Railways of the World FAQ
136 questions players ask · Updated Nov 9, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup & Components
- Can you build from the unusable track exits on the 10th Anniversary Eastern U.S. map, such as southeast Jacksonville or the Duluth, Toronto and Buffalo stubs?
- Can you build track on the partial half-hexes at the edge of a map?
- Are the control locomotive (link marker) pieces limited to what is in the box?
- Are the brown and green track tile sides different in Railways of the World?
- How many New City tiles are in the base game?
- How many Railroad Operations cards are face up at the start of the game?
- How many cubes go in each city in a 2- or 3-player game, and what else changes?
- What if a starting cube is the same color as the city it is in?
- How many Baron cards does each player get, and can you play without them?
- Who takes the first player marker at the start of the game?
- What if both Railroad Executive cards are dealt into the opening display?
- Do you need Major Line cards in the Eastern U.S. game, and can you drop them?
- Where does the income marker start, and how much money do players start with?
- Are there red New City tiles?
- Do the mines, switch track and fuel depot rules work on any map, and are the expansions compatible with Railroad Tycoon?
- What do you need to play the Transcontinental game?
- What color is Pittsburgh?
Bonds, Money & Income
- Can you take a bond larger than you need right now, or take bonds just to hold extra cash?
- Do you need bonds to bid in the First Player Auction, and when are they issued?
- Are the income track values in thousands of dollars, and what is the maximum income?
- Is a player's cash public or hidden information?
- How much does a bond cost, and can it be paid off?
- What happens if you can't afford the bond dividends or your income is zero or negative?
- Can you issue bonds outside your own turn, such as to pay a bid or cover dividends?
- Do deliveries pay cash immediately or at the end of the turn?
- What income do you get after your score passes the end of the Score and Income Track?
Turn Structure & Auction
- Can you pass instead of taking an action in an action round?
- Can you choose the same action more than once in a turn?
- How does the First Player Auction work, and who pays?
- How does the auction work on the first turn when nobody has any money?
- When are income and dividends paid, after each round or after each turn?
- How many Railroad Operations cards are added to the display, and are discards reshuffled?
Building Track
- Do all of your links have to form one connected network, or connect to your existing track?
- How many track tiles can you build per action, and must you lay exactly four?
- Can you build a link from both ends and join the halves in the middle?
- Can you redirect the last tile of your incomplete link, and what does it cost?
- Can you build track to block an opponent's link, or lay track past a city to block its entrance?
- How do crossover tiles work, and what do they cost?
- Can track branch in a Y or share the same city entrance?
- Can you build a second link between two cities you already connect, or can another player build a parallel route?
- What does a track tile cost on each terrain, and does a hex with any water count as water?
- How is the ridge crossing cost charged?
- Do rivers running through a city hex affect links entering that city?
- What counts as a link, and do I place a locomotive on every tile?
- Can two players' tracks join into one shared line?
- How does the Government Land Grant card work with mixed terrain?
- How does Perfect Engineering work?
- What does the Civil Engineer card do?
- Do track tiles have to be laid in a particular orientation, and are sharp turns allowed?
Major Lines & Western Links
- Must every link of a Major Line (or a connection card) be yours, and can the route take any path?
- If Major Line cards are shuffled in and the route is already built when the card appears, who scores it?
- Are Major Line points scored immediately or at the end of the game?
- Is a Western Link a link you own, and what do you need before building one?
- For the New York to Kansas City Major Line, must the Western Link be in Kansas City?
- Where do the four red cubes from a Western Link go, and what happens to Chicago?
Engines, Urbanize & Gray Cities
- Can you upgrade your engine more than one level in a single action?
- What can you urbanize, and can you choose the new city's color?
- Does the New Industry card add two cubes like an Urbanize action?
- When playing City Growth, do you choose the city before drawing the cubes?
- What can you do with a gray city before it is urbanized?
- Can you deliver to an empty colored city?
Railroad Operations Cards
- How many actions does the Railroad Executive card give, and can they take more cards?
- Does using a Railroad Operations card cost an action, and is there a hand limit?
- Can you take more than one Operations card in a turn?
- Does a Service Bounty count a delivery made before its card appeared, and who gets it if the delivery uses another player's track?
- Does the first 3-link delivery card need all three links to be yours?
- How many goods colors must you deliver for the Passenger Lines (four-colors) card?
Delivering Goods
- Are delivery points scored per city-to-city link or per hex of track?
- Must you own the whole route of a delivery, or only the first link?
- What are the restrictions on a delivery route (revisiting cities, stopping, partial moves)?
- Does engine level limit links or track hexes, and does passing through a city add cost?
- Can one Deliver Goods action move more than one cube, and can it end in the starting city?
End of Game & Scoring
- After the last Empty City Marker is placed, how many more turns are played?
- Can urbanizing or City Growth stop or delay the end game once it has been triggered?
- Do gray cities get Empty City Markers and count toward ending the game?
- Can you still deliver a cube to a city that has an Empty City Marker?
- When are Railroad Baron (Tycoon) cards scored, for example George Pullman's level 6 engine card?
- If players tie for the most or fewest of something on a Baron card, does anyone score?
- Does another player's tie spoil a Baron goal such as Vanderbilt's New York to Chicago link?
- How many points does the Moses Taylor Baron card give for the most money, 5 or 7?
- Is income and dividends still paid in the final turn after the end is triggered?
- How is the final score calculated and how are ties broken?
- How are loops counted for the longest-route Baron cards (Theodore Judah, longest railroad)?
- How many points can the Henry Farnam card earn?
- What is the difference between the most-links and most-connected-cities Baron cards, and do the cities have to be connected to each other?
- Do Baron cards that pay for linking two cities need a route made only of your own links?
Rail Barons of the WorldExpansion
- Can the Railbot or a player deliver goods to a gray city?
- Which cube does the Railbot remove or deliver, and what if no matching color is available?
- How does the Railbot build links, and is it limited to four tiles?
- How do bot-built links score in Rail Barons solo play?
- How does the Railbot claim Major Lines, and is there a time limit for you?
- Do you reduce cubes in Rail Barons solo play, and can you lower the difficulty?
- How does the Railbot operations row cycle, and what happens to a covered card?
- How do Exhaust Purple, Taxation and the dual Baron bot cards resolve?
- What setup changes apply for Sweden, Great Britain, Portugal and Australia solo maps?
- How do Baron J.S. Albertson, Ichizo Kobayashi and the west-of-the-mountains routes score?
- What does 'supply' mean on Rail Barons event cards that add or remove empty city markers?
Railways of AustraliaExpansion
Railways of England and WalesExpansion
- In Railways of England and Wales, which shares must a merging company buy?
- In a merger, do the target company's cash and bonds go to the merging company?
- How many mergers can a company attempt per turn?
- Can a company that did nothing pay a dividend, and when can shares be issued?
- Is personal money public or hidden in Railways of England and Wales?
- How does share auctioning and selling work in Railways of England and Wales?
- Does the largest-engine Baron score if another player has an equal engine?
Railways of EuropeExpansion
Railways of MexicoExpansion
Railways of North AmericaExpansion
- How do Tunnel Engineer, Government Land Grant and the Ferry card combine with the Snow Line surcharge?
- How do cards, Barons, cubes and bounties work in the Transcontinental game?
- What happens to income in the Transcontinental game after 100 points?
- How do mines work in Railways of North America?
- How do Ferry Line cards and ferry hexes work in Railways of North America?
- How do switch tracks and fuel depots work in Railways of North America?
- Do you need the base game for Railways of North America, and can it join other maps?
- How do Passenger Lines and George Stephen differ in Railways of North America?