Rolling Stock

Rolling Stock — Summary

Capitalization type

• Incremental capitalization, but with no classic IPO: a Corporation is founded by handing over an already-owned "Company" card as its first asset, and the founder receives shares in return.
• The share price is never chosen: it's automatically recalculated from a table that cross-references the corporation's book value (cash + value of its Companies) against the number of shares issued.

Floating percentage and per-player share limits

• Floats once 10% of shares are sold (a single share out of 10), for every corporation
• No real cap: a player may hold up to 100% of a single corporation, for every corporation
• Certificate limit per player: 99, the same regardless of player count — in practice this imposes no functional limit, since the game only has 10 corporations of 10 shares each (100 certificates total)

Starting cash by player count

• 2 to 5 players: $30 starting cash
• 6 players: $25 starting cash
• The bank starts with $10,000; the Foreign Investor (an extra automated player) starts with $4 and gets an extra $5 every income phase

End game triggers

• A share price reaches the top of the market ($100): immediate end
• The Company deck runs out and the game-end card is exposed a second time: ends at the close of that turn
• No trigger is tied to trains, because the game has none

Number of phases

• There are no train phases like in 1830: every full turn runs through up to 9 (or 10, with the "Foreign Investor" step split out) fixed steps: Investment, Wrap-up/reordering, Acquisition, Closing Companies, Income, Dividends, End Card, Issue Shares and IPO.
• The "Cost of Ownership" (the equivalent of rusting) rises in level as higher-level Companies are revealed from the deck, not through train phases.

Train list and prices

• Not applicable: Rolling Stock has no board, hexes, tiles, or trains of any kind. Its conceptual equivalent is the "Cost of Ownership": each turn, the color of the top card of the Company deck determines how much is deducted from the income of every owned Company of that color — a universal depreciation that replaces train rusting.

List of private companies

• 45 "Company" cards across six levels/colors, each printed with a face value, a fixed income, and a list of "synergies" (other companies it forms a bonus pair with):
• Level 1 (red, $1-$8): 6 companies, e.g. BME, BSE, KME, AKE, BPM, MHE
• Level 2 (orange, $11-$19): 8 companies, e.g. WT, BD, BY, OL, HE, SX, MS, PR
• Level 3 (yellow, $20-$29): 8 companies, e.g. DSB, NS, B, PKP, SNCF, KK, SBB, DR
• Level 4 (green, $30-$43): 7 companies, e.g. SJ, SZD, RENFE, BR, FS, BSR, E
• Level 5 (blue, $45-$60): 8 companies, e.g. MAD, HA, HH, HR, LHR, CDG, FRA, FR
• Level 6 (purple, $70-$100): 8 companies, e.g. OPC, RCC, MM, VP, RU, AL, LE, TSI
• Newly revealed Companies are auctioned among players; any left over are automatically bought at face value by the Foreign Investor

List of corporations

• 10 fixed corporations, all identical in rules (10 shares of 10%, floating at 10%, with no token or home on a map): Wheel, Android, Orion, Jupiter, Bear, Eagle, Saturn, Ship, Star, Horse
• Founded by handing over an owned Company as the first asset; the founder becomes its president

Game-specific mechanics

• Synergies: if a corporation owns two Companies that reference each other, it earns a fixed bonus every turn for that specific pair
• Buying a share from the bank instantly bumps its price up one step; selling one is paid for out of the corporation's own treasury and drops the price one step — there's no shared pool like in 1830
• Bankruptcy permanently erases every Company owned by that corporation; its ten shares are set aside in case someone founds a fresh corporation later
• Optional "Short Game" variant with a reduced Company deck (5 levels instead of 6) and a more aggressive cost of ownership

Emergency sell

There's no train-purchase concept here at all, so no emergency sell mechanic exists — this isn't a route-network 18xx game in the usual sense. Corporations instead acquire named train-line companies through voluntary negotiation (bids, offers, and counter-offers), paid strictly out of corporate treasury cash, with no requirement to buy anything and no president personal-cash contribution. A cash-poor corporation can fall into receivership, but even then it simply can't afford what it can't afford — bankruptcy here is a distinct, separate end-state (the share price hitting the bottom of the market), not a consequence of failing to buy a train.

Comparison with 1830

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.

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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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, 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.