Westward Rails Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set-Up
• Initial Auction
• On Your Go
• Build Action
  • Starting Cities
  • Completing a Link
  • Upgraded Metro Bonus
  • Leasing
  • West Coast Bonuses
• Auction Action
• Upgrade Action
• Dividends
  • Adjusting Demands
• Demands
• Ending the Game

Components

The game is played with one mapsheet, 25 Share cards, 20 Demand cards, and 116 wooden pieces.

The mapsheet depicts important Cities, which are connected by Links.

• Each Link comprises between one and four Track Segments.
• For certain pairs of Cities, there is a Demand connected by several consecutive Links; this is indicated by the dotted lines running "underneath" the map, and the color-coded symbols shared by each City in the pair. These pairings correspond to the Demand cards, which determine if/when these Demands can be fulfilled.
• Certain Cities that are in proximity to each other form a Metro Area, which may increase its value. The six large Metro Upgrade Cubes are used for this purpose.
• The mapsheet is also home to the Stock Value Track, Demand spaces, Company spaces, and Action spaces – about which, more later.

Each Company has five shares and 21 track cubes. Each player has a wooden disc with a player number printed on it.

To play the game, you will need to supply some kind of currency, as no play money is provided.

Set-Up

Place the mapsheet in the center of the table.

1. Give each player money; the exact amount each player gets depends on the number of players, as printed on the mapsheet.
2. Place each Railroad's five shares in their Company spaces.
3. Place one track cube for each Railroad on the "1" space of the Stock Value Track. Place the remaining twenty cubes near that Railroad's shares.
4. Sort the Demand Cards by letter (A, B, etc.) into separate piles, shuffling each pile separately. Stack the shuffled cards face-up, with the E cards on the bottom, the D cards next, and so-on, with the A cards on the top. Place this face-up stack on the Demand Deck space (above the four-space Demand Track).
5. Place the Upgrade cubes in the Metro Upgrade Space.
6. Randomize player discs, using only 1-3 for three players, 1-4 for four, and all five for five. The players seat themselves clockwise in ascending numerical order. The player who drew the "1" disc places it in either of the Build Action Spaces; the other players do the same. The player who drew the "1" disc begins the Initial Auction.

Initial Auction

One share of each Railroad is auctioned off, beginning with the Texas & Pacific and proceeding from left to right. Each auction is conducted the same way:

• In clockwise order beginning with the player who opens the auction, each player may bid or pass.
• The minimum bid is at least $5, and at least $1 more than the previous bid.
• Once a player passes, they may not re-enter the bid for that specific share.
• Once all players but one passes, the highest bid wins the share.
• The money is paid to the bank.
• If all players pass without making a bid, the player who "began" that auction gets it for free.
• The player with the "1" disc begins the bidding on the Texas & Pacific. For the remainder of the Initial Auction, the player who won the preceding share opens the bidding on the next.

Once the first share of the Northern Pacific has been won, the Initial Auction ends. The player who won the Northern Pacific share has the first turn.

On Your Go

On your go, you must move your player disc from its current Action Space to another Action Space – it cannot remain in the same space - performing the associated action. Then, play passes clockwise.

• Any number of player discs can occupy the same space.
• A player must be able to perform an action in order to move their disc to that space. In the rare case that a player cannot perform any of the available actions, they must pass – they do nothing on their turn, and do not move their disc. Note that you may only pass if forced to do so, and cannot do so voluntarily.

The three actions are Build, Auction, and Upgrade. After completing your Action, check for a Dividend, then check for any Fulfilled Demands.

Build Action

When you take a Build Action, you place one or two Track Cubes, placing them in empty Track Segments.

• You may only place Track Cubes if you own a Share in that Railroad.
• If placing 2 Track Cubes, the cubes must come from the same Railroad.
• Track built must be adjacent to existing track of that Railroad, unless Leasing.
• Each Track Segment space may only contain a single Track Cube.
• A Link (set of one to four Track Segments) can only contain Track Cubes from a single Railroad. However, note that you can build Track on two separate Links in the same action.

Starting Cities

The first Track Cube for each Railroad must be placed adjacent to their starting city:

• Texas & Pacific: Dallas
• Santa Fe Rails: Wichita
• Midland Pacific: Lincoln
• Rock Island: Sioux Falls
• Northern Pacific: Fargo

Completing a Link

When a Railroad builds all Track Segments for a Link, its Value is increased by the number of Track Segments in that Link. For example, a two-cube Link when completed increases the Value by two spaces. It is possible for a Railroad to complete two separate Links on the same turn.

Upgraded Metro Bonus

If a Railroad completes a Link to an Upgraded Metro Area (see next page), its Value increases by three spaces in addition to the normal increase for completing a Link.

Leasing

If you wish to Build into a Track Segment for a Link that is not adjacent to the Railroad for which you want to Build, you must Lease from another Company.

• First, determine the most direct route (fewest number of completed rival Links) between the acting Railroad and the Link in which you wish to begin Building.
• For each Track Segment in these completed Links, spend $2 of your own cash. If the Links of multiple rival Railroads are being used, be sure to separate the money by Railroad.
• After paying for all involved Track Segments, the money paid for each Railroad is divided by the number of shares in player hands, and paid to those players (rounding fractions up).

For example: Myrtle wants to extend Midland Pacific's route from Colorado Springs to Provo, but has been cut off by Santa Fe. The Midland Pacific will Lease one Link from Santa Fe, which is comprised of two Track Segments. Myrtle pays $4. There are three shares of Santa Fe out, so the $4 is divided by three. This rounds up to $2 per share, with the "magic money" coming from the bank. If Myrtle had all three shares, she'll make $2 in profit. Pretty sneaky, Myrtle!

West Coast Bonuses

If you complete a Link to a West Coast City (Eugene, Redding, Sacramento, or San Jose), the Railroad's Value is increased by one in addition to the normal increase for completing a Link.

Auction Action

When you take an Auction action, you select any available (unsold) share for Auction and must bid at least $5 (if unable to bid $5, you cannot take the action).

As in the Initial Auction:

• Bidding passes clockwise, with each player either placing a bid or passing.
• The minimum bid is at least $1 more than the previous bid (if any).
• If a player passes, they may not re-enter the bidding for that share.
• Once all players but one pass, the highest bid wins the share.
• The money is paid to the bank, and the Railroad's value is increased by 1 on the Value Track.

Upgrade Action

When you take an Upgrade Action, pay $5 of your own cash to the bank, then place one of the Upgrade cubes in an empty Metro space. This upgrades it to a Metro Area, which has certain benefits:

• The first Railroad to complete a Link to an Upgraded Metro Area receives $10, divided among its shares, rounded up.
• If a Railroad is already connected to a Metro Area before its gets Upgraded, it does not receive this $10 bonus when it gets Upgraded – no one does!
• Each time a Railroad completes a Link that connects it to an Upgraded Metro Area to which it was not connected previously, its Value is increased by an additional three spaces.
• If any Railroads are already connected to a Metro Area before it gets Upgraded, they do increase their Value by an additional three spaces when the Metro Area is Upgraded.

On a previous turn, Myrtle began, but was careful not to complete, the Link from Twin Falls to Boise. Now, she spends $5 to place the Metro cube. On a future turn, if the Santa Fe completes the first Link to Boise, it will pay out a $10 bonus!

Dividends

The white spaces on the Value Track (6, 12, etc.) trigger a Dividend for a Railroad when it moves into or through those spaces. The Dividend is equal to the number on the white space it lands on or passes through, and is divided by the number of Shares, rounded up, paying that amount to each Shareholder from the bank.

Note that each of the actions – Building, Auctioning a Share, or Upgrading a Metro Area – can potentially trigger a Dividend – and may even trigger multiple Dividends!

Adjusting Demands

After each Dividend is paid, each card in a Demand space (not in the stack) is moved down one space. Then, the top card from the Demand deck is placed in the top space. If a Demand Card is in the fourth (bottom) space when a Dividend is paid, discard it from the game and move all cards down like normal.

If multiple Dividends occur in the same turn, the Demand cards still move down once for each Dividend, fulfilling them as usual (see next section).

Demands

Cities want goods, and Demands represent those goods. Only Demand cards in one of the four Demand spaces (not the card on top of the deck) can be fulfilled.

After checking for and resolving any Dividends (including adjustments to the available Demand spaces), check for any Demands whose conditions have been met, resolving them simultaneously.

• When a path of contiguous Links has been completed between the two Cities, the Demand has been met.
• Determine the path with the fewest number of Links. Increase each Railroad's Value by the number of Links (not Track Segments) it has along that route.
• If there are multiple shortest paths (again, counting Links, not Track Segments), the acting player chooses which route to use.
• If a Demand card becomes available and that Demand has already been met previously, the relevant Railroad Values are increased immediately as above.
• Note that this Value increase may prompt one or more new Dividends, which will bring new Demands into play, and in turn may prompt new adjustments, etc. Fun times!
• Once fulfilled, the Demand card is then removed from play.

Note that fulfilling a Demand does not cause a new Demand to become available: new Demands only become available when a Dividend is paid.

Keep in mind: Dividends are paid and Demands adjusted before fulfilling any Demands. So, if the Demand you want to fulfill is on the fourth Demand space, and completing the last Link it needs would trigger a Dividend, the Demand will not be fulfilled.

Ending the Game

The game ends immediately when one or both of the following occurs:

• All Demands have been fulfilled or discarded
• Four of the Railroads are completely out of Track Cubes

The player with the most money wins. Shares contribute no value to your score, but if there is a tie, the tied player who owns the most shares in the most valuable Railroad wins. If a tie persists, victory is shared.