Rolling Stock

1. No map, no track, no trains
The heart of 1830 is the physical map: laying tiles, building routes, and running trains between cities. Rolling Stock strips all of that out entirely: there's no board, no hexes, no tiles, no station tokens, no trains. "Companies" (the cards that serve as the game's basic asset) simply generate the income printed on the card, with no route required at all.

2. Companies replace both the privates and the whole "route" concept
In 1830 a company's revenue depends on its president finding the best route through the tile network with its trains. In Rolling Stock a "Corporation" earns money purely by owning "Company" cards; each Company simply states its own income right on the card. Assembling the right combination of cards replaces "building the best network."

3. Synergies replace connections between cities
1830 rewards a route that links valuable cities together. Rolling Stock replaces this with "Synergy": if a Corporation owns two Companies whose codes are printed on each other's card, it earns a fixed bonus every turn for holding that specific pair -an abstract, card-matching substitute for a physical rail connection.

4. Cost of Ownership replaces rusting
In 1830 trains lose value and eventually rust once bigger ones appear. Rolling Stock has an economic-cycle equivalent instead: every turn the top card of the Company deck shows a color, and every owned Company of that color has its income reduced by its printed "Cost of Ownership" -a shared, universal depreciation with nothing to do with buying individual trains.

5. Companies are auctioned like privates, but a Foreign Investor buys up the leftovers
1830's six privates go up for open auction among players. Rolling Stock's newly revealed Companies are likewise auctioned -becoming "private companies" owned by whoever wins the bid- but any left over are bought outright at face value by an automated "Foreign Investor" that always pays full price, guaranteeing every Company finds an owner, unlike 1830's privates, which can simply go unsold.

6. Any owned Company, not just special ones, can found a corporation
In 1830, founding a company is the privilege of the player who buys its president's certificate with cash. In Rolling Stock, any Company card you own can be spent to "Form a Corporation": you hand it over as that corporation's first asset, receive shares in return, and become its founding president -folding 1830's separate "private" and "president's certificate" concepts into a single card action.

7. Share price is purely formulaic, never chosen or negotiated
In 1830 the founder picks a par value from a published table. Rolling Stock has no such choice at all: after every income or dividend calculation, the share price is automatically recalculated by looking up a table that cross-references the corporation's book value against how many shares it has issued -no player ever sets or negotiates a price.

8. Buying or selling a single share instantly moves its price, and selling is funded by the corporation itself
In 1830 the market only reacts to sales during a stock round, and sold shares go into a shared bank pool that others can buy from later. In Rolling Stock, buying one share from the bank bumps its price up one step instantly (and can end the game outright if it reaches $100), while selling a share is paid for out of the corporation's own treasury and moves its price down one step -there's no shared pool at all.

9. Bankruptcy erases every asset of that corporation forever, not just liquidates it
In 1830 bankruptcy typically forces a personal payment and, worst case, a liquidation that leaves the company diminished but intact. In Rolling Stock, a corporation that can't pay a negative income result goes bankrupt outright: every Company it owned is removed from the game for good, and its ten shares are simply set aside in case someone founds a fresh corporation from scratch later.

10. Two independent end triggers, neither tied to trains
1830 ends when the bank runs dry or the last train of the last type is bought. Since Rolling Stock has no trains at all, the game instead ends when a corporation's share price hits the $100 ceiling, or when the entire Company deck runs out and the game-end card is exposed for a second time -both entirely about card supply and share price, never about locomotives.

Rolling Stock — Schematic summary (vs 1830)

CONCEPT

• A card game for 3-5 players, with no board, hexes, tiles, station tokens, or trains
• 45 "Company" cards in six colors, each printed with a face value and a fixed income

COMPANIES AND SYNERGIES

• A Company's income is fixed on the card, with no route to calculate
• Synergy bonuses between pairs of Companies with matching codes, instead of connections between cities
• Cost of Ownership: each turn a "trending" color reduces the income of every Company of that color, equivalent to train rusting

FOUNDING CORPORATIONS

• Any owned Company can be used to found a Corporation; the owner receives shares and becomes its president
• The Foreign Investor automatically buys, at face value, any Company nobody wants to auction

STOCK MARKET

• Share price is calculated automatically from a table (book value / shares issued); never chosen or negotiated
• Buying a share bumps the price up one step (paid to the bank); selling one drops it one step (paid by the corporation itself, not a pool)

BANKRUPTCY AND GAME END

• Bankruptcy removes every Company owned by that corporation from the game forever
• Game end: a share price reaches $100, or the Company deck runs out for the second time -never trains