20). This placement is free and is in addition to the company's regular station marker placement. Placing the token closes the company. The Stagecoach token behaves as an additional station marker for the company that owns it. A share company owning the Stagecoach token may exchange it for one of their own unplaced tokens during their operating round at no cost, and has a final opportunity to do so immediately when the first 12H-train is purchased or else the token is removed from the game. The Stagecoach token may not be placed if the owning company already has a station in Albany. In this case, the Stagecoach spot is no longer reserved.

P3 - West Point Foundry – costs $60, pays $15 per operating round, and may be sold to a company for $30 to $120. An owning company may exchange it for half off a train purchase (up to a maximum of $200) from the bank or Bank Pool. The exchange must happen on or before the purchase of the first 12H train, or the private closes without being used.

P4 - Pennsylvania Coal Fields – costs $80, pays $20 per operating round, and may be sold to a company for $40 to $160. An owning company has exclusive rights to claim coal tokens [2.11].

P5 - Erie Canal – costs $140, pays $10 per operating round for every unimproved canal hex (marked on the map with a green E), and may not be sold. It closes when the last canal hex is improved or with the purchase of the first 12H-train.

P6 - D&H Private Company – costs $170, pays $30 per operating round, and may not be purchased by a company. It closes when the D&H Share Company buys a train or with the purchase of the first 12H-train. The owning player gets the President's Certificate of the D&H Share Company, and must immediately set its stock price. The company receives twice the starting stock price to its treasury (plus the proceeds from any other share sales). The D&H Share Company operates in the next operating round even if no other shares are sold.

Minor Companies

The 11 Minor Companies represent the small railroads that merged to form the New York Central Railroad in 1853. These companies have only the initial station to place in their home city – the other markers are for the Stock Market and Revenue Chart. The companies and their home cities are:

#1 Mohawk & Hudson – Albany (F20)
#2 Utica & Schenectady – Schenectady (E19)
#3 Tonawanda – Rochester (D8)
#4 Syracuse & Utica – Utica (E15)
#5 Auburn & Rochester – Auburn (E11)
#6 Attica & Buffalo – Buffalo (E3)
#7 Schenectady & Troy – Troy (E21)
#8 Rochester, Lockport & Niagara Falls – Niagara Falls (D2)
#9 Buffalo & Lockport – Lockport (D4)
#10 Rochester & Syracuse – Syracuse (D12)
#11 Buffalo & Rochester – Batavia (E5)

There are eight Share Companies, each with a Charter, some number of tokens, and nine share certificates (a President's Certificate and eight share certificates).

Share Companies will not begin operating until the required number of shares are sold, which depends on the highest train type that has been purchased [3] (exception: the D&H operates regardless). Once it has started operating, it will continue to do so for the remainder of the game or until closed.

NYC shares are not available to purchase until after the NYC Formation Round [8].

Track Tiles

The set of tiles and possible upgrades are listed in [14]. All tiles (even plain yellow track) are limited to the quantity provided. Specific rules for the placement of tiles are listed in [7.2]. Four tokens are provided to remind players that four lettered cities have reserved city tiles in later phases.

Trains / Salvage Value

The table below summarizes the type, number, and cost of trains represented by train cards. The train cards are sorted by type and kept in order – the next new type train is only available after all of the previous type have been purchased.

Train	Cost	Quantity	Rusted by	Salvage Value
2H-Train	$100	11	6H	$25
4H-Train	$200	6	4DE	$50
6H-Train	$300	4	D/5DE	$75
12H-Train	$600	3	Permanent	$150
4DE-Train	$800	2	Permanent	$200
5DE/D-Train	$1000	Unlimited (12 cards)	Permanent	-

The number of trains available are limited to those supplied, except for D/5DE-trains which are unlimited. If the number provided is insufficient, players should use a substitute.

The 12H, 4DE, 5DE, and D-trains are permanent – the others are rusted when a particular train type is purchased [3].

The 5DE and D-trains simultaneously become available when the last 4DE-train is purchased.

All trains except the 5DE/D-trains have a salvage value of one quarter of their cost. Whenever trains are salvaged or discarded, the owning company receives the salvage value. Trains may also be voluntarily salvaged at any time during a company's operation except to salvage its last train unless it will be able to buy another one without taking loans or undergoing Emergency Money Raising [7.9].

Connection Bonus Tokens

There are 25 locations on the map which have a connection bonus token on them at the start of the game. The first company to score each of those locations in a run claims the bonus token, which then adds $10 to the company's earnings each turn (including the round it is claimed). When claimed, the token is placed on the company's charter, and remains there until the company is acquired by another in a merger, takeover, or the NYC formation, or if is ever without a train, in which case the token is removed from the game permanently. Note that salvaging a company's last train to immediately buy another one does not lose the connection bonus tokens. The location must be scored on the turn the token is claimed. In later turns, the bonus is paid whether that location is scored or not.

Coal Bonus Tokens

Coal tokens represent six Off-Map Locations in Pennsylvania which had coal fields. These tokens are claimed (and placed on the company's charter) after the company's token laying step if the company has a route [7.1] to them and either owns P4 or P4 has been closed [2.5]. Once claimed, each token adds $10 to the company's revenue each turn, including the turn it is claimed. Coal tokens are permanent and survive mergers, takeovers, or lack of trains.

Money

The bank size is $12,000, and the exact amount is important, because the bank running out of money is one of the game-end conditions [10]. The players must provide a bank. Poker chips are recommended.

You may need additional money to facilitate play once the bank runs out, or you can have each player give back an equal amount of money, or you can track the remainder of the game on paper.

Game Phases

18NY proceeds through a series of phases which affect which tiles may be played, the value of the red off-board areas, which trains are available to be bought or salvaged, and how many trains may be owned by a company. Each phase lasts until the Triggering Event for the next phase. The phases are named after the trains.

The game starts in Phase 2H. During Phase 2H:

Yellow track is available (yellow town tiles may not be upgraded until Phase 4H)
Red off-board areas score the lowest value
Share Companies may own no more than four trains
Minor Companies may own no more than two trains
There is one operating round between stock rounds
Share Companies open with only the President's share sold

Phase 4H starts on the purchase of the first 4H-Train. During Phase 4H:

Yellow and green track is available
Yellow town tiles may be upgraded to yellow cities
Some private companies may be sold to companies [2.5]
Red off-board areas score the second value
Share Companies may own no more than four trains
Minor Companies may own no more than two trains
There are two operating rounds between stock rounds
Share Companies must have 30% of their shares sold before they will open

The rulebook's page-4 phase summary is presented as a colored chart graphic rather than as running text, and the copy of the PDF available for this transcription rendered that chart's cell values as blank images. The remaining phase parameters below (6H, 12H, 4DE, D) are given instead from the official 18xx.games digital implementation of this edition, which the rulebook's credits state was built by the game's own rules developer and used to playtest this edition; the off-board-area scoring-tier wording used above for Phases 2H/4H is not repeated below because it could not be confirmed for the later phases.

Phase 6H starts on the purchase of the first 6H-Train. During Phase 6H:

Yellow and green track remains available
Some private companies may be sold to companies [2.5]
Share Companies may own no more than three trains
Minor Companies may own no more than one train
There are two operating rounds between stock rounds
Share Companies must have 40% of their shares sold before they will open

Phase 12H starts on the purchase of the first 12H-Train. During Phase 12H:

Yellow, green, and brown track is available
Share Companies may own no more than two trains
Minor Companies may own no more than one train
There are three operating rounds between stock rounds
Share Companies must have 50% of their shares sold before they will open
Any remaining open private companies close [2.5]

Phase 4DE starts on the purchase of the first 4DE-Train. During Phase 4DE:

Yellow, green, and brown track remains available
Share Companies may own no more than two trains
Minor Companies may own no more than one train
There are three operating rounds between stock rounds
Share Companies must have 60% of their shares sold before they will open, and receive full capitalization when they do [6.5]

Phase D starts on the purchase of the first D-Train. During Phase D:

Yellow, green, brown, and gray track is available
Share Companies may own no more than two trains
Minor Companies may own no more than one train
There are three operating rounds between stock rounds

General Sequence of Play

The game starts in Phase 2H, reflecting the fact that the first train available for sale in the bank is a type 2H. As further trains are bought, new phases start with each new type of train [3, 7.8]. The game generally ends when the bank runs out of money (but see [10] for additional game-end conditions).

After the first Stock Round [5.2], the game progresses through a series of rounds, repeating until the end of the game: a Stock Round [6], one to three Operating Rounds [7], and possibly an NYC Formation [8] and Capitalization Round [9].

During stock rounds, players start new companies and buy and sell shares in Share Companies. During operating rounds, companies lay track, place station markers, operate trains to earn revenue, purchase more trains, and perform mergers/takeovers.

Setup and Start of the Game

Setting Up the Game

Lay out the map and stock market so they are accessible to all players. Sort each company's stock certificates with the President's Certificate on top, and its station markers, stock price marker, and revenue tracking tokens nearby. Stack the trains in order. At the start of the game, only the yellow track tiles will be used but other tiles should be available for inspection. Place the Round Marker on the space marked "Stock Round". Each player should have enough room for several company charters, stock certificates, and a pile of money. Some players will find writing materials and a calculator useful. Determine the seating order and the starting player at random using the provided cards or by mutual agreement. Give the starting player the Priority Deal Marker.

Place the six coal markers and the 25 connection bonus tokens on the corresponding locations on the map.

The starting money of $1,800 is equally divided between the players as shown in the table below:

Number of Players	2	3	4	5	6
Starting Cash	$900	$600	$450	$360	$300
Certificate Limit	28	20	16	13	11

Private companies are laid out face up in the middle of the board, in order.

First Stock Round

The game begins with the six private companies up for sale in ascending order. As long as any private company is unsold, no Minor Company may be auctioned and no shares may be purchased. After the last private company is sold, D&H shares may be bought but no other Share Company may be started.

Starting with the player with the Priority Deal Marker and proceeding clockwise, each player does one of the following:

Purchase the next private company for face value. If the following company has exactly one bid, that player buys it for their bid. If two or more players have bid on it, then only those players who bid on it participate in an auction, starting to the next player clockwise from the high bidder. After a company is sold, succeeding companies will likewise be sold if they have at least one bid. After all such companies are sold, the round continues with the next player after the one that purchased the company that started this step.
Bid on a later private company – bids must be multiples of $5 and at least $5 higher than the face value and any previous bids for that company. Money used for such bids must be set aside and is not available for other bids or purchases until that company is put up for auction.
Pass (a player who passes may take an action later in the Stock Round).

If all players pass before the first private company (P1) is sold, the price for P1 is reduced by $5 and the auction continues. If the price reaches $0, the player with the Priority Deal Marker must take it for free (which counts as their purchase).

If all players pass before the last private company (P6) is sold, all private companies that have been sold pay dividends to their owners and then the first Stock Round continues with the player to the left of the one who acted last (placed a bid or made a non-auction purchase).

After the last private company is sold, the Stock Round continues with the next player after the last one who took a turn (not the winners of any auctions resulting from that purchase). Other than the D&H, which will have started when the D&H Private Company was purchased, Share Companies may not be started during this Stock Round.

Stock Round

A stock round consists of a series of turns, starting with the holder of the Priority Deal Marker and proceeding clockwise. On each turn, the active player may act either for themself or for one of their companies.

If acting for themself, they may perform either or both of the following actions:

Sell any number of share certificates [6.2]
Buy one share certificate from the Bank Pool or a company's charter [6.3], auction a remaining Minor Company [6.4], or start a new company [6.5]

A player may sell then buy or buy then sell; a player may not sell then buy then sell.

If a player acts for one of their companies, the company must take exactly one of the following actions [6.6]:

Sell one or more shares on the charter
Purchase one of its shares from the Bank Pool

A player taking none of these actions is deemed to pass. The stock round ends only when all players pass consecutively. Thus, a player selling, buying, or acting for their company is guaranteed another turn in the current round.

All stock transfers in the stock round are done between a player and the Bank Pool, a player and a company, or a company and the Bank Pool. Players may never buy stock directly from another player. Companies may only have their own stock in their treasury.

A player may hold a limited number of certificates [5.1]. Share Company certificates, Minor Company charters, and private companies all count against this limit. In order to buy a certificate, a player must hold fewer certificates than the limit. Thus, in a four-player game, a player holding 16 certificates must sell shares in order to make room to buy alternatives.

Players may not buy a share from a company's charter if they already hold 60% or more of the company. However, they may exceed this limit when buying from the Bank Pool.

If a player is in excess of the certificate limit during their turn in a stock round, they must, if possible, sell enough shares to comply with the limit prior to ending their turn.

Selling Stock

To sell stock, the player transfers any number of share certificates from their holdings into the Bank Pool, subject to the following constraints. These constraints are also in place when a company sells stock.

Private companies may not be sold to the Bank Pool
Shares in a company which has not completed a full turn in an operating round may not be sold (exception – the NYC may be sold the Stock Round after it forms even if it hasn't operated yet)
The President's Certificate may never end up in the Bank Pool (exception – player bankruptcies [7.9.1])
There may not be more than 50% of a company's stock in the Bank Pool.
There may not be more shares in the Bank Pool than are held by players

The player receives from the bank the current share price for each share sold. The stock price of the company is adjusted down one row per share sold, stopping at the bottom of the stock market.

If the stock price marker moves to the "Closed" area, the company is immediately closed [6.8].

Resigning as President

If, as a result of selling shares, the holding of a company's President drops below that of another player who owns at least two shares of the company, that other player becomes the new President. If there is more than one eligible player, the new President is the player with the largest holding, or, in the case of a tie, the tying player closest to the outgoing President's left. The outgoing President exchanges their President's Certificate for two ordinary certificates of the affected company belonging to the new President. The exchange is made before resolving the rest of the sale (which may include selling only one of the two shares received).

Buying Stock

To buy a share of stock in a Share Company, the player whose turn it is transfers one certificate from the company treasury or the Bank Pool into their own holdings. The President's Certificate of the company must be already owned by a player, the player must adhere to the certificate and share limits [5.1], and the player may not have sold stock in that company earlier in the same Stock Round. Only one certificate may be bought per Stock turn.

If the certificate comes from the company treasury then its price is paid to the company. If the certificate comes from the Bank Pool then its price is paid to the bank. The price of the certificate is the current share price. Buying stock does not cause the company's current share price to change.

Change of President

If, as a result of a share purchase, the player's holdings exceed that of the current President, they become the new President and must exchange the President's Certificate for two shares of their own [6.2.1].

Auction a Minor Company

A player may choose any available Minor Company and put it up for auction at any multiple of $5 that is at least $100. In turn order, other players may bid a higher multiple of $5 or pass. The winning player pays the bid price to the company treasury, sets the stock price to a value in the gray box which is the closest value to the bid divided by two (rounded down).

The Stock Round continues with the next player after the current player, regardless of who won the auction for the Minor Company.

After the first Stock Round, a player may start an available Share Company. The first certificate bought must be the President's Certificate, which represents 20% of the company and costs double the initial share price.

To start a company, a player places the stock token on any value outlined in red on the Stock Market (under any other company's tokens already present on that space), pays two times that value to the treasury, and takes the President's Certificate.

Once the minimum number of shares has been sold (depending on the current game phase [3]), the company will operate in the following Operating Round regardless of whether the phase changes before it operates.

Any company started after the start of Phase 4DE will receive full funding once its 6th share is sold, with the remaining shares being placed into the Bank Pool without changing the stock price.

Acting on a Company's Behalf

If a player decides to act on behalf of a company instead of taking action themself, they must perform exactly one of the actions below for any one company for which they are president:

Sell one or more shares from the treasury to the Bank Pool (subject to the limitations in [6.2]): the company receives the current stock price from the bank for each share sold, and the stock price is moved down one row per share sold. A company may not sell shares that would cause there to be more shares in the Bank Pool than held by players.
Purchase one share of the company's own stock from the Bank Pool by paying the bank the current share price. A company may not buy stock if it has sold any stock this Stock Round, but may do so in later rounds.

Ending the Stock Round

The stock round ends when all players pass consecutively. Give the Priority Deal Marker to the player to the left of the last player to take an action, for themselves or one of their companies, in the stock round. Advance the round marker.

Any Share Companies which have 100% of their stock owned by players have their stock price tokens move up one row on the Stock Market. If a stock price token is already at the top of the row, move it one column to the right and down one row.

Closing a Company

If a company's stock price token moves into the "Closed" box, the company is immediately closed and removed from the game. All of its shares are discarded without compensation, all of its station markers are removed from the Map, all bonus tokens on its charter are removed from the game, its treasury is returned to the bank, and any owned trains are placed into the Bank Pool.

Operating Rounds

At the beginning of each Operating Round, each currently open private company pays its revenue to its owner. Then all Minor Companies operate in descending stock price order. Finally, all open share companies operate in descending stock price order. Among equal stock prices, the company whose token is rightmost, or topmost in a stack, operates first.

During an Operating Round, each operating company performs these steps in order:

Optionally lay or upgrade track
Optionally buy and place a station marker
Run trains
Pay full, pay half, or withhold dividends
Pay loan interest
Repay loans
Optionally buy trains

In addition, at any time during its turn, a company may execute the following actions as many times as desired:

In Phase 4H and 6H, buy a private company from a Player for an agreed price in the acceptable range for that private company. Note that a purchasing company with loans may pay no more than list price for a private company.
Execute a merger or takeover [7.10]

Routes

A route of a company consists of a continuous length of track, including on it a city containing a station marker belonging to the company (not necessarily at the beginning or end of the route). It may not pass through a city completely blocked by the station markers of other companies. It may not visit any city or red off-board area more than once, and a route may not use any track segment more than once. A route may not backtrack at a junction. Note that a reserved city space [7.3] does not block a route until the token is present. Some red off-board areas (New Haven and Springfield) may be passed through, either by the company with the token there or any company if no token is present.

Lay or Upgrade Track

A Minor Company may lay or upgrade one tile per turn. A Share Company may lay up to two tiles, or lay one and upgrade another (in either order). A company may not lay a yellow tile and upgrade it during the same turn.

Tiles are placed in alignment on the map grid. No tile may be placed on an area of the map that does not have the grid on it, and may not be placed in partial hexes along the map edges.

The first time a company operates, it must first place its home station token before laying or upgrading a tile.

Lettered tiles are reserved for particular locations on the map and must only be placed there. If a lettered tile of a given color exists, no other tile of that color may be placed on the location (see the tile manifest [14]). The NYC upgrades must be oriented with the north arrow ("N") pointing to the top of the map. This means that throughout the game, there can never be track directly connecting the New York (J20) and Staten Island (K19) hexes because the southwest hexside of New York is always blank.

Companies are never required to build track–not even their home city. The board already contains a number of yellow hexes on which track is printed. These hexes should be treated as though a tile of the same color as the background of the hex has been placed there already; yellow tiles may not be laid there, but the yellow hexes may be upgraded.

All track lays and upgrades cost at least $20. If the hex contains a value in a blue triangle or has a printed mountainous terrain cost, that value is the cost of laying the first tile in the hex instead of $20. This cost does not apply when tiles in the hex are upgraded. If a track lay or upgrade completes a connection across a hexside which has a blue triangle, this represents difficult river crossings and costs extra for completing the connection. The Albany Iron Works private company may be exchanged in lieu of the cost of one blue triangle [2.5]. The company may take loans to pay for the cost of laying or upgrading track if it does not have sufficient cash.

Track laid may not run off the hex grid, into the blank side of a red off-board area, or into impassible water (denoted by a thick blue line).

All tiles (even plain yellow track) are limited to the quantity provided.

Laying Yellow Track

Yellow tiles are placed on light green hexes. Hexes with large cities (open circles), must have a city on the tile placed there, those with towns (dots) must have a bar on the tile placed there, and those with neither must have a plain yellow tile placed there.

When a yellow tile is laid, it must be placed on and aligned with one of the pale green hexes on the map. While there is no track in the company's home hex, the company may lay any suitable city tile there. Otherwise, the track on the tile must form part of a route of the company.

If the hex is labeled with a sum of money, representing difficult terrain, the company must immediately pay that sum to the bank unless that cost is defrayed by a private company.

Laying track on unimproved Erie Canal hexes (marked with a green E) reduces the income of the Erie Canal private company in the next operating round.

Upgrading Track

When allowed by the current phase [3], yellow town tiles may be upgraded to yellow city tiles, other yellow tiles may be replaced with green tiles, green tiles may be replaced with brown tiles, and brown tiles may be replaced with gray tiles. When upgrading, the existing track must be preserved.

Some hexes on the map are yellow, and may be upgraded to green in the normal manner.

Beginning in Phase 4H, tiles may be upgraded. When upgrading track, the old tile is removed (and becomes available to be played elsewhere) and the new one is substituted. A yellow town tile that is upgraded to a yellow city tile counts as an upgrade. Green tiles may be used to replace yellow, brown to replace green, and gray to replace brown. Plain track and normal city tiles must be replaced with corresponding tiles. Track segments on the old tile must be represented, in the same orientations, on the new. Certain cities have lettered tiles–if a tile of a particular color exists for a lettered city, then only that tile may be placed on that city and such tiles may only be placed there. See [14] for examples.

Green tiles are available from Phase 4H, brown from Phase 12H, and gray in Phase D.

Some part of the track (not necessarily a new part) on the new tile must be part of a route of the company. If the tile has one or more Station Markers on it, these are replaced on the new tile in the same position as before.

The green, brown, and gray NYC tiles have a specific orientation that they must be placed in [7.2].

The two brown city tiles with four tracks (#448) are reserved for locations where only that tile would fit and therefore may not be used in hexes that have five or six buildable sides.

Buy and Place Station Marker

On its first turn of operation, a company places its home station marker on its home location, at no cost. This happens before the company lays or upgrades track.

A company may place one additional station marker each round (including its first), if it has one available, in any open and non-reserved city circle to which it has a legal route on a hex in which it does not already have a station marker. Placing the station costs $20 per hex from its nearest station marker along a legal route. Placing a station in the New York hex (J20) incurs an extra $40 cost as noted on the hex and NYC tiles. The Stagecoach token may be used in the placement calculation as a regular station by the owning company. The Stagecoach power may be used during this step in addition to the station marker placement.

Some cities have reserved spaces for particular companies which may not be used by any other company. If the company is removed from play, the space is no longer reserved.

The check for coal bonus tokens happens immediately after this step [2.11].

Run Trains

A company that owns one or more trains now operates them and calculates the resulting earnings. A company is not required to run for the maximum possible earnings (for example, to run a less-valuable route in order to claim a connection bonus token).

Earnings are calculated as follows:

Each train must operate on a legal route [7.1] and include at least two revenue locations.
Off-board areas with arrows must be at the ends of a train's route. A train may begin and end its route at two different off-board areas, provided the route is otherwise legal.
Trains may not use track segments used by any of the company's other trains in the same operating turn. Trains may, however, visit cities or off-board areas visited by other trains.
The route value is the sum of the values of all the scored locations along the route. The different train types score locations differently:
H-trains may travel up to the indicated number of hexes, not including the starting location, and score all locations along the way. For example, a 2H-train may score three consecutive hexes.
4DE/5DE-trains may travel any number of hexes, score any four/five (respectively) of the locations on the way (they do not need to be consecutive) that either contain the company's station marker or are a red off-board area, and double the result.
D-trains may score all locations that can be reached on a route. D-trains add 100 extra for each red area in its route.

Any Connection Bonus Token [2.10] on a hex scored during this step is claimed and placed on the Charter.

After computing the values of each train's route, add all the values together and then add $10 for each bonus token ([2.10, 2.11]). This is the total earnings for the company this operating round, and should be marked on the earnings chart for future reference. Each owned coal token will pay, even if the owning company has no trains.

Pay / Half Pay / Withhold Dividend

A Minor Company always pays half its total earnings to the owner and half to the company's treasury. A Share Company may pay full dividends to shareholders, pay half dividends, or retain all of the earnings. If half dividends are paid, the company is paid half of the earnings (rounded down to a multiple of $10) to the treasury, and the remainder is paid to shareholders.

The portion of the total revenue paid out is divided among shareholders. This is paid from the bank to the player when a player owns shares or to the company for shares in the company treasury; dividends for shares in the Bank Pool are retained by the bank (i.e., are lost).

Stock Token Movement

Minor Companies consider the total revenues for stock price movement, while Share Companies consider the amount paid as dividends.

If that amount is greater than or equal to the stock price, the stock price moves one space to the right. If earnings are withheld or the amount paid is less than half the stock price, the stock price moves one space to the left. If the amount paid is at least half, but less than the stock price, the stock price does not change.

A company whose stock price moves into the "Closed" box is immediately removed from the game [6.8].

Pay Loan Interest

Loan interest is paid after revenue is paid, but before any loan may be repaid. If the company cannot afford to pay the interest, it must take additional loans (which will also incur interest, so netting $45 each), if allowed. If after taking all loans it is allowed the interest still cannot be paid, the company enters Emergency Money Raising [7.9].

Repay Loans

A company must repay as many loans as possible before buying any additional trains, paying $50 and adjusting the stock price token [2.4] for each loan repaid. If a company is over its loan limit (as a result of shares being sold into the pool), it must repay sufficient loans to comply with the limit. If it lacks sufficient funds to do so, the company enters Emergency Money Raising [7.9].

Buy Trains

As long as a company stays at or below the current Train Limit (the maximum number of trains that it is allowed to own) [3], it may buy one or more trains, from the bank or from another company with the consent of its President. This option is available throughout the entire game. In a single turn, it may buy several trains, as long as it has room and the money, but trains are bought one at a time and any phase changes caused by the purchase of one train take effect before the next is bought.

While a company may salvage a train [2.9] to make room to buy another one, it may not voluntarily salvage its last train unless it will be able to buy another one without undergoing Emergency Money Raising. Trains sold to the Bank Pool for salvage remain in the pool until rusted by a phase change [3].

New trains are purchased from the bank in the order they appear at the top of the train stack. Trains in the Bank Pool may also be purchased from the bank at face value.

To purchase a train from the bank, the company must pay the purchase price of the train it wishes to buy to the bank from its Treasury. To purchase a train from another company, it must pay the other company a mutually agreed price, which may be as little as $1. Companies with one or more loans may only conduct train transactions at exactly face value.

Trainless companies may take out loans to buy a train from the bank or Bank Pool. However, a company with loans buying a train from the bank or Bank Pool must buy the cheapest available train [2.4]. Since this is after the "Pay Loan Interest" step, deduct the interest from each loan taken.

If a phase change includes a reduction in the Train Limit [3], all companies, including the one operating, must immediately discard any trains in excess of the Train Limit to the Bank Pool for salvage value.

Forced Train Purchase

A Share Company that doesn't own a train, cannot afford to buy the cheapest train from the bank and Bank Pool, and does not buy a train from another company, will enter Emergency Money Raising [7.9]. The company is never forced to buy a train from another company, or to take loans prior to entering Emergency Money Raising.

A Minor Company does not need to own a train, even if it has a route, and thus is never forced to buy a train.

Emergency Money Raising

A company in the following situations must perform Emergency Money Raising.

A Share Company with a Forced Train Purchase that cannot afford a train in the bank or Bank Pool.
A Share Company that cannot afford to repay loans in excess of its loan limit.
A company cannot afford to pay Loan Interest.

A company may raise money by any combination of the following in any order:

A Share Company may sell shares from the company Treasury, subject to the normal rules that no more shares may be in the Bank Pool than are held by players, to a maximum of five shares. The stock price is adjusted as usual. The company may not sell shares beyond the funds required.
A Share Company may take loans up to the number of its shares held by players [2.4]. If loans are taken to buy a train, the company must buy the cheapest available train from the bank and Bank Pool. The company may not take loans beyond those used to raise the required funds. Since this is after the "Pay Loan Interest" step, deduct the interest from each loan taken.
The company's president may contribute funds. If this method is used to buy a train, the company must buy the cheapest train available from the bank and Bank Pool. The President may sell shares to raise funds, but only enough shares to raise the required funds. Stock sold in this way causes the normal movement of the stock price token (including possibly closing the current company) but may not cause the Presidency of the currently operating company to change. Note that if a company is closed as a result of share sales, no change of presidency is considered to have occurred. Also note that if this lowers the number of allowed loans for a Share Company below the number currently held, this doesn't have to be corrected until the next Operating Round.

A company can sell its shares during this process to buy any train; however, if the company has any loans or the President contributed funds, the cheapest available train from either the bank and Bank Pool must be purchased. If the President contributes funds, it must be the exact amount required–the company will have $0 left in its treasury at the end of its Operating Round.

If the company closes during Emergency Money Raising, the player is not obligated to pay the remaining debt. If a Share Company was closed in the process of buying a train, no train is purchased.

Bankruptcy

If a company is unable to raise the necessary funds by using all the options available in Emergency Money Raising, the President is declared bankrupt and is removed from the game. All of the player's remaining stock including Minor Company certificates and private companies owned by the player is placed in the Bank Pool (transferring company Presidencies as normal [6.2.1], but if not possible, the Presidency is placed into the Bank Pool and is available for purchase during a subsequent Stock Round at twice the current stock price). Shares placed in the Bank Pool after bankruptcy do not affect the share price (e.g. it doesn't drop). Private companies may be purchased from the Bank Pool at face value. Any assets of affected companies remain with them, and any money raised during this step is placed on the company's charter. A railroad abandoned this way does not operate until someone buys the Presidency.

Mergers and Takeovers

A company which has a route [7.1] to another company's station marker may acquire the assets of that company by purchasing the stock from each shareholder.

If the President is the same player, the acquisition is a merger, and the price is the current stock price per share of a Share Company or two times the current stock price of a Minor Company.
If the other company has a different President, the acquisition is a takeover, and the price is three times the current stock price per share, or five times the current stock price of a Minor Company. The company must have the funds in its treasury to pay this amount–no loans or stock sale is permitted. The President of the target of a takeover is not required to consent to it.

In either case, the President of the currently operating company performs the following actions:

Pay each shareholder (including the bank for shares in the Bank Pool) the price per share defined above
Take the acquired company's assets and place them on the Charter. Discard any excess trains to the Bank Pool for salvage value, and remove any acquired Connection Bonus Tokens (keep coal tokens) from the game.
Pay off any acquired loans using the combined treasury, if possible. If any acquired loans remain unpaid, move the stock price marker left one column on the Stock Market for each unpaid loan.
Replace zero to all of the acquired company's tokens on the Map with a token from the currently operating company's Charter (if available) at no cost. The currently operating company gets no additional tokens to do so. Any of the acquired company's tokens that are not replaced are removed from the Map. The currently operating company may not have two tokens in the same hex as a result of these replacements.
Trains acquired this way do not operate this turn, even if the acquired company has not operated yet.

NYC Formation

The NYC Formation happens when either the first 12H-train is purchased, or Albany and Buffalo are connected by track (ignoring tokens). Once either of these occur, there will be a special NYC Formation Round before the next Stock Round, and no further Minor Companies may be started for the rest of the game.

To form the NYC:

Add the current stock price of all Minor Companies which are connected to Albany by track (ignoring tokens), double that total, and divide by the number of such companies. Choose the NYC start value (minimum $100) nearest this average (rounded up) and place the NYC stock price token there.
Minor Companies #1 and #2, if they are operating and are owned by a player, must merge into the NYC. All other Minor Companies which are connected to Albany by track (ignoring tokens) may choose to merge into the NYC.
Any companies unowned by a player do not merge into the NYC.
Starting with the Minor Company having the highest stock price and proceeding in descending stock price order, each owner of a Minor Company merging into the NYC exchanges the Minor Company and all its assets for one share of the NYC. The first player to obtain two shares of the NYC will receive the NYC Presidency, though it will move any time another player gets more shares than the President.
In the event that all 11 Minor Companies can and wish to participate in the formation, the lowest value Minor Company (determined by stock price and position on the market) may not merge and is liquidated (player receives the value in cash from the bank) in the second NYC Formation Round.
Each Minor Company is worth twice its current stock price, and the owners receive or pay money to the NYC Treasury to make up the difference from the NYC stock price. For example, if the Minor Company has a stock value of $75 and the NYC is $100, the player would receive a share plus $50 from the NYC Treasury.
If necessary to pay out the owner of the merged companies, the NYC must take loans. The NYC may take as many as necessary without regard to the loan limit. Do not move the NYC stock marker yet for these loans. Interest is not charged for such loans during the NYC Formation.
If the player is required to pay money for the exchange and cannot do so without selling shares, they may not merge this round (except for #1 & #2–the Presidents must sell stock as in [7.9] to make the exchange). If no exchange share is available, a Minor Company may not merge this round.
The home token of each Minor Company that merges is flipped over to the NYC side and all other Minor Company tokens are removed. If the NYC already has a token in this hex, return all but one of these to the NYC Charter for later use. The assets of the Minor Company are moved to the NYC Charter, except that any Connection Bonus Tokens are removed from the game.
If no player gets two shares of the NYC, the first player to exchange a Minor Company is President and is required to buy a second share during their first turn in the next Stock Round.
After all eligible Minor Companies have had the opportunity to merge, the President of the NYC salvages any excess trains, receiving their salvage value, and then pays off as many loans as possible. For each remaining loan (including those taken, but not repaid during the formation process) move the stock price token one column left.

Once the NYC forms, there will be a second and final NYC Formation Round after the next set of Operating Rounds. In this round, any Minor Company that does not merge with the NYC is closed. Connected Minor Companies are exchanged for shares of the NYC Treasury, or if those run out, any shares in the Bank Pool. If the shares are traded for pool shares, the bank gets the assets and makes up the price difference. Minor Companies that aren't connected to the NYC, those whose Presidents cannot pay to exchange for a share, or those for which exchange shares are not available are adjusted one column left on the Stock Market and then liquidated for cash at twice the current stock price–in that case, all assets of the company go to the bank and their station markers are removed from the Map.

If no Minor Companies merge into the NYC in the first round (because both Minor Companies #1 and #2 have not started), the NYC formation fails. The NYC turns into a normal Share Company with three stations. When the NYC operates, it places its home token in Albany. If Albany has no open station locations, the director of the NYC gets to choose any open city location on the map. Any Minor Companies remaining after the next operating round set are liquidated for cash following the same rules as if the minor did not merge into the NYC after the second formation round.

Capitalization Round

When the last 12H-train is bought, all open, but unoperated companies are immediately and automatically capitalized. Each such company moves an amount of shares equal to the number of shares owned by players from its treasury to the Bank Pool (up to five and limited by how many it has left in its treasury). Each then receives an equivalent amount of cash from the bank for these shares without changing the stock price.

After this operating round, perform the Capitalization Round after the NYC Formation Round (if there is one) has been completed.

During the Capitalization Round, operating Share Companies have a one-time opportunity to sell zero to all of the remaining treasury shares without penalty (but may not place more shares in the Bank Pool than are owned by players). In operating order, the President of each company chooses how many shares to sell, the company receives the current stock price for each one sold, and places the sold shares in the Bank Pool without adjusting the Stock Price Marker.

End of the Game

If all players but one have gone bankrupt, the game ends immediately and the sole solvent player is declared the winner.

If the bank runs out of money or only one Share Company remains in the game (all others having been closed or been acquired in a merger or takeover), then the game ends after a complete set of Operating Rounds. If this happens during an Operating Round, the game will end after the set currently in progress; if in a Stock Round or Capitalization Round, the following set of Operating Rounds will be completed.

Each player's net worth is the sum of their cash plus the current stock value of each share they own (companies that hold loans have their stock value reduced by $5 per outstanding loan). If they are still in the game, Minor Companies are worth two times their stock value and private companies are worth their face value. The player with the highest net worth is the winner.

Assets of companies do not count.

Conflicts and Errata

The official rules are this document (excluding sections [12] and beyond) plus any officially-published errata. In the event of conflict between the official rules and any components, the rules take precedence. Published errata may be retrieved from: http://www.all-aboardgames.com

Appendices

This section is not part of the official rules.

Design & Historical Notes

New York State played an important part in the history of railroading in the United States. The Mohawk & Hudson (Minor Company #1) was the country's first railroad. This railroad and others competed with steamboat service on the Hudson River (between Albany and New York City), and an extensive canal network, most notably the Erie Canal. New York State spent $7 million on the Erie Canal to connect Albany to Buffalo, finishing in 1825. To protect its investment, the state was reluctant to encourage development of a rail network in central New York, insisting that the many small companies that formed carry only passengers in the summer. From 1831 to 1842, a series of small lines paralleled the canal and completed the rail link between the two cities, but service was not well coordinated. After the canal was paid off, the rail lines were allowed to haul freight, were no longer required to pay canal tolls, and as a result, they rapidly became more profitable. In 1853, eleven small upstate companies merged to form the New York Central. Over the next hundred years, the New York Central extended west all the way to Chicago and merged with many smaller railroads in the region, before ultimately merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central. Sadly, this merger led to the collapse of the Penn Central two years later.

The private companies in the game represent corporations that influenced early railroading in the state. The Albany Iron Works built many of the early railroad bridges. The Albany-Schenectady Stagecoach Line provided passenger service between the two cities much more quickly than travel on the canal allowed. The West Point Foundry built many of the early locomotives. The Pennsylvania Coal Fields represent the specialized coal trains that brought coal from the mines in Pennsylvania to the cities in the north. The Erie Canal private pays declining revenue as the rail network grows. The D&H private is a mechanism to bring the Delaware & Hudson Share Company into the game to match history, even though it might not otherwise be attractive to start early.

Strategy Hints

All of the privates have important capabilities, though some are better suited to certain regions and companies (the Coal company and the D&H or Erie work very well together, for example). In general, starting a minor is better than buying a share of the D&H, since they usually are worth $30 minimum in revenue, at least until the 2H trains rust. Minors are generally converted into a share of the New York Central when it forms, though if all minors are in the game, the lowest valued minor will be left out of the formation. Minors may be acquired by a Share Company without joining the NYC, or numbers 3-11 can wait a set of operating rounds before being exchanged for any remaining NYC shares. The New York Central may be very good or very bad, depending on the strength and assets of the minors that join it. Getting a permanent train (or two) in a Share Company is the primary goal of the end game, with getting stations around New York City the best way to have a lucrative railroad. The capitalization round is useful to convert unsold treasury shares into cash, and it also allows a player to get above 60% ownership of a company, since shares in the pool can be bought in excess of 60%, but treasury shares can't.

Optional Rule: First Edition Capitalization

This second edition of 18NY has several changes to the board, tiles, and trains, but perhaps the most significant gameplay change is to the capitalization rules. To play with the first edition's Capitalization Round rules, do not perform the immediate automatic capitalization for unoperated companies and delay the capitalization round until after the operating round set. This change slows the game pace, especially going into the Operating Round before the 12H trains are sold.

18NY: The Formation of the New York Central Railroad