1858: The Railways of India

1858 India — Summary

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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.

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Floating and share limits per player

• 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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)

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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.