1858: The Railways of India

Designer: Ian D. Wilson

A variant of 1858 set in British India: 30 privates that convert into shares, ten companies, mine, oil and port tokens, and Pullman trains — for 3-6 players.

View the rulebook →

1858: The Railways of India Contents

How it works

Setup

1858's rules in British India
Starting cash: £665 (3 players), £500 (4), £400 (5) or £335 (6); £16,000 bank
22 private railways for sale from the start; 8 more from phase 3
10 public companies, born by exchanging a private that has a city
Mine, oil and port tokens on the marked hexes

Stock round ×1

Turn: sell and exchange as you like, then one purchase or one auction
Auction a private (minimum price below face value)
Exchange a private with a city + the par price for the 40% president's share
Exchange a private for a share of a company that reaches it
Buy shares from the treasury or open market, always at share price

Operating round ×2

Income from players' privates
Privates: lay up to 2 yellows from their home; the owner pays
Companies, highest share price first:
1. Track: 2 tiles, the second costs £20
2. One station, or pick up a mine, oil or port token
3. Trains + privates + tokens
4. Pay out, pay half or withhold
5. Buy trains; issue or redeem shares

↻ Repeats until the end

End

The bank runs out: that operating round finishes
There's no bankruptcy
Most cash plus shares at share price wins

Components

Players

Cash
Privates: collect income and pay for the track they lay
Shares (max. 60%)

Privates

No treasury, no trains
Lay track from their home hexes
Income rises in phase 3; they close in phase 5
Locomotive works (phase 5): 10% off trains

Companies

Start with 5 shares (40% + 3 × 20%) and float at 40%
Convert to 10 shares with the first 5E/4M
Collect income from the privates and tokens they own
Without a train, they drop one space

Map

Broad and metre gauge from the start; dual gauge from phase 5
A route can't mix broad and metre gauge
Mines (£50), oil (£100, phase 5) and ports (£200, phase 7)
A yellow or green tile's gauge can be changed

Bank

£16,000 bank
Open market (max. 50%)
New trains and Pullmans

Where the money goes

Players Bank Private auctions, open market shares and the track privates lay
Players Companies Par price when exchanging a private; treasury shares
Bank Players Private income, dividends, share sales
Companies Bank Trains, terrain, stations, mine, oil and port tokens
Bank Companies Withheld revenue, share issues

Phases

Start

2H · £100 · 1M · £80

Yellow; broad and metre gauge; 2 operating rounds

1st 4H / 2M

4H · £200 · 2M · £160 · Pullman · £100

Green; 8 more privates; private income rises

1st 6H / 3M

6H · £300 · 3M · £240

2H/1Ms become wounded (half revenue)

1st 5E / 4M

5E / 4M · £500

Brown; dual gauge; everything converts to 10 shares; privates close; locomotive works and oil

1st 6E / 5M

6E / 5M · £650

2H/1Ms removed; 4H/2Ms become wounded

1st 7E / 6M

7E / 6M · £800 · 5D · £1,100

Grey; ports; 4H/2Ms removed; 6H/3Ms are removed with the seventh grey train

Differences from 1858: metre gauge from the start, the 1M train, the Pullman (+£10 per city) and mine, oil and port tokens.
The share price rises if the dividend per share reaches a tenth of the share price.

A round, step by step

Illustrative example with the real rules and prices, based on the wiki and the 18xx.games implementation (there's no published rulebook): 4 players with £500 each. We follow [PL1], who buys the [BT] private and converts it into the [GIP], the Bombay company.

Before starting Only privates Phase 2

There are 22 privates for sale and no public companies in play. Each private has one or two home hexes; those with a city can start a company.

[PL1] cash

£500

[GIP] treasury

—

[GIP] share price

—

[GIP] trains

—
Stock round 1 Auctioning the [BT] Phase 2

[PL1] opens the auction for the [BT], face value £120, at the minimum of £95. [PL2] bids £100 and [PL1] wins it for £105. It pays £24 per operating round.

No company can be started in the first stock round.

[PL1] cash

£395

[GIP] treasury

—

[GIP] share price

—

[GIP] trains

—
Operating round 1.1 The private builds Phase 2

[PL1] collects £24. The [BT] lays a yellow town in Poona, next to Bombay. It's a mountain (£40), but on its home hex the private pays no terrain.

Privates have no treasury: the owner pays for the second tile (£20) and any terrain away from home.

[PL1] cash

£419

[GIP] treasury

—

[GIP] share price

—

[GIP] trains

—
Operating round 1.2 Second income Phase 2

There are always two operating rounds per stock round. [PL1] collects £24 again.

[PL1] cash

£443

[GIP] treasury

—

[GIP] share price

—

[GIP] trains

—
Stock round 2 The [GIP] is born Phase 2

[PL1] exchanges the [BT] plus £120 for the [GIP] president's certificate (40%). The par price is the highest that doesn't exceed the private's face value: £120. The money goes to the treasury and the [GIP] places its station in Bombay.

[PL1] cash

£323

[GIP] treasury

£120

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

—
Stock round 2 Capital Phase 2

On another turn, [PL1] buys a 20% share from the treasury at £120. [PL2] and [PL3] buy one each. All 5 shares are now in players' hands.

[PL1] cash

£203

[GIP] treasury

£480

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

—
Operating round 2.1 Income goes to the [GIP] Phase 2

The [BT] now belongs to the [GIP] and [PL1] no longer collects it. The [GIP] has no trains, but it takes the private's £24.

[PL1] cash

£203

[GIP] treasury

£480

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

—
Operating round 2.1 Paying out £24 Phase 2

It pays £4 per share. [PL1], with 3 of the 5 shares, collects £12, and the leftover £4 stays with the [GIP]. The dividend doesn't reach a tenth of the share price: no movement.

Had it withheld, it would have dropped one space.

[PL1] cash

£215

[GIP] treasury

£484

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

—
Operating round 2.1 A 2H Phase 2

It buys a 2H train for £100. It could have chosen the 1M side (£80): metre gauge, one city and as many towns as it likes.

A company that ends its turn without a train drops one space.

[PL1] cash

£215

[GIP] treasury

£384

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

2H
Operating round 2.2 Bombay – Poona Phase 2

The 2H runs Bombay (30) – Poona (10): £40, in a single hex. With the [BT]'s income, the [GIP] takes in £64.

A mine token (£50 in the station step) would add a bonus every time the company runs a train.

[PL1] cash

£215

[GIP] treasury

£384

[GIP] share price

£120

[GIP] trains

2H
Operating round 2.2 Paying out and rising Phase 2

It pays £12 per share: [PL1] collects £36 and £4 is left over for the [GIP]. £12 is a tenth of £120, so the share price moves up one space: £135.

[PL1] cash

£251

[GIP] treasury

£388

[GIP] share price

£135

[GIP] trains

2H
Operating round 2.2 Waiting Phase 2

It buys no more trains. There are eight 2H/1Ms: when they run out the 4H/2M comes out, phase 3 begins and the Pullman and the 8 green privates arrive.

[PL1] cash

£251

[GIP] treasury

£388

[GIP] share price

£135

[GIP] trains

2H
Towards stock round 3 What now? Phase 2

In phase 3 the [BT] will pay the [GIP] £36. With the first 5E/4M, the [GIP] will convert to 10 shares and the privates will close. From phase 5 it can buy a locomotive works to make trains cheaper.

[PL1] cash

£251

[GIP] treasury

£388

[GIP] share price

£135

[GIP] trains

2H

1858 India — Summary

Capitalization type

Incremental capitalization: the company receives the money for each share as it is actually sold, not all at once when it floats.
As in 1858, every public company starts with only 5 shares (40%/20%/20%/20%) and automatically becomes a 10-share company when the first 5E or 4M train is bought.

Floats with 40% of its shares sold (a single threshold for every corporation)
No player may hold more than 60% of any one corporation
Certificate limit per player: 3 players — 27; 4 players — 20; 5 players — 16; 6 players — 13

Starting money by number of players

£16,000 bank (bigger than in 1858)
3 players: £665 each
4 players: £500 each
5 players: £400 each
6 players: £335 each
There is no 2-player version: it plays 3-6

End game triggers

The bank runs out of money: the game ends when the current operating round finishes
No bankruptcy, as in 1858
Before the end there is the Final Exchange Round, in which the usual per-company ownership limit can be exceeded

Number of phases

6 phases (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), triggered by the purchase of the first train of each level
Unlike 1858, narrow-gauge track can be laid from phase 2
Phase 5: the locomotive works can be bought and oil tokens collected
Phase 7: port tokens can be collected

Trains and prices

2H/1M — £100/£80 (8 units); becomes "wounded" (half revenue) with the first 6H/3M and rusts with the first 6E/5M. The 1M is new: it counts one city plus every town on its route
4H/2M — £200/£160 (7 units); wounded by the first 6E/5M, rusts with the first 7E/6M
6H/3M — £300/£240 (5 units); wounded by the first 7E/6M, rusts when the seventh grey train (7E/6M/5D) is bought, whatever the player count
5E/4M — £500/£500 (4 units); turns 5-share companies into 10-share companies
6E/5M — £650/£650 (3 units)
7E/6M — £800/£800 (unlimited)
5D — £1,100 (unlimited)
Pullman — £100 (4 units), available from phase 3 and permanent
M trains cost more than in 1858

Private companies

Available from the start (revenue before→after phase 3):

BT Bombay & Thana (P1) — £120, revenue 24→36 — starts a company in Bombay
HH Howrah & Howgly (P2) — £125, revenue 25→38 — starts a company in Calcutta (NW)
MA Madras & Arcot (P3) — £120, revenue 24→36 — starts a company in Madras
BS Bombay & Surat (P4) — £115, revenue 23→35 — starts a company in Bombay
AC Allahabad & Cawnpore (P5) — £100, revenue 20→30 — starts a company in Allahabad or Cawnpore
KK Karachi & Kotri (P6) — £110, revenue 22→33 — starts a company in Karachi
ML Multan & Lahore (P7) — £110, revenue 22→33 — starts a company in Multan or Lahore
LA Lahore & Amritsar (P8) — £90, revenue 18→27 — starts a company in Lahore
CPC Calcutta & Port Canning (P9) — £95, revenue 19→29 — starts a company in Calcutta (SW)
TN Trichinopoly & Nagapatnam (P10) — £105, revenue 21→32 — starts a company in Trichinopoly
AB Ahmadabad & Baroda (P11) — £90, revenue 18→27 — starts a company in Ahmadabad
NA Nagpur & Amraoti (P12) — £70, revenue 14→21 — starts a company in Nagpur
LC Lucknow & Cawnpore (P13) — £80, revenue 16→24 — starts a company in Lucknow or Cawnpore
AD Ambala & Delhi (P14) — £100, revenue 20→30 — starts a company in Delhi (NW)
AJ Allahabad & Jubbulpore (P15) — £55, revenue 11→17 — cannot start a company
PB Patna & Benares (P16) — £85, revenue 17→26 — starts a company in Patna
C Coimbatore (P17) — £60, revenue 12→18 — cannot start a company
DA Delhi & Agra (P18) — £100, revenue 20→30 — starts a company in Delhi (SW)
MB Moradabad & Bareilly (P19) — £65, revenue 13→20 — cannot start a company
LP Lahore & Peshawar (P20) — £80, revenue 16→24 — starts a company in Rawalpindi or Peshawar
MK Multan & Kotri (P21) — £70, revenue 15→23 — starts a company in Multan
DS Darjeeling & Siliguri (P22) — £60, revenue 12→18 — cannot start a company

Green, available from phase 3:

M Mysore (P23) — £110, revenue 33 — starts a company in Mysore
DJ Delhi & Jaipur (P24) — £90, revenue 27 — starts a company in Jaipur
DC Dacca & Chittagong (P25) — £120, revenue 36 — starts a company in Dacca
CK Calcutta & Khulna (P26) — £135, revenue 40 — starts a company in Calcutta (E)
G Gorakhpur (P27) — £60, revenue 18 — cannot start a company
BI Bhopal & Indore (P28) — £70, revenue 21 — cannot start a company
JB Jodhpur & Bikaner (P29) — £80, revenue 24 — cannot start a company
HB Hyderabad & Bezawada (P30) — £100, revenue 30 — starts a company in Hyderabad

From phase 5, two locomotive works (LW): not auctioned; a company buys one from the bank for £100. They pay £10 into the treasury each operating round and give a 10% discount on 4M, 5E, 5M, 6E, 6M, 7E and 5D trains. They never close, a company may own at most one, and they cannot be transferred.

Corporations

ABR - Assam Bengal Railway
BBC - Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway
BNR - Bengal Nagpur Railway
EBR - Eastern Bengal Railway
EIR - East Indian Railway
GIP - Great Indian Peninsular Railway
MSM - Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway
PNS - Punjab Northern State Railway
SIR - South Indian Railway
SPD - Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railway
Ten companies (1858 has 8), with no fixed home: each is started by exchanging a private with a city or, from phase 5, by starting it directly in any free city

Specific mechanics

A variant of 1858 on a map of British India; the base rules are 1858's (dual gauge, privates that convert into shares, continuous auctions, wounded trains)
Mine, oil and port tokens: six mines (£50, from the start), three oil wells (£100, from phase 5) and two ports (£200, in phase 7). A company connected to the hex can collect the token during its token step and place it on its charter
Each token adds a fixed bonus to revenue whenever the company runs at least one train, even if no route goes there: mine 20/30/40/50 (yellow/green/brown/grey), oil 40/50 (brown/grey), port 50. The bonus is not halved by wounded trains nor doubled by the 5D
Pullman: attaches to a broad-gauge (non-M) train and adds £10 for each large city or off-board area it visits (half if the train is wounded, double with a 5D). It doesn't count against the train limit, a company may own only one, and it cannot be bought from another company
Cross-grading: a yellow or green tile can be replaced with one of the same colour that changes the gauge of one or two track sections (not on double-dot tiles)

Emergency sell

As in 1858, owning a train is not compulsory: a company that can't afford one simply keeps operating without it. The president never has to contribute money and no shares are force-sold. A Pullman on its own doesn't count as a train when issuing shares to raise emergency money.

Comparison with 1830

1. Setting, map and player count
1830 covers the north-eastern USA for 2-6 players. 1858 India is Ian D. Wilson's variant of 1858 set in India under British rule, with neighbouring countries as off-board areas, for 3-6 players. On 18xx.games it is still an alpha prototype.

2. Privates with a city convert into shares
In 1830 a private is bought by a public company and disappears. Here, as in 1858, privates with a city become the founding shares of a public company, and there are 30 of them, auctioned throughout the game.

3. Dual gauge from the start
1830 has a single gauge. Here broad and narrow gauge are both available from phase 2, with separate H/E and M trains, and the gauge of a tile already on the board can be changed.

4. Resource bonuses
In 1830 revenue comes only from routes. Here mine, oil and port tokens give a fixed bonus every time a company operates, and the Pullman adds extra revenue per large city.

5. Trains are wounded before they rust
In 1830 a train rusts in one go. Here it is first wounded (half revenue) and later rusts; 5E and later trains, the Pullman and the locomotive works are permanent.

6. The game ends only when the bank breaks
1830 can also end with the last train. Here it ends only when the £16,000 bank runs out, after a Final Exchange Round in which the 60% limit can be exceeded.

Related games

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