1826: Railroading in France and Belgium from 1826 Rulebook

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
2 Game Phases
3 The Stock Market
4 Sequence of Play
5 Ending The Game
6 Historical Background
- 6.1 France's Railroads
- 6.2 Belgium's Railroads
8 Tile Manifest/Upgrade Chart

1 Introduction

1826 is an "18xx" game set in France and Belgium. 1826 attempts to capture the relatively high degree of centralization of railroad development in France and Belgium (both physically and administratively). Additionally, 1826 attempts to capture the investment decisions associated with the post-war electrification of the French and Belgian national railroad networks, and the emergence of the "Trains à Grande Vitesse" (TGV).

1.1 Setting Up The Game

Lay the Map, Stock Market/Pool, and Initial Offering charts flat between the players. Carefully separate and sort the track tiles, share certificates, Bonds, Loans, Private Companies, trains, and tokens. Place the share certificates and the trains on the Initial Offering and Trains Available charts. Sort the Bank into denominations and place it near the Map and Stock Market/Pool within easy reach of the players. Put the Corporation Charters near the play area. Put the Private Companies near the Map in ascending order of value. Distribute F1,800 divided by the number of players as shown below to the number of players (from 2 to 6) who are participating. Randomly determine the move order using the six player cards, give the Priority Deal card to the first player, and begin the initial Stock Round.

Number of Players	2	3	4	5	6
Initial Capital	F900	F600	F450	F360	F300

1.2 How To Win

Players win by having the highest net worth at the end of the game. Cash on hand and stock shares owned add to net worth. Government loans subtract from net worth. Corporation capital and other Corporation-owned assets, such as trains, neither add to nor subtract from net worth.

1.3 Player Etiquette

Players should attempt to speed play as much as possible. In particular, determining what share to buy or what tile to lay or upgrade is best done during another player's turn.

A player must disclose his current cash and the current capital of any Corporation he controls upon request by another player. Both player cash and Corporation capital should be piled neatly in front of the player (in the case of personal cash) or in the Treasury section of the Corporation Charter. Corporation trains should also be neatly displayed in the train section of the Corporation Charter. Unused tokens should be kept in the token section.

Each player should display his owned Certificates neatly in front of him and must reveal his holdings in a Corporation on demand.

Corporate transactions are public knowledge, whether conducted between the Corporation and the Bank, the Corporation and a player, or between two Corporations.

Players may engage in public, verbal discussions and enter into public, verbal agreements. Such discussions should be reasonably brief in order to speed play. Performance is not enforceable except by moral suasion: a player who has performed an action under such an agreement in the anticipation of future action by his partner has no other recourse if his partner reneges on the agreement. Secret discussions or agreements, whether verbal or written, are prohibited.

2 Game Phases

1826 proceeds through a series of Phases, which affect which tiles may be played, which trains are bought or scrapped, how many trains may be owned by Corporations, and the status of Private Companies. Each Phase lasts until the Triggering Event for the next Phase.

Phase	Triggering Event	Maximum Trains Owned (1)	New Tiles and Improvements Available	Number of Operating Rounds	Trains Scrapped	Private Company, Special Power, and Merger Corporation Status	Off-Map Value Used
2H	-	4/2	Yellow	1	-	Special powers may be exercised.	Top Left
4H	First 4H train bought	4/2	Green	2	-	-	Top Left
6H	First 6H train bought (2)	3/1	-	2	2H	Etat Corporation may form.	Top Left
10H	First 10H train bought	2/-	Brown	3	4H	Private Companies closed. SNCF Corporation may form.	Top Right
E	First E train bought	2/-	-	3	6H	Special power tokens removed. SNCF Corporation may form.	Bottom Left
TGV	First TGV train bought	2/-	Gray	3	-	-	Bottom Right (3)

(1) Limits shown are for Ten-Share/Five-Share Corporations. Add one to these limits for the Etat and SNCF, if in play.

(2) Trains may be bought from other Corporations once the first 6H train has been bought.

(3) Not all Off-Map Locations have four distinct values.

3 The Stock Market

The Stock Market shows the current value of each Corporation's stock. The values shown are the amount represented by a single share certificate, worth ten percent of a Ten-Share Corporation or twenty percent of a Five-Share Corporation. The Stock Market is divided into a number of Zones, which are described below. The Starting Value (Red) Zone is considered part of the White Zone for all purposes.

3.1 White Zone

The White Zone is the part of the Stock Market in which stock values will primarily operate. All normal rules apply to ownership of stock valued in the White Zone. It should be noted that the Starting Value (Red) Zones are considered part of the White Zone for all purposes.

3.2 Yellow Zone

Stock valued in the Yellow Zone does not count against a player's holdings for overall Certificate limit purposes. All other rules apply to stock valued in the Yellow Zone.

3.3 Starting Value (Red) Zone

The Starting Value (Red) Zone consists of the five spaces outlined in red, which are the possible Starting Values for new Corporations (F110, F100, F90, F82, and F75). The Starting Value (Red) Zone is part of the White Zone. Other than as a reference point, the Starting Value (Red) Zone has no impact on play.

There are important distinctions between shares and share Certificates. The current market values shown on the Stock Market apply on a per-share basis regardless of the percentage ownership represented by a share. A share is normally equivalent to ten percent of a Corporation. However, shares of Five-Share Corporations are worth twenty percent of the Corporation. These percentages represent the amount of the Corporation dividend to which the shareholder is entitled. Except for the Etat and SNCF the President's Certificate represents twice the percentage of a normal share Certificate, and counts as two shares when bought or sold. For purposes of share ownership in a Corporation, only the percentage of ownership as represented by shares is relevant: for purposes of Certificate limits, only the number of Certificates held is relevant.

Except for Private Companies, SNCF Bonds and stock valued in the Yellow Zone, players are limited to owning Certificates (not shares) in accordance with the following table:

Number of Players	2	3	4	5	6
Certificate Limit	28	20	16	13	11

Players are limited to owning sixty percent (60%) of a Corporation's stock. This 60% may be in any form. This means that, for Five-Share Corporations, the President may only hold one additional share in addition to the President's Certificate.

A President's Certificate may never be sold, and consequently may never enter the Pool. It may, however, be transferred to another player as a result of stock sales.

Except as a result of a Bankruptcy, or the formation of the Etat or SNCF, a Corporation may never have more than fifty percent (50%) of its stock in the Pool. This means that, for Five-Share Corporations, the Pool may only hold two shares (40%). A Corporation may hold more that 50% of its own stock in its Treasury.

3.5 Movement of Stock Prices

Share prices move as a result of several factors. These are described below:

If a player sells one or more shares during a single Turn of the Stock Round, or a Corporation sells one or more shares during its Operating Round, the share price of the Corporation moves down one row in price for every share sold, unless already on a ledge.
If, at the conclusion of the Stock Round, none of a Corporation's shares are in the Pool, the Corporation Treasury, or the Initial Offering, the share price of the Corporation moves up one row, unless already on the top row. Five-Share Corporations do not move up under this rule as five of their shares are held in the Initial Offering.
If a Corporation Operates and withholds its Dividend or its earnings are zero, its share price is moved left one column.
If a Corporation Operates and declares a Full or Half Dividend which is equal to or greater than the current market value of the Corporation, its share price moves right one column.
If a Corporation takes out a Loan, its share price moves left one column for each loan taken.
If a Corporation pays back a Loan, its share price moves right one column for each loan repaid.

If a share price should be moved left or right but cannot do so because it is at the end of a row, it is moved down or up respectively, following the arrow. If a share price should be moved up but is on the top row, it does not move. If a share price should be moved down but there is insufficient room for the full drop, it is moved to the bottom row in its column; if it is already on the bottom row, it does not move.

If a Corporation's token must be placed in a space which one or more other Corporations' tokens already occupy, it is placed at the bottom of the stack of tokens. This is true of Starting Value token placement as well as token movement for the reasons described above.

If a Corporation does not Operate, or Operates and declares a Dividend (Full or Half) which is less than the current market value of the Corporation shown on the Stock Chart, its share price remains unchanged.

4 Sequence of Play

Play of 1826 consists of Stock Rounds, followed by one or more Operating Rounds. Play always continues through a complete set of Operating Rounds.

4.1 Stock Round

During a Stock Round, players may sell and then buy stock. Players begin with the player who has the Priority marker and proceeds in accordance with the move order determined by the player number cards (this is also referred to as "Stock Round order") until all players have passed. The priority marker is then given to the player who initiated the final round of passes, the share prices of Corporations are adjusted, and the first Operating Round begins.

4.1.1 Selling Stock

During each of his turns in the Stock Round, a player may sell as many shares of stock as he wishes, subject to the limitations on Pool holding. Once a player has sold stock of a particular Corporation, he may not buy stock in that Corporation for the remainder of the current Stock Round. Players may sell shares of different Corporations in any order they choose.

Stock is sold into the Pool at the current market value shown on the Stock Market. Each share sold is worth the amount shown regardless of the percentage of the Corporation represented by the share. When selling more than one share of stock, the value received from the Bank is the same for all shares sold. The share price of the sold Corporation moves down a number of rows equal to the total number of shares sold, or to the bottom row in its column, whichever is less. Players may not choose to sell multiple shares of a single Corporation's stock as multiple transactions in the same turn of a stock round. Stock of Corporations that have not yet operated may not be sold.

4.1.2 Buying Stock

After selling all the shares he wishes to sell, a player may then buy one Certificate. He may buy any certificate available in the Initial Offering, in a Corporation's Treasury, or in the Pool, subject to Corporation share limits and Certificate limits. Once a player has bought stock, he may not sell any more stock that turn. Stock is bought at current market value, whether bought from the Initial Offering, the Pool or a Corporation's Treasury: there are no "Par Prices". Each share bought is worth the amount shown regardless of the percentage of the Corporation represented by the share. When stock is bought from the Initial Offering or the Pool, the money is paid to the Bank. When stock is bought from a Corporation's Treasury, the money is paid to the Corporation Treasury.

When stock is bought from the Initial Offering, the President's Certificate, if currently unowned, must be the first Certificate bought. Once a Corporation floats, its stock may only be bought from the Corporation's Treasury or the Pool. Otherwise, there are no restrictions on stock purchases from the Initial Offering, from the Pool or from a Corporation's Treasury.

4.1.3 Starting A Corporation

When a player buys a President's Certificate from the Initial Offering, he immediately declares the Starting Value of the stock, placing a token in the appropriate Starting Value (Red) Zone space on the Stock Market below any other tokens in that space.

4.1.4 Ending the Stock Round

Once the Stock Round has been ended by a complete set of passes, the share prices of Corporations are adjusted and the first Operating Round begins.

4.2 Initial Stock Round

The initial Stock Round differs from all subsequent Stock Rounds in that the Private Companies may be bought from the Bank, and, indeed, must all be bought before any Corporation can be floated. Prior to the initial Stock Round, the Private Companies are placed on or near the map, in increasing order of price.

Each player, starting with the player who has the Priority card, may perform one of the following actions on his turn: he may buy the lowest-priced Private Company available; he may bid on any Private Company other than the lowest-priced one; or he may pass.

Bidding on Private Companies is done in multiples of F5 above the printed cost of the Private Company, and each bid must be at least F5 greater than the printed cost of the Private Company, or than the last bid. Players who bid on Private Companies must set aside an amount of their cash equal to the value of their bid: players may not make bids which would exceed their remaining cash. However, if another player subsequently makes a higher bid on the same Private Company, the money set aside by the first player may be reused for other purchases or bids: only the player with the current high bid must set aside the appropriate funds.

If a single player has bid on a Private Company, it is automatically sold to him when all the lower-priced Private Companies have been sold. If more than one player has bid on a Private Company, when that Private Company becomes the lowest-priced Private Company, the players who bid conduct an auction, starting with the player whose turn is after that of the player who placed the highest bid. Auction bids are also made in F5 multiples, and each bid must also be at least F5 greater than the last. Players continue to bid until all eligible players except one have passed: the Private Company is then sold to the player at the price he bid. Once a player passes in an auction, he may not reenter the auction. Players may never bid more than their remaining cash, including cash set aside for the initial bid on the auctioned Private Company, but excluding any cash set aside for other unsold companies.

Once all the Private Companies have been sold, players may buy stock from the Initial Offering in accordance with the normal rules.

If all players pass prior to any Private Company being sold in the initial Stock Round, the player with the Priority card is compelled to buy the Ponts et Chaussées Private Company for F20. If the initial Stock Round is ended by a series of passes before all the Private Companies are sold, a normal Operating Round is conducted during which players receive revenue from any bought Private Companies.

4.3 Private Companies

Private Companies represent small companies that pioneered the age of railroading in France and Belgium. Private Companies enter play by being bought from the Bank during the Initial Stock Round. Once purchased, Private Companies remain in the possession of the purchasing player until closed: they may not be purchased by Corporations nor transferred between players. Each Private Company provides revenue to the owning player. Certain Private Companies provide special powers that are described below. These special powers may be exercised on behalf of a Corporation (not necessarily controlled by the owner of the Private Company) with the permission of the Corporation President, during the appropriate phase of the Corporation's turn in the Operating Round. A Private Company closes as soon as its special power is exercised. All Private Companies not previously closed are closed at the beginning of Phase 10H. The chart below summarizes the Private Companies.

Company	Nickname	Cost	Revenue	Special Power
Ponts et Chaussées	Bridge	F20	F5	Place a tile on any River hex free of charge (1)
Régie des Postes	Mail	F40	F10	Place Mail +F10 token on any City (2)
Chemins de Fer D'Algérie	Algerian	F70	F15	Adds +1 to a single Corporation's Train Limit (3)
Grand Central Belge	Belgian	F110	F20	Comes with free Etat Belge share (4)
Compagnie Paris-Rouen	Parisian	F160	F25	Comes with Chemin de Fer de Paris President's Certificate (5)
Ligne Strasbourg-Bâle	Alsatian	F220	F30	Comes with Alsace President's Certificate (6)

(1) The Ponts et Chaussées Private Company allows a Corporation to lay a River tile free of charge as part of its normal tile placement. The Private Company closes when the power is exercised.

(2) The Régie des Postes Private Company allows a Corporation to increase the value of a City by F10 for all its runs. Place one "Mail +F10" token on the Corporation and the other on the selected City during the token placement phase (this is in addition to any station token purchased normally by the Corporation). Once placed, these tokens may not be moved. The Private Company closes when the power is exercised. The Mail tokens are removed at the beginning of Phase E.

(3) The Chemins de Fer D'Algérie Private Company allows a Corporation to increase its train limit by one. Place the "Train Limit +1" token on the Corporation during the train purchasing phase. Once placed, this token may not be moved. The Private Company closes when the power is exercised. The "Train Limit +1" token is removed at the beginning of Phase E.

(4) The player who buys the Grand Central Belge Private Company receives a single 10% share of Etat Belge stock from the Initial Offering when he buys the Private Company. The Private Company closes when the Etat Belge buys its first train.

(5) The player who buys the Paris-Rouen Private Company receives the President's Certificate of the Chemin de Fer de Paris from the Initial Offering when he buys the Private Company. He must set the Starting Value of the Chemin de Fer de Paris at this time. The Private Company closes when the Chemin de Fer de Paris buys its first train.

(6) The player who buys the Strasbourg-Bâle Private Company receives the President's Certificate of the Alsace from the Initial Offering when he buys the Private Company. He must set the Starting Value of the Alsace at this time. The Private Company closes when the Alsace buys its first train.

The owning player of a Private Company may exercise its special powers on behalf of a Corporation during the appropriate phase of the Corporation's Operating Round, with the permission of the Corporation President. Exercising the special power closes the Private Company.

Any Private Companies still operating are closed at the beginning of Phase 10H. The special power tokens, if unassigned, are lost. If assigned, the special power tokens are removed at the beginning of Phase E.

4.4 Formation of Corporations

Corporations other than the Etat Belge formed prior to Phase 6H and which have not yet reached their Destination are five-share Corporations and have five shares available: the President's Certificate, marked "Preferred Stock—Two Shares—40/20%," worth forty percent of the Corporation, and three single shares, marked "Preferred Stock—One Share—20/10%," each worth twenty percent of the Corporation. The Etat Belge and any Corporations formed after the beginning of Phase 6H are treated as ten-share Corporations. Ten-share Corporations have ten shares available: the President's Certificate, worth twenty percent of the Corporation, and eight single shares each worth ten percent of the Corporation.

Once fifty percent or more of the available shares of a Corporation are in the hands of players, the Corporation forms ("floats"). As soon as the Corporation floats, the player who owns the President's Certificate receives the Corporation Charter, the Corporation's station tokens, and initial capital as shown below, and places one of the Corporation's station tokens in the appropriate space on the Map.

Corporation Share Type (Phases)	Player Shares	Treasury Shares	Pool Shares	Initial Offering Shares	Tokens (1)	Initial Capital (2) at F75	at F82	at F90	at F100	at F110
5 (2H-4H)	3	2	-	5	3	F225	F246	F270	F300	F330
10 (2H-6H)	5	5	-	-	4	F375	F410	F450	F500	F550
10 (10H-TGV)	5	-	5	-	5	F750	F820	F900	F1000	F1100

(1) Includes the home station token.

(2) This shows the initial capital that a Corporation receives at a given Starting Value at the time it floats.

When shares in a floated Corporation are bought from the Corporation Treasury, the money is paid to the Corporation Treasury; when bought from the Pool, the money is paid to the Bank.

4.5 Destinations

Each Corporation, except for the Etat Belge, Etat and SNCF, has a Destination. Destination rules apply to any Corporation that forms prior to Phase 6H. Corporations that are connected to their Destination hex prior to being started, and all Corporations that form after the beginning of Phase 6H, are treated as ten-share Corporations and have all their shares available when started.

Until the Corporation's home (original) station token is connected to its Destination hex, only the certificates marked "Preferred Stock" may be in play. The Initial Offering retains the Corporation's remaining five shares, and any dividends paid are divided among the five shares of preferred stock. However, five-share Corporations have their Train Limit reduced from 4 to 2 in Phases 2H and 4H, and from 3 to 1 in Phase 6H. Once the Corporation is connected to its Destination hex and elects to convert to a ten-share Corporation, the remaining five shares become available and may be placed in the Corporation Treasury.

A Corporation may be connected to its Destination hex either by its own operations or by another Corporation's operations. If a Corporation is connected to its Destination hex by other than its own operations, the remaining five shares become available at the beginning of its next Operating Round.

A Corporation is connected to its Destination hex when it can trace a legal route from its home (original) station token to its Destination hex using a train of arbitrary length, ignoring station tokens belonging to other Corporations. As soon as Phase 10H begins, any Corporations not yet connected to their Destination are considered automatically connected and the remaining five shares are immediately placed in their Treasury.

4.6 Corporations

Corporations are stock companies that own and operate trains, providing revenue to their shareholders. A Corporation opens and may operate in the turn in which fifty percent of the Corporation is acquired from the Initial Offering during the stock round. The table below summarizes the Corporations that may become available.

Corporation	Nickname	Home Station	Destination	Train Limit	Merge into Etat/SNCF?
Chemin de Fer de Paris	Parisian	Paris (NW)	Le Havre	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer Paris-Orléans	P-O	Paris (SW)	Poitiers	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer du Nord	Northern	Paris (NE)	Lille	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer de L'Est	Eastern	Paris (E)	Nancy	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer de L'Ouest	Western	Paris (W)	Rennes	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer du Midi	Southern	Bordeaux	Marseille	Normal	Yes/Yes
Grand Central de France	Central	Lyon	Bordeaux	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée	PLM	Paris (SE)	Lyon	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemin de Fer D'Alsace	Alsatian	Strasbourg	Lyon	Normal	Yes/Yes
Chemins de Fer de L'Etat Belge	Belgian	Brussels	-	Normal	No/No
Chemins de Fer de L'Etat	State	-	-	+ 1	-/Yes
Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français	National	-	-	+ 1	-/-

(1) The Chemins de Fer D'Algérie may be used to increase any Corporation's Train Limit by +1.

4.6.1 The Etat Belge

The Etat Belge, the Belgian State Railway Corporation, which is not a French Corporation, has a special status in the game. Until the Etat Belge has operated, no other Corporation may lay or improve track north of the dotted red line that runs along the southern and western edges of Ostende, Lille, Mons, Namur, and Luxembourg. However, the pre-printed Cities of Lille and Brussels may be upgraded, and may have station tokens placed on them, in accordance with the normal rules.

The Etat Belge always starts as a ten-share Corporation, and may never merge into either the Etat or SNCF merger Corporations.

4.6.2 The Chemins de Fer de l'Etat

The Etat, which should not be confused in any way with the Etat Belge, represents France's first attempt at creating a State-owned and operated railway system in direct competition with the chartered railways.

The Etat cannot form prior to Phase 6H. Once Phase 6H begins, the Etat may form by merger if at least two Corporations (other than the Etat Belge) that have operated at least once prior to the beginning of Phase 6H are left without a train.

As soon as the first 6H train is bought and all 2H trains have been removed, players should determine which Corporations would be required to merge into the Etat. All Corporations, other than the Etat Belge, which have operated at least once prior to Phase 6H and are currently without a train must merge into the Etat, provided that there are at least two such Corporations. No other Corporation may do so.

If exactly one Corporation would be required to merge, the merger does not take place: instead, the Corporation must buy a train normally on its turn. If necessary, the Corporation must raise the necessary funds by issuing one or more Loans.

If no Corporation is required to merge, the Etat does not form.

If two or more Corporations are required to merge, players now exchange shares of merger Corporations, on a two-for-one basis, without distinction between the original Corporations, for Etat shares:

All shares of merger Corporations currently in the Initial Offering (i.e., of Five-Share Corporations) are placed in the respective Corporations' Treasuries.
Each player, starting with the player whose Corporation initiated Phase 6H, and continuing in Stock Round order from that player (rather than the player with the Priority marker), exchanges his certificates. The first eligible player receives the President's Certificate. As each player receives his exchange certificates, he discards any odd shares to the Pool.
The Etat Treasury exchanges all Treasury shares of merger Corporations, including those just allocated to the formerly Five-Share Corporations. The odd share, if any, is discarded to the Pool.
The Pool exchanges all remaining shares of merger Corporations. The odd share, if any, is discarded.
If there are not enough Etat shares to replace all shares of merger Corporations, any excess merger shares (including those in the Pool) are discarded without compensation.
Any remaining undistributed Etat shares are placed in the Etat Treasury.
The Etat Starting Value is the average of the current market value of the top two merged Corporations, rounded down to the nearest market value. The Etat current market value token is placed in the space on the top row of the Stock Market corresponding to this, underneath any existing tokens. However, the Etat starting value cannot be less than F82.

Once all the Etat shares have been distributed, if any player has more shares than the player holding the President's Certificate, a normal change of Presidency occurs.

The President of the Etat now receives the Etat charter, along with any undistributed Etat shares. He also receives three additional station tokens, and any residual capital and special power tokens on the merged Corporations. The charters and stock certificates of the merged Corporations are set aside and eliminated from play.

The Etat replaces the merged Corporations' station tokens with its own. The President starts by replacing all of the merged Corporations' home station tokens, including all eligible Paris tokens. The President may then select one additional station token per merged Corporation to replace. A single Etat station token replaces multiple eligible tokens in any City other than Paris. Any unreplaced station tokens are lost. There is no compensation for lost station tokens.

If the Etat does not form at the beginning of Phase 6H, it never enters play.

The Etat operates normally in the Operating Round in which it forms, provided that none of the merged Corporations operated prior to the formation of the Etat and at least five shares of the Etat are held other than in the Etat Treasury. If any of the merged Corporations operated prior to the formation of the Etat, it does not operate until the next Operating Round. If there are fewer than five shares outside the Etat Treasury, the Etat does not operate.

Unlike other Corporations, the Etat may only lay (or upgrade) a single tile in its initial Operating Round. Unlike other Corporations, the Etat may never buy or sell trains at other than face value.

4.6.3 The Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français

The SNCF was France's second direct State railroad takeover. During the Depression, the French railroads all suffered significant operating deficits, which, combined with the large deferred maintenance costs resulting from World War One, caused the financial collapse of the remaining private railroads. As a result, in 1937, all remaining railroads were consolidated into the SNCF, a corporation 51 percent owned, and controlled and operated, by the French Government. The rules for formation of the SNCF are similar to the rules for the formation of the Etat.

The SNCF cannot form prior to Phase 10H. Once Phase 10H begins, the SNCF may form. If the SNCF does not form at the beginning of Phase 10H, it may form at the beginning of Phase E. If the SNCF does not form either at the beginning of Phase 10H or of Phase E, the SNCF never forms.

As soon as the first 10H train is bought and all 4H trains have been removed, players should determine which Corporations would be required to merge into the SNCF. All Corporations, other than the Etat Belge, which have operated at least once prior to Phase 10H and are currently without a train must merge into the SNCF, provided that there are at least two such Corporations. No other Corporation may do so.

If no Corporation is required to merge, the SNCF does not form.

If two or more Corporations are required to merge, players now exchange shares of merger Corporations, on a two-for-one basis, without distinction between the original Corporations, for SNCF shares and Bonds:

Each player, starting with the player whose Corporation initiated Phase 10H, and continuing in Stock Round order from that player (rather than the player with the Priority marker), exchanges his certificates. The first player eligible receives the President's Certificate. As each player receives his exchange certificates, he discards any odd shares to the Pool.
The SNCF Treasury exchanges all Treasury shares of merger Corporations. The odd share, if any, is discarded to the Pool.
The Pool exchanges all remaining shares of merger Corporations. The odd share, if any, is discarded.
If more than ten shares of SNCF stock are required to perform the exchanges, the certificates marked "SNCF Bond" are used. Players exchange two shares of merger Corporations for one SNCF Bond.
If there are not enough SNCF shares, including the SNCF Bonds, to replace all shares of merger Corporations, any excess merger shares (including those in the Pool) are discarded without compensation.
Any remaining undistributed SNCF shares and Bonds are placed in the SNCF Treasury (for the moment).
The SNCF initial Starting Value is the average of the current market value of the top two merged Corporations, rounded down to the nearest market value. The SNCF current market value token is placed in the space in the top row of the Stock Market corresponding to this, underneath any existing tokens. However, the SNCF starting value cannot be less than F110.

Once all the SNCF shares have been distributed, if any player has more shares than the player holding the President's Certificate, a normal change of Presidency occurs.

The President of the SNCF now receives the SNCF charter, along with any undistributed SNCF shares and Bonds. He also receives four additional station tokens, and any residual capital and special power tokens on the merged Corporations. He also receives any outstanding Loans on the merged Corporations. The charters and stock certificates of the merged Corporations are set aside and eliminated from play.

The SNCF current market value token is moved left one column for each Loan the SNCF inherits from the merged Corporations. Additionally, the SNCF must place one of its Bonds in the Pool, up to the maximum number still held in its Treasury, for each such Loan. Once the final Starting Value of the SNCF is determined, all the inherited Loans are returned to the Bank. The SNCF now receives an amount equal to the adjusted Starting Value for each previously undistributed SNCF share. Once the appropriate amount has been placed in the SNCF Treasury, the undistributed shares are placed in the Pool. If required, the Pool may hold more than 50% of the SNCF stock.

The SNCF replaces the merged Corporations' station tokens with its own. The President starts by replacing all of the merged Corporations' home station tokens, including all eligible Paris tokens. The President may then select two additional station tokens per merged Corporation to replace. A single SNCF station token replaces multiple eligible tokens in any City other than Paris. Any unreplaced station tokens are lost. There is no compensation for lost station tokens.

If the SNCF does not form at the beginning of Phase 10H, it has a second opportunity to form at the beginning of Phase E. Repeat the procedure above as soon as the first E is bought and all the 6H trains have been removed.

If the SNCF does not form at the beginning of Phase E, it never enters play.

The SNCF operates normally in the Operating Round in which it forms, provided that none of the merged Corporations operated prior to the formation of the SNCF. If any of the merged Corporations operated prior to the formation of the SNCF, it does not operate until the next Operating Round.

Unlike other Corporations, the SNCF may only lay (or upgrade) a single tile in its initial Operating Round. Unlike other Corporations, the SNCF may never buy or sell trains at other than face value.

The SNCF has ten Bonds that may be used to replace shares of merged Corporations and are otherwise placed in the SNCF Treasury. Bonds may be bought from or sold to the Pool by players at their face value of F100. The SNCF may redeem its Bonds but not issue them. The SNCF may also buy Bonds from any one player during its Operating Round, provided there are none in the Pool. The SNCF pays F10 for each Bond to the bondholder during its Operating Round.

The number of 10H trains available from the Bank varies according to the number of Corporations actually or potentially in play after the SNCF has had the opportunity to form. Five 10H trains are available if ten or more Corporations are in play or available for starting. Remove one 10H train for each Corporation less than ten, down to a minimum of two, as shown in the table below:

Corporations Available (1)	10	9	8	7 or less
10H Trains Available	5	4	3	2

(1) Not necessarily operating

4.6.4 Change in Presidency

The President of a Corporation is the player who owns the most shares of the Corporation. If two or more players are tied for most owned shares, the player who currently owns the President's Certificate is the President.

If at any time the President owns fewer shares than another player does, he must exchange the President's Certificate for an appropriate number of shares owned by the other player. He receives two shares for all Corporations but the Etat and SNCF and one share of the Etat or SNCF. The new President receives the Corporation Charter and all assets of the Corporation. If two or more players are eligible to become President and have an equal number of shares, the player whose turn is the earliest using Stock Round rules after the current President becomes the new President.

4.7 Operating Round

Each Operating Round begins with revenue collection from open Private Companies. This revenue is paid to the player. After all revenues from Private Companies have been paid, each Corporation operates in descending order of their stock price. If two or more Corporations have the same stock price, the one whose stock market token is furthest to the right operates first. If two or more have their stock market tokens in the same space, the one on top operates first. The operating order is determined dynamically: that is, after a Corporation has operated, the next Corporation is the one which has not operated this round and whose price is then highest (furthest right, on top). A Corporation's operating round includes all of the actions described below, although some of these actions are optional. Corporations whose stock tokens are stacked in a single space on the Stock Market operate in order from top to bottom.

Each Corporation operates once during each Operating Round. When all Corporations have operated, players begin a new Operating Round or a new Stock Round, depending on the Game Phase and the number of Operating Rounds already conducted.

Corporations must conduct their operations in strict conformance to the order described below. The special powers may be exercised during the appropriate phase of the operating Corporation's turn.

4.7.1 Lay or Upgrade Track

A Corporation may lay one yellow tile or upgrade one tile in accordance with the rules set forth below. During the first Operating Round after the Stock Round in which it floats, a Corporation may lay two yellow tiles. If it lays a yellow tile on a River or Mountain hex, it must immediately pay the F40 or F60 from its Treasury. If the Ponts et Chaussées Private Company special power is exercised in laying a yellow tile on a River hex, the tile placement is free and the Ponts et Chaussées Private Company is closed.

4.7.2 Destination Check

If the operating Corporation is connected to its Destination, the President may place the five shares previously held in the Initial Offering in the Corporation Treasury, although he is not required to do so.

4.7.3 Additional Token Placement

A Corporation that has an additional station token available may place it on any open City to which it may legally run from its nearest existing station token measured via track connection (not necessarily from its initial home station token), given a train of arbitrary length. The cost of such a token placement is F20 multiplied by the number of hexes through which this arbitrarily-long train would run to reach the target hex, not including the city of origin, but including the target city: it is not measured using the hex grid directly. If there is more than one way of reaching the target City from existing station tokens, the route resulting in the smaller or smallest cost must be chosen. The Corporation must immediately pay the requisite amount from its Treasury. If the Régie des Postes Private Company special power is exercised to place the "Mail +F10" tokens, they are placed and the Régie des Postes Private Company is closed. Corporations may only place one station token each Operating Round. The initial station token is placed on the home city when the Corporation floats. Since this is done during the Stock Round, the Corporation may place its second station token the first time it operates.

4.7.4 Train Operation and Earnings Calculation

A Corporation that owns one or more trains now operates them and calculates the resulting earnings. A Corporation must calculate the maximum possible earnings using all its trains (not necessarily the maximum possible earnings for any particular train if more than one train is owned). Earnings are calculated as follows:

Each train must operate on a legal route. A legal route contains two or more Cities, Towns, or Off-Map Locations including at least one City containing the Corporation's station token (not necessarily at the beginning or end of the route).
The maximum number of hexes that may be included in the route is the train number. This number includes the last hex counted, but not the first: in other words, the first hex counted is the first hex after the route origin hex.
All Cities, Towns and Off-Map Locations included in the route count for revenue, except that E and TGV trains do not count Towns, as described below.
If a train runs to an Off-Map Location, it must be at one end of the train's route. A train may both begin and end a route at Off-Map Locations, provided the route is otherwise legal.
A train may not reverse at a junction, nor may the same track be used more than once.
A train may not run more than once to the same City, Town, or Off-Map Location, including Paris.
A train may run to, but not through, Paris.
A train may run to, but not through, a City that is completely filled with other Corporations' station tokens.
Except for TGV trains, trains may not use track used by any of the Corporation's other trains in the same Operating Round. Trains may, however, run to or through the same Cities or Towns, provided they do not reuse any track used by the other train.
The route value is equal to the sum of the values of all Cities, Towns, or Off-Map Locations included in the route. The Corporation's Special Power Tokens may affect these values. The Corporation's earnings are equal to the sum of the value of all the Corporation's train routes.

4.7.5 Loan Interest Payment

If the Corporation has any Bank Loans, it must pay F50 interest to the Bank on each. If the Corporation does not have sufficient funds in its Treasury to pay the full amount of the interest, the full amount of the interest is withheld from the Corporation's earnings instead, to a minimum of zero. If this is still insufficient, the Corporation must raise more money as outlined in the section Emergency Money Raising, below.

4.7.6 SNCF Bond Interest Payment

The SNCF pays F10 to the owner of each of its Bonds. Interest on Bonds in the Pool is paid to the Bank. Bonds in the SNCF Treasury are ignored. If the SNCF does not have sufficient funds in its Treasury to pay the full amount of the interest, the full amount of the interest is withheld from the SNCF earnings instead, to a minimum of zero. If this is still insufficient, the Corporation must raise more money as outlined in the section Emergency Money Raising, below.

4.7.7 Dividend Payment

A Corporation may declare a Full Dividend, a Half Dividend, or may withhold its Dividend. A Full Dividend is calculated by dividing the Corporation's earnings by five for a Five-Share Corporation, and ten for a Ten-Share Corporation. A Half Dividend is half of the Full Dividend, rounded up to the nearest F10. The Bank pays each player the amount of the dividend, multiplied by the percentage shown on the shares owned by the player. Shares in the Initial Offering or the Pool do not pay dividends. Shares in the Corporation's Treasury pay dividends to the Corporation. If the Corporation pays a Half Dividend, the Bank pays half the Corporation's earnings, rounded down to the nearest F10, to the Corporation Treasury in addition to the dividends paid to the Treasury from Treasury shares. If the Corporation withholds its Dividend, the Bank pays the entire Corporation's earnings to the Corporation Treasury.

The President of the Corporation adjusts the Corporation's Stock token, if necessary.

4.7.9 Train Buying

If a Corporation has operated in the current Operating Round, and if it has fewer trains than its current Train Limit, it may buy a train from the Bank or (if a 6H train has been bought) from another Corporation. A Corporation may increase its Train Limit by one using the Chemins de Fer D'Algérie Private Company special power. If the Chemins de Fer D'Algérie Private Company special power is exercised on behalf of the Corporation, the "Train Limit +1" token is placed and the Chemins de Fer D'Algérie Private Company is closed. To buy a train from the Bank, the Corporation must pay the purchase price of the available train it wishes to buy to the Bank from its Treasury. To buy a train from another Corporation, the Corporation must pay the other Corporation a mutually agreed price, which may be as little as F1. If the same player is President of both Corporations, he may set this price at any amount down to as little as F1. However, the Etat and the SNCF, if in play, may only buy and sell trains at face value. A Corporation with Loans outstanding may only buy trains at face value or less and may only sell trains at face value or more. However, once a Corporation has repaid all its Loans, it functions normally in all respects. The following trains are available in the game.

Train Type	2H	4H	6H	10H	E	TGV
Number Available	8	7	6	2 to 5	4	10
Cost Apiece	F100	F200	F300	F600	F800	F1000
Trains Made Obsolete	-	-	2H	4H	6H	-

4.7.10 Loan Repayment

If a Corporation has F500 or more in its Treasury, it may repay Loans. The Corporation pays the F500 for each Loan to the Bank, adjusts its current stock price, and removes the Loan marker from its Treasury. A Corporation with two Loans may choose to repay either one or both: if it repays one only, it flips the Loan marker to its single side.

4.7.11 SNCF Bond Redemption

The SNCF may redeem some, all or none of its outstanding Bonds, up to the limits of its available Treasury cash. If any Bonds are in the Pool, the SNCF may only redeem Bonds from the Pool. If there are no Bonds in the Pool, the SNCF may redeem Bonds from any one player: that player may not object. The SNCF redeems Bonds by paying F100 for each Bond to the owner of the Bond, or, in the case of Bonds in the Pool, to the Bank.

4.7.12 Corporation Stock Selling and Buying

Except in its first Operating Round, a Corporation may sell any amount of its Treasury stock to the Pool, or it may buy any amount of its own stock from the Pool, up to the limits of its available Treasury cash. It may only sell or buy: it may not buy, then sell, or sell, then buy. Stock sales are made at the current market value and lower the stock price as if made in the Stock Round. Stock purchases are made at the current market value and do not affect the stock price. A Corporation may neither buy nor sell its stock during its first Operating Round.

4.8 Mandatory Train Buying

A Corporation that has operated in the current Operating Round must own a train at the end of its turn in the current Operating Round, whether or not it has a legal run. If it has sufficient funds in its Treasury, it may buy any train or trains that are available from the Bank or, starting in Phase 6H, from another Corporation.

4.8.1 Emergency Money Raising

If a Corporation does not have sufficient funds to buy a train from the Bank, or has insufficient cash and earnings to meet Loan or Bond interest payments, it must take out a Bank Loan. A single Loan is taken first, and, if the Corporation still does not have enough funds, a second Loan is taken. A Corporation may never take out more than two Loans. The Corporation receives F500 for each Loan taken, and its stock price is moved one column to the left for each Loan taken. The Corporation may not sell Treasury stock during an Emergency Money Raising.

If, after taking out its maximum number of Loans, the Corporation still does not have enough funds to buy the lowest-valued train currently available from the Bank, the Corporation President must make up the difference from his own cash. If the Corporation President has insufficient cash on hand, he must sell sufficient stock of his own to raise the difference. The President may sell any of his own stock he wishes to raise the required amount, subject to the normal limitations on stock in the Pool, except that he may not sell sufficient stock in the operating Corporation to cause a change in its presidency. He may, however, cause a change in presidency of any other Corporation.

4.8.2 Bankruptcy

If, after selling all the stock he is legally permitted to sell, the President cannot raise sufficient cash to buy a train, or meet interest payments, he is bankrupt. His remaining holdings are placed in the Pool (for purposes of this rule only, the Pool may contain more than fifty percent of a Corporation) and he is eliminated from the game. The Presidency of any of his controlled Corporations is transferred to the next eligible player. Except for the Etat or SNCF Corporations if in play, if no such player exists (i.e., if no player holds two shares of one of the affected Corporations), the Corporation is closed and all its shares are removed from the game without compensation. Its station tokens are removed from the map and any trains it owns are placed in the Pool and become available for purchase.

If a new President is required for the Etat or SNCF Corporations, the next eligible player (i.e., with one or more shares) becomes President.

If the Presidency of the Corporation for which the bankrupt player was buying a train is transferred in this manner, its Treasury will contain the total amount raised by the now bankrupt President during his Emergency Money Raising. The new President must complete the Emergency Money Raising and buy a train for his newly acquired Corporation.

4.8.3 SNCF Bonds and Emergency Money Raising

If the SNCF is forced to buy a train, it must issue its Bonds prior to taking out a Loan. Each SNCF Bond is worth F100, and they are treated as cash for purposes of determining the SNCF Corporation capital. Any Bonds that are used to pay for a train are placed in the Pool, where players may buy them or the SNCF may redeem them.

4.8.4 Train Purchases from Other Corporations

As an alternative to buying a train from the Bank, a Corporation may, starting in Phase 6H, buy a train from another Corporation, at a mutually agreed price as little as F1. If the same player is President of both Corporations, he may set this price at any amount down to as little as F1. A Corporation with one or both Loans outstanding may only buy trains at face value or less and may only sell trains at face value or more. However, once a Corporation has paid back all its Loans, it functions normally in all respects. The Etat and SNCF only trade trains at exactly face value.

A Corporation may take out neither more Loans than necessary, nor, if the SNCF, issue more Bonds than necessary, to buy a train from the Bank. Further, if a Corporation elects to buy a train from another Corporation, it may not take out any loans or, if the SNCF, issue any Bonds: it may only use the money it currently has in its Treasury.

4.9 Loans

If a Corporation must buy a train from the Bank, or must pay Loan or Bond interest, and has insufficient funds to do so (and, if the SNCF, has no Bonds left to issue), it must take out a Loan. Each Loan is worth F500. Loan markers are placed in the Corporation Treasury.

Once a Loan has been taken, interest must be paid each Operating Round. Interest on Loans is paid to the Bank each Operating Round after the Corporation's earnings are calculated, but before they are paid. If a Corporation does not have the full amount of interest in its Treasury, the interest is withheld from the Corporation's earnings instead. Taking out a Loan reduces the Corporation's stock price. Paying back a Loan increases the Corporation's stock price.

A Corporation with Loans outstanding may only buy trains at face value or less and may only sell trains at face value or more. However, once a Corporation has repaid all its Loans, it functions normally in all respects. The number of Loan markers provided does not limit the number of Loans available.

4.10 Tile Placement and Tile Upgrades

Players lay track by placing tiles on the map or upgrading previously placed tiles. At first, only yellow tiles may be placed. Subsequently, yellow tiles may be upgraded to green tiles, which may in turn be upgraded to brown tiles. Certain brown tiles may eventually be upgraded to gray tiles. Except during the first Operating Round after the Stock Round in which it floats, each Corporation may place one yellow tile or upgrade one tile. During the first Operating Round after the Stock Round in which it floats, a Corporation may lay two yellow tiles or upgrade one tile.

New track created by tile placement must constitute an extension of a legal route for the operating Corporation, given a train of arbitrary length. For plain-track upgrades, some of the new track on the tile must constitute an extension of such a route. For Town ("small City") and City upgrades, the new tile must be part of such a route. Once placed, a tile becomes part of the Map and is only removed if it is upgraded to another tile. In addition, the following restrictions apply:

Tiles may not be placed or upgraded in such a fashion as to cause any new track to run to a prohibited hex. A prohibited hex is defined as any impassable (dark green) hex, any ocean (dark blue) hex, or any blank hexside of a gray or red (Off-Map Location) hex.
No Corporation may place a tile in the hex adjacent to any Paris-based Corporation unless the President of the affected Paris-based Corporation approves the exact tile placed. If such a Corporation has not floated, no tile may be placed in the adjacent hex.
Hexes with a Town (a filled black circle) ("small City") may only have yellow tiles with Towns (#3, #4, and #58) placed on them. Hexes with a City (an open circle) may only have yellow tiles with City circles (#5, #6, and #57) placed on them. Other hexes may only have plain track yellow tiles (#7, #8, and #9) placed on them.
Upgraded tiles must maintain all connections existing prior to the upgrade. All tokens present on a tile that has been upgraded are placed on the new tile in the same configuration that they were on the old tile. The old tile is removed from the map and may subsequently be used again.
Tile placement on river or mountain hexes requires the Corporation to expend F40 or F60, respectively, from its Treasury. If the Ponts et Chaussées Private Company special power is exercised in laying a yellow tile on a River hex, the tile placement is free and the Ponts et Chaussées Private Company is closed. A Corporation may not lay tiles on river or mountain hexes if it cannot pay for them. Upgrading a tile placed on a river or mountain hex is free of charge.
Green "X" tiles (#14), "K" tiles (#15), and "Peace Sign" tiles (#619) that are adjacent to single prohibited hexes (Liege and Antwerp) may be upgraded to brown "Five-Legged Spider" tiles (#611). All green City tiles (#14, #15 and #169) that are not adjacent to any prohibited hexes may only be upgraded to brown "Spider" tiles (#63). If St-Etienne has been upgraded to a green "K" tile (#15), it may not be further upgraded.
Orléans and Lille start out as yellow City tiles, and Brussels and Lyon start out as green City tiles. These are treated as normal City tiles of the appropriate type in all respects, and may be upgraded normally.
The Brussels, Lille and Lyon hexes may be upgraded from brown "Spider" (#63) tiles to gray "Three-City Spider" (#520) tiles. No other brown City tiles may be upgraded using the gray "Three-City Spider" (#520) tiles.
Paris starts as a yellow tile, and may be upgraded to a green, brown, and eventually gray City tile. No other tiles may be used to upgrade Paris, and Paris tiles may not be used to upgrade any other City tiles.

4.11 Station Token Placement

A Corporation may only place a station token if it has one available. All Corporations start with their base token on the map. The City hex in which the token is placed must be accessible to the placing Corporation by a legal route using a train of arbitrary length. At least one of the City circles on the City hex must be open. To place a station token, the Corporation must trace a legal route using the existing rail network from one of its current station tokens to the target City hex. The Corporation takes the total number of hexes traced, excluding the starting hex but including the target hex, multiplies by F20, and pays this amount to the Bank from its Treasury. If it has insufficient funds in its Treasury, it may not place the station token.

4.12 Electrification

"Electrification" describes the process by which the French and Belgian railroad networks were converted from onboard steam (and limited diesel) power to external (catenary-supplied) electric power.

E trains become available after the last 10H train is bought. Unlike the steam trains, when running routes, E trains count Cities rather than hexes. E trains do not collect revenue for 10-value Towns, even voluntarily: all such towns on an E train's route are ignored and treated as worth zero revenue. Despite this, an E train may not visit a town more than once, even if it uses no other previously used track on the same tile. Off-Map Locations may be part of an E train's route. They are treated exactly like Cities for this purpose.

E trains can connect a variable number of Cities or Off-Map Locations (not Towns) depending on the total number of E trains owned by Corporations, as shown in the table below:

E Trains In Play	1	2	3	4	All + TGV
Maximum Cities Connected (1)	2D	3D	3D	4D	5

(1) D = Doubled Revenue. The revenue from E trains is double the normal revenue of all connected Cities and Off-Map Locations until the first TGV train is bought. Any E train that runs after the first TGV is bought runs for normal revenue.

4.13 The TGV

The TGV was France's pioneering attempt to create a high-speed railroad network. TGV implementation is somewhat similar to electrification and for analogous reasons: TGV trains require a parallel infrastructure investment over and above the existing infrastructure. Unlike electrification, however, which consists of building catenary structures over existing track, TGV implementation requires new roadbeds and tracks.

TGV trains may be bought as soon as the last E train is bought. TGV trains are essentially the same as E trains, except as follows:

When running a TGV route, the TGV may reuse any track used by the Corporation's other trains.
When the first TGV train is bought, all subsequent E train routes run for normal rather than doubled revenue.
TGV trains may connect up to three Cities or Off-Map Locations and always run for doubled revenue regardless of the number in play.
At no time may a Corporation own more than one TGV.

5 Ending The Game

The game ends at the end of the set of Operating Rounds in which the Bank runs out of money. The full set of Operating Rounds is always completed and all revenues earned are paid out during this final set of Operating Rounds. The players should either record any such revenues or use additional money from another game to pay them out.

If the Bank runs out of money during the Stock Round (i.e., through stock sales), the players still complete a full set of Operating Rounds. If monies are subsequently paid into the Bank, whether through stock purchases or company expenditures, the game nevertheless ends at the conclusion of the current set of Operating Rounds.

At the conclusion of the final Operating Round, players calculate their net worth as follows:

Reduce the final market value of any Corporation with Loans by F50 per Loan (this can result in a negative net value for such a Corporation).
Reduce the final market value of the SNCF (if in play) by F10 per outstanding Bond (this can result in a negative net value for the SNCF).
Calculate the total asset value of all shares of stock held by multiplying the adjusted final market value of each stock by the number of shares held and adding the results together.
Add F100 for each SNCF Bond held.
Add total cash on hand (including any revenues recorded after the Bank has run out of money).

The net total is the player's net worth. The player with the highest net worth wins the game.

6 Historical Background

6.1 France's Railroads

Early railroad development in France, as in most other countries, took place under the auspices of private capital. As in the United States, British capital provided much of the impetus for railroad investment. In 1826, the "Compagnie St-Etienne-Lyon" was chartered to connect the carboniferous and industrial basin of St-Etienne with the riparian commercial center of Lyon. In 1837, the "Compagnie Paris-St-Germain" was formed to connect Paris with the suburb of Le Pecq. In 1838, the "Compagnie D'Orléans" was founded to connect Orléans to Tours. In 1840, two competing lines were established on opposite sides of the Seine River to connect Paris with Versailles. In 1841, the "Ligne Strasbourg-Bâle" connected Strasbourg, France, and Basel, Switzerland, forming the first international connection by a French railroad. In 1842, a company was created to connect Bayonne with the seaside town of Biarritz, in the southwest of France.

Additional companies sprang up, which, like many of the early railroad companies in Great Britain and the United States, were managed with more hope than care. Unlike in the Anglo-Saxon countries, however, the French government had a long-standing tradition of Government involvement in industrial planning ("dirigisme") dating back to Louis XIV's minister Colbert. As a consequence, the French government saw both the risks and opportunities of bringing the railroads under close supervision much sooner than was the case in other countries.

In 1845, the French government issued competitive bids for two major railroad companies to be chartered to link Paris with Lille ("Compagnie du Nord") and Strasbourg ("Compagnie de L'Est"). The basis of the charter would be that the successful bidders would build the routes they had proposed, and would be reimbursed by the Government for their costs, mainly by being authorized to issue bonds. This was in many ways similar to the process by which the Trans-Continental Railroad was built in the United States by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, except that the French government managed the construction process much more closely than was the case with the Trans-Continental Railroad.

As a result of the success of these charters, and noting the increasing chaos and financial insolvency of privately developed railroads, the French government in 1849 passed a series of laws that reorganized approximately 28 privately financed railroad companies into state-chartered companies. These companies included the existing Nord and Est, as well as several others. The "Chemin de Fer de Paris" was consolidated from several smaller lines connecting Paris, Rouen and Le Havre. The "Chemin de Fer du Midi" (1852) was chartered in Bordeaux and given the task of beginning an East-West connector railroad in the south of France by linking Bordeaux and Montpellier while the "Chemin de Fer de L'Ouest" (1855) was chartered to connect Paris to Rennes and Nantes. In addition, the "Grand Central" (1853) was chartered to continue the East-West Connection by linking Lyon and Bordeaux; and the "Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée" (1857) was chartered to connect Paris to Lyon and Marseille. The former Compagnie D'Orléans was renamed "Compagnie Paris-Orléans," and given the charter to connect Paris and Poitiers. The Strasbourg-Bâle was chartered to connect Strasbourg and Lyon. After the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), the Germans annexed Alsace and Lorraine and the railroads there were incorporated into an Imperial chartered company, the "Elsaß-Lothringen." After World War One when Alsace-Lorraine returned to French control, this railroad was reorganized into the "Chemins de Fer d'Alsace".

These companies were reasonably successful, although several of them fell on hard times due to the relative paucity of revenue traffic available on their routes, which were, after all, politically rather than economically selected. Receivership victimized both the Grand Central (1857), whose assets were redistributed to the P-L-M and the Midi, and the Ouest (1909), which was taken over by the French State. In 1875 the French government chartered a state-owned and operated company, the "Chemins de Fer de l'Etat" (French State Railroads), sometimes known as the "Réseau d'Etat" (State Network), which was the predecessor of the current French National Railroad Corporation, the SNCF. In 1909, the Etat took over the Ouest when it went into receivership. This state of affairs continued essentially unchanged until 1937, when, due to the Depression, the remaining lines went into receivership and were merged into the "Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français" or SNCF.

No significant changes to the French railroad system occurred for the next decade, due to the Depression, the War, the Occupation, and the post-war reconstruction. Subsequently, the French government made a controversial decision to convert their network directly from steam to electric, skipping the diesel phase almost entirely. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the French rail network was almost entirely electrified, at the price of abandoning many regional and local branches.

The French also pioneered the introduction of high-speed rail service when, in 1978, they introduced the "Train à Grande Vitesse" (TGV) on the Paris-Lyon run. The speed that was established during one of the early runs on this route is still the world railroad speed record, nearly twenty years later. The significant weakness of the TGV from an investment standpoint, however, was that it required entirely separate track from the existing lines: in effect, it supplemented the existing network rather than improving it. However, the TGV network currently covers nearly all of the spokes of the major railroad axes in France and to neighboring countries, including, since 1994, EuroStar service between Paris (as well as Brussels) and London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel or "Chunnel".

6.2 Belgium's Railroads

The story of Belgium's railroads is essentially similar to that of the French, except that the state's interest and involvement were even greater. Belgium's two first monarchs, Léopold I (r. 1831-1865) and Léopold II (r. 1865-1909), the latter best known for carving out a Belgian Empire in the Congo, were both keenly interested in railroads. Léopold I personally invited George Stephenson, the British pioneer of railroads, to help form the Belgian system, and Stephenson "Rocket" class engines were used on the early Belgian railroads. Other famous Belgian contributors to railroad technology included Georges Nagelmackers, who, after visiting the United States and being impressed by the Pullman cars, returned to Belgium to found the "Société Internationale des Wagosn-Lits" which still operates sleeping cars today all over Europe long after the demise of the Pullman Company. Nagelmackers also pioneered the great "Orient-Express" luxury train, which ran between Paris and Constantinople beginning in 1883.

Belgium claims the distinction of the first continental railroad service, with the Brussels-Malines line opening in March 1835, some seven months prior to the first German railroad, the Nürnberg-Furth. Additional lines were built under close state supervision, as in France, but unlike in France, the Belgian government made it a policy to acquire and consolidate these privately financed corporations preemptively. In 1874, the Belgian government established the "Chemins de Fer de L'Etat Belge" (Belgian State Railroads). By 1897, the vast majority of the Belgian railroad system was owned and operated by the Etat Belge corporation, which would be reorganized and renamed to its present name, the "Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges" (SNCB) in 1926.

Like the French, the Belgians would not be able to make significant investments in their rail net during the Depression, the War and the Occupation. The Belgian government began to electrify significant portions of their system in the post-war period (unlike the French, the Belgians used diesel power on many lines until fairly recently). A TGV Thalys line connects Paris and Brussels, and, as of 1994, the EuroStar TGV service connects Brussels (as well as Paris) to London via Lille and the "Chunnel". TGV Thalys lines also run east to Cologne via Liège, and to Amsterdam via Antwerp.

8 Tile Manifest/Upgrade Chart

The chart in the manual shows each tile as a diagram, with its revenue value printed in a small circle on the tile face. The revenue value is given here in brackets where the manual prints one.

Tile	#	Legal Upgrades
green open-circle (City) hex [20]	map	yellow 5, yellow 6, yellow 57
green filled-dot (Town) hex [10]	map	yellow 3, yellow 4, yellow 58
plain green hex	map	yellow 7, yellow 8, yellow 9
red (Off-Map Location) hex [50]	map	green 514
yellow 3 [10]	2	87, 88, 141, 142, 143, 204
yellow 4 [10]	6	87, 88, 141, 142, 204
yellow 5 [20] †a	2	14, 15, 619
yellow 6 [20]	2	14, 15, 619
yellow 7	4	26, 27, 28, 29
yellow 8	18	16, 19, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29
yellow 9	23	19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27
yellow 57 [20] †b	4	14, 15, 619
yellow 58 [10]	6	87, 88, 141, 142, 143, 203, 204
green 14 [30] †c	3	63, 611 †1
green 15 [30]	3	63, 611 †1
green 16	1	43, 70
green 19	1	45, 46
green 20	1	44, 47
green 23	5	41, 43, 45, 47
green 24	5	42, 43, 46, 47
green 25	3	40, 45, 46
green 26	1	42, 44, 45
green 27	1	41, 44, 46
green 28	1	39, 43, 46, 70
green 29	1	39, 43, 45, 70
green 87 [10]	2	No further upgrades
green 88 [10]	2	No further upgrades
green 141 [10]	1	No further upgrades

†a Also Lille †b Also Orléans †c Also Lyon †d Also Brussels †1 Only in Liege, Antwerp †2 Only in Brussels, Lille, Lyon

1826: Railroading in France and Belgium from 1826