1894

1894 — Summary

Capitalization type

• Full capitalization: IPO purchases are paid to the bank and, once the company floats (60% sold), it receives 10 times its par price into its treasury at once.
• The two starting companies (the randomly drawn French one and the Belge) receive that money as soon as their "major shareholding" private is bought, which also sets their par price.
• Shares still in the IPO and shares the company has redeemed pay their dividends into the company's own treasury.

Floating percentage and per-player share limits

• Floats once no more than 40% of its shares remain in the IPO (i.e. with 60% sold); the drawn French company and the Belge start the game already floated
• A player may not buy a share of a company they already hold 60% of, unless its stock price is in the gray area of the market, where there is no cap
• Certificate limit per player: 3 players — 18; 4 players — 14. Private companies count towards it; shares of companies in the gray area don't
• At most 5 shares (50%) of each company may be in the bank pool

Starting cash by player count

• 3 players: 570 F starting cash
• 4 players: 480 F starting cash
• The bank is unlimited: the game can never end from the bank running out of money
• Only 3 or 4 players are supported

End game triggers

• The first complete set of operating rounds in the purple phase (the one after the first Diesel) finishes: no track or stations may be built in that final set
• A stock price reaches 450 F: immediate end (if it happens during the end-of-stock-round rise, the other eligible companies are moved up first)
• A player goes bankrupt: immediate end
• All players agree on who has won
• The winner is the player with the highest net worth (cash, shares at their final price and privates at face value); there is no tie-breaker

Number of phases

• 7 phases (yellow, green, blue, brown, red, gray and purple), triggered by the purchase of the first train of each colour
• Operating rounds per set: 1 (yellow), 2 (green and blue) and 3 (brown onwards)
• Train limit: 4 in the yellow and green phases, 3 from blue to gray, and 2 in purple
• Green phase: green tiles, and companies may now buy private companies (up to and including the brown phase)
• Brown phase: brown tiles, "brown" values apply to revenue centres with two values, and the late companies become available
• Red phase: private companies close, except the Ligne de Saint-Quentin à Guise, which closes in the purple phase
• Purple phase: regular green cities can no longer be upgraded to brown

Train list and prices

• 2-train (yellow) — 80 F — 7 units; rusts on the first 4-train
• 3-train (green) — 120 F — 5 units; rusts on the first 5+1-train
• 4-train (blue) — 300 F — 4 units; rusts on the first 7-train
• 5+1-train (brown) — 400 F — 5 units; counts up to 5 revenue centres plus 1 town; rusts on the first Diesel
• 6-train (red) — 600 F — 2 units
• 7-train (gray) — 700 F — 3 units
• Diesel (purple) — 800 F — unlimited; runs to any number of revenue centres
• Once per operating round, a company may trade one of its trains up for the next available colour (or for a Diesel), paying the new train's price minus half the old one's, even while at the train limit: 2→3 for 80 F, 3→4 for 240 F, 4→5+1 for 250 F, 5+1→6 for 400 F, 6→7 for 400 F, and to a Diesel for 600 F (from a 5+1), 500 F (from a 6) or 450 F (from a 7)

List of private companies

• Ligne de Reims à Charleville — 20 F, revenue 5 F — blocks I14; once per game, the owning company may pay 60 F to lay an extra yellow tile; if all players pass during the auction, its price drops by 5 F
• Antwerpen-Rotterdamsche Spoorwegmaatschappij — 25 F, revenue 5 F (10 F when owned by a company) — no special power
• Gare de Liège-Guillemins — 50 F, revenue 10 F — blocks Liège (H17); the owning company may lay or upgrade the yellow tile in Liège without being connected to it and place a free station there
• Station Antwerpen Centraal — 50 F, revenue 10 F — the same power, in Antwerpen (D17). Only one of these two 50 F privates is used: the other is removed at random during setup
• Ligne de Saint-Quentin à Guise — 70 F — revenue 0 F, rising to 70 F when Saint-Quentin (G10) is green and 100 F when it is brown; closes in the purple phase
• London shipping — 90 F, revenue 15 F — free station in A12, a ferry marker for just 40 F, and its company's trains running through London add the highest other value on the route (ignoring London and Luxembourg)
• Nord minor shareholding — 140 F, revenue 20 F — comes with a 10% share of the Nord
• Major shareholding of the drawn French company (PLM, CFOR, Nord, Ouest or Est) — 180 F, revenue 40 F — comes with the president's certificate; the buyer sets the par price (67, 80, 95 or 100 F); it can't be sold to a company and closes when that company operates
• Belge major shareholding — 200 F, revenue 60 F — the same, for the Belge
• Companies may only buy private companies during the green, blue and brown phases, for between half and twice face value

List of corporations

• Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) — home in Paris (G6), on the space marked "PLM" — 5 stations
• Chemin de fer d'Orléans à Rouen (CFOR) — two homes: Rouen (D3) and Chartres (H3) — 5 stations
• Chemins de fer du Nord (Nord) — two homes: Lens (D9) and Charleroi (G14) — 4 stations
• Chemins de fer de l'Ouest (Ouest) — two homes: Le Havre (B3) and Amiens (E6) — 5 stations
• Chemins de fer de l'Est (Est) — home in Reims (I10) — 5 stations
• Chemin de fer d'Anvers à Gand (AG) — home in Gent (D15) — 5 stations
• Chemins de fer de l'État belge (Belge) — home in Mechelen (E16) — 3 stations
• Late French (LF) — late company, available from the brown phase, with a home of its choice in France — 3 stations
• Late Belgian (LB) — late company, available from the brown phase, with a home of its choice in Belgium — 3 stations

Game-specific mechanics

• A randomly drawn French company and the Belge start already floated, with a 10% share of each dealt to every player (plus one more in the bank pool with 3 players)
• Gray area of the market: players may exceed 60%, the president may buy two shares per turn, shares don't count towards the certificate limit, and the stock price rises an extra step
• Companies may redeem shares from the bank pool (one per round, two in the first round of each set) or reissue all the shares they hold at once for 100 F each, which resets their par price to 100 F
• Trains can be traded up for the next colour, paying the difference with a discount of half the old train's price
• Regular green cities split into two separate cities when upgraded to brown: stations are relocated, and routes that used to be connected can be cut
• Up to two track actions per round: two yellow tiles, or one yellow tile and one upgrade
• London can only be reached with a ferry marker (there are 4, at 80 F); Luxembourg is worth as much as the most valuable revenue centre on the route, and a route between the Netherlands and another off-board area earns 100 F more
• At the end of a stock round, companies with no shares in the IPO or bank pool rise one step, plus another if the company and its president hold 8 or more of its shares
• Player order for the next stock round follows the order in which players passed

Emergency sell

A company is only required to own a train if it has a route from one of its stations to another revenue centre. If it can't afford one, the president contributes personal cash —never more than the chosen train requires— and, if that isn't enough, must sell shares under the normal selling rules (without exceeding the 5-share bank pool limit and without handing over the presidency of the company currently operating). If one of those sales changes the presidency of another company, that change happens before the train is bought. The train may also be bought from another company, but with the president's help it can't cost more than face value, and the company then ends its turn with an empty treasury. If there's still not enough money and no other company will sell a train at an acceptable price, the player goes bankrupt and the game ends immediately, just as in 1830.

Comparison with 1830

1. Setting, player count and an unlimited bank
1830 covers the northeastern USA for 2-6 players and ends when the bank runs out of money. 1894 is a fictional history of railways in northeastern France and Belgium, for 3-4 players only, with an unlimited bank: the game ends after the first complete set of operating rounds in the purple phase (with no track or station building), when a stock price reaches 450 F, or with a bankruptcy.

2. Two companies start the game already floated
In 1830 no company starts floated (the B&O private only grants the president's certificate). In 1894, one of the five French companies is drawn at random during setup and every player receives a free 10% share of it and of the Belge. Each one's president's certificate comes with an expensive private (180 F and 200 F): whoever buys it in the auction chooses the par price, and the company immediately receives 10 times that price. These two companies can't redeem or reissue shares.

3. Late companies with a home of their choice
In 1830 every company has a fixed home printed on the map and is available from the start. In 1894, besides the seven regular companies (three of which have two homes), there are two late companies, Late French and Late Belgian, whose shares can't be bought before the brown phase. Whoever buys the president's certificate chooses its home among the cities in its country with a free station space, preferably in a hex that has no track yet.

4. A gray area in the market that speeds up price rises
In 1830 the coloured cells of the market lift the certificate limit and the 60% cap, and the brown ones allow buying more than one share per turn. 1894 folds this into a single gray area, taken from 1828: players can go past 60% and the shares don't count towards the limit, but only the president may buy two shares per turn. The new twist is that a company in the gray area moves up an extra step every time its price rises, and at the end of a stock round a sold-out company rises yet another step if it and its president hold 8 or more of its shares.

5. Companies can redeem and reissue shares
In 1830 a company can't buy back or issue its own shares. In 1894 it may redeem shares from the bank pool at the market price (one per round, two in the first round of each set), and those shares, like the ones still in the IPO, pay dividends into its treasury. If it holds more of its own shares than remain in the IPO, it may reissue all of them at once for 100 F each, and its par price becomes 100 F.

6. Trains can be traded up for newer models
In 1830 only the Diesel lets a company hand in an old train for a discount. In 1894, with a rule borrowed from 1824, a company may once per round trade one of its trains for one of the next colour up (or for a Diesel), if it is the next one available, paying the new train's price minus half the old train's price, even while at the train limit. There are seven train colours, including a 5+1 that counts one extra town.

7. Cities that split in two when upgraded to brown
In 1830 upgrading a city always preserves the existing connections. In 1894 regular green cities become two separate cities when upgraded to brown: their stations are lifted and their owners place them again in one of the two, so routes that used to run through the city can be cut. On top of that, each company may take two track actions per round (two yellow tiles, or one yellow tile and one upgrade) rather than a single tile.

8. London, ferries and off-board bonuses
In 1830 off-board areas simply have a fixed value per phase. In 1894 a company needs one of the four ferry markers (80 F each, at most one per company) to run routes through or into London, and to build track or stations it can only connect by going through London; Luxembourg is worth as much as the most valuable revenue centre on the route, and a route joining the Netherlands with another off-board area earns 100 F more. The London shipping private also makes London add, for its company's routes, the highest value among the rest of the route.