RAILROAD DISPATCH USA




INTRODUCTION
Game for 2-4+ players. 
Theme: Railroad Building on the Continental USA. 

VICTORY
Have the most Income and Victory Counters at the end of the game. 
The game ends at the end of the turn when all the rails have been built on, or the 
last level on the Tech Track has been bought. 

THE BOARD
The board is a map of the Continental US showing cities (green dots) and the
Rails (red lines) that connect them. 
Rails are also called Lines, Rail Lines, Links, and Connections. 



THE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CHART
This chart depicts a sequence of improvements in railroad technology and policy. 
Advances are gained in strict order, and an advance only benefits the 
player who paid for it. 

RAIL MARKERS
Each player has a set of rail markers of a unique color. 
These are placed on rail Lines to show ownership. 
They are also used on the R&D Chart. 
Sets have no size limit. 

INCOME COUNTERS
Players share a common set of Income Counters. 
Use denominations of $1, $5, and $10. 

WEALTH TOKENS
Players share a common set of Wealth Tokens (WT).  
Use denominations of $1, $5, and $10. 

VICTORY COUNTERS
Players share a common set of Victory Counters.  
These count towards winning. 

LOAN RECEIPTS
Bank Loans are for 10 Wealth tokens each. 
You may have a maximum of 2 Loans out at a time. 
Interest must be paid on Loans. 

STOCK SHARES
Each player can issue up to 10 Stock Shares. 
Stocks are sold to the general public. 
Other players may then buy your Stocks from the General Public. 
Dividends must be paid out on Stocks. 
If another player ever controls more than 50% of your stocks, he gains 
control of your railroad, and you are out of the game, unless you 
can immediately buy 1 or more of them back from him at their 
regular value (Each  share = your current Income Total)

THE DECK
Players share a common deck. 
There is one copy of each card described in the card list. 
There are 5 types of cards: 
City Cards
Commodity Cards
Railroad Cards
Location Cards
Special Cards

SETUP
Each player chooses a set of Rail Markers.
Each player starts with 5 Income Counters.  
Shuffle the Deck. 
Players flip a coin to see who goes first. Play proceeds clockwise. 
Each player is dealt a hand of 7 cards. 

TURN SEQUENCE
Players take turns. 
Each turn has 8 Phases:
1. Opportunity Phase
2. Income Phase 
3. Finances Phase
4. Maintenance Phase
5. R & D Phase
6. Build Phase
7. Contract Phase
8. End Phase

OPPORTUNITY PHASE
Draw 2 cards and put them in your hand. 
If the deck ever runs out, shuffle the discard and draw from it. 
You may purchase additional draws for 5 WT each. 

INCOME PHASE
Gain 1 Wealth Token (WT) for every Income Counter you own. 

FINANCES PHASE
Loans may be paid off for 10 WT each. 
You may sell up to 3 Income Counters (discard them) to get 5 Wealth for each. 
You may sell Stocks Shares to the General Public: You may Issue 1 Stock Share 
of your company to gain Wealth equal to your current Income Total. 
You may sell a Stock Share you own from another company. It is sold to 
the General Public. Gain WT equal to the current income of that company. 
You may by Stock Shares from the General Public. These cost  WT equal to 
the current income of that company. 

MAINTENANCE PHASE
You must pay 1 WT for every Rail Line you control
Interest on Loans must be paid: 1 WT per Loan Receipt. 
Dividends on Shares must be paid: 1 WT per Share to the owner of the Stock. 

R & D PHASE
You may pay WT to advance the Research Track to the next Level (Advance). 
The cost (in WT) to get to the next Level (Working your way down) is listed on the Track.   
You alone gain the benefit/Protection prescribed by that level. 
Place a Rail Marker on that Level to show that you are the one who made it. 
You may buy up to 1 extra level at the same time, but it costs triple. 

BUILD PHASE
You may place 1 of your Rail Markers onto a Rail Line. 
The new Rail Line must be connected to your Rail Network. 
If it is your first Build of the game, place the Marker on any 
line extending from any East Coast City. 
The first Line you build each turn costs 5 Wealth. 
The second Line you build each turn costs 10 Wealth. 
The third Line you build each turn costs 20 Wealth. 

CONTRACT PHASE
You may play a Contract. 
A Contract consists of 2 cards from your hand. 
One card is the Origin Location. The other is the Destination Location. 
City and Location cards can be used as either Origins or Destinations. 
Commodity cards are used as Origins only. 
Railroad cards are used as Destinations only. 
Trace a route on the map from the origin to the destination. 
This must be the shortest route possible. 
If 2 or more shortest routes are available, pick which one you want to use. 
Each Rail Line on the Route earns its owner 1 IC and 1 VC. 
The route may use Lines owned by different players. 
Discard the Origin and Destination cards used. 
Note that in order for a route to be valid, all lines on it must be built. 
When playing a Commodity card, the Destination card cannot be one of 
the Cities listed on the Commodity card. 

END PHASE
Obsolescence Rule: On a roll of 5+ on 1D6 Lose 1 Income Counter in End Phase. 
Max hand size is 7 cards. 
If you did not complete a Contract this turn, you may discard your 
hand and draw 5 new cards. 
You may spend a minute to Trade cards with other players. 
You may take out 1 Loan in this Phase if you wish. 

BLOCKED OFF 
If you get blocked off (you have no where else you can build rail to), you may build 
on any unclaimed line adjacent to an opponents network or you may discard a city 
card from your hand and build on a line connecting to it.  

RESEARCH TRACK
Advance:			Cost	Notes:
|
Switch Frog			4	Gain 2 Victory Counters (VC) 
|
New York Stock Exchange        	5	Gain 1 Income Marker (IM)
|
Stourbridge Lion       		3	Gain 1 VC
|
First Railroad Charter		5	Build 1 Rail Line (RL)
|
Tom Thumb			5	Gain 3 VC
|
Flat Bottomed T-Rail		4	Gain 2 VC
|
John Bull 0-4-0			3	Gain 1 VC
|
Old Ironsides 2-2-0		4	Gain 2 VC
|
Iron Bar Frames			5	Build 1 RL
|
Semaphores			4	Gain 2 VC
|
Telegraph			5	Draw 3 Cards
|
Bunk Cars			5	Gain 1 IM
|
Panic of 1837			5	All other players lose 1 IM
|
American 4-4-0			5	Gain 3 VC
|
Head Lights			3	Gain 1 VC
|
Standard Gauge			6	Build 1 RL
|
Mogul 4-6-0			6	Gain 3 VC
|
Whistle Stop Tours		6	Draw 3 Cards	
|
Land Grant Act			6	Build 1 RL
|
Gold Rush			6	Draw 3 Cards
|
Pacific Railroad Surveys       	6	Build 1 RL
|
Steam Injector			4	Gain 2 VC
|
Industrialization		6	Draw 3 Cards
|
Coal Burning			6	Gain 1 IM
|
Railroad Bridges       		6	Build 1 RL
|
Civil War			6	All other players discard their hands
|
Pullman Sleeping Car		6	Gain 1 IM
|
Consolidation 2-8-0		6	Gain 3 VC
|
Tank Cars			7	Gain 1 IM
|
Giant Stockyards       		7	Draw 3 Cards
|
Block Signaling			5	Gain 2 VC
|
Steel Rails			7	Build 1 RL
|
Swiveling Pony Truck		7	Gain 3 VC
|
Refrigerator Cars		7	Gain 1 IM
|
Cog Railroads			7	Build 1 RL
|
Automatic Air Brakes		7	Gain 3 VC
|
Snow Sheds			7	Build 1 RL
|
Railroad Magnates		10	Pick a Magnate. All Players must pick this Advance
|
Black Friday			6	All other players lose 1 IM
|
Gilded Age			8	Gain 1 IM
|
Panic of 1873			7	All other players lose 1 IM
|
Knuckle Coupler			8	Gain 3 VC
|
Rail Tunnels			8	Build 1 RL
|
Camelback			6	Gain 2 VC
|
Granger Laws			8	All other players lose 1 IM
|
Closing of the Frontier		9	All other players lose 1 IM


RAILROAD MAGNATES
Name:			Notes:
Jay Gould		Draw 1 Extra card each of your turns in Opportunity Phase
Cyrus W. Field		Gain 4 VC
Edward H. Harriman	Immediately take 1 Stock from the General Public
Cornelius Vanderbilt	Max Hand Size +2
Daniel Drew		Gain 1 extra Stock (Above your starting 10)
Leland Stanford		Gain 1 VC and Immediately Build 1 Rail Line for Free
Collis P. Huntington	Gain 2 IC
Mark Hopkins		Gain 1 IC and Hand Size +1
Andrew Carnegie		Gain 1 IM and 2 VC    


CARD LIST NOTATION
X = City Card
M = Commodity Card
R = Railroad Card
L = Location Card
S = Special Card
AACC = And all Connected Cities
CID = Copies in Deck

RR DECK CARD LIST
Type 	Card Name:			Notes:	
X	Portland Maine			- 
X	New York			NY
X	Philadelphia			-
X	Washington DC			-
X	Richmond       			-
X	Wilmington			-
X	Charleston			-
X	Savannah       			-
X	Jacksonville			-
X	Buffalo				-	
X	Pittsburgh			-
X	Cleveland			-
X	Columbus       			-
X	Cincinnati			-
X	Detroit				-
X	Chicago				-
X	Milwaukee			-
X	Indianapolis			-
X	Nashville			-
X	Chattanooga			-
X	Charlotte			-
X	Columbia       			-
X	Atlanta				-
X	Montgomery			-
X	Mobile				-
X	New Orleans			NO
X	Corinth				-
X	Memphis				-
X	Little Rock			LR
X	Vicksburg			-
X	St Louis			-
X	Davenport			-
X	St Joseph			-
X	Kansas City			KC
X	Duluth				-
X	Dallas				-
X	Houston				-
X	Bismark				-
X	Denver				-
X	Santa Fe			-
X	El Paso				EP
X	Helena				-
X	Salt Lake City			SLC
X	Spokane				-
X	Seattle				-
X	Pocatello			-
X	Portland Oregon			-
X	San Francisco			SF
X	Los Angeles			LA
X 	Dodge City			DC
X 	St Paul				-
X	Phoenix				-
X	Watertown			WT
X	Gasper				-
X	Omaha				-
M	Petroleum			Columbus, Buffalo, Dallas, Houston, KC, LA, Gasper, Minco
M	Meat Packing			Chicago, NY, Indianap, Milwaukee, Columbus, Dallas, Omaha
M	Textiles       			PL Maine, Boston, NY, Charleston, Atlanta, Philly, Montg
M	Steel Works			Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Davenport, Cleveland
M	Timber & Lumber        		PL Oregon, Corinth, Charlotte, Montg,  Jax, Houston, LR
M	Gold & Silver			Denver, Spokane, San Francisco, Helena, Seattle, Pocatello
M	Coal				Dallas, KC, Pitts, St Joe, St Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati
M	Manufacturing			NY, Cleveland, Detroit AACC SF, LA, NO, KC, Milw, Omah 
M	Sugar Beets			Jax, NO, Mobile, SF, Denver, SLC, Detroit
M	Hogs				Davenport, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis
M	Cattle				Davenport, Houston, Dallas, Bismark, SF, Denver, DC
M	Wheat				Helena, Bismark, Denver, Spokane, DC
M	Tobacco				Wilmington AACC and Nashville
M	Corn				St Joe, KC, St Luis, Davenport, Indianapolis, Cleveland
M	Cotton				Vicksburg AACC and Dallas, Atlanta, Montg, Columbia
M	Dairy				Milwaukee, Portland Both, Seattle, Duluth, Detroit, Pitts
M	Apples				New York, Spokane
M	Grapes				San Francisco, Buffalo
M	Oranges				Jax, LA, Pheonix
M	Rice				SF, NO, Houston, Savannah, LR, Corinth
R	Pennsylvania RR			Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Columbus, Indianapolis AACC
R	Norfolk & Western		Richmond, Columbus, Cincinnati 
R	Baltimore & Ohio       		Washington DC, Columbus, Indianapolis AACC
R	Three Boston Lines		Boston AACC
R	South Carolina Canal & RR	Columbia AACC
R	Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy	St Joseph AACC and Chicago, Omaha, St Paul, St Luis
R	Illinois Central       		Chicago, St Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, New Orleans
R	Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific	St Joseph AACC Chicago, Dallas, Houst, LR, DC, Minco, WT	
R	New York Central       		Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis AACC and NY, Cincinnati
R	Missouri Pacific       		Kansas City, Little Rock AACC and New Orleans, El Paso
R	Louisville & Nashville RR	Nashville AACC and Mobile, New Orleans
R	Erie Lackawanna RR		NY, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis
R	Union Pacific			Seattle AACC and St Joseph, Denver, SL-City, Los Angeles
R	Central Pacific			San Francisco, Salt Lake City
R	Chesapeake & Ohio RR		Richmond, Cincinnati, Columbus, Chicago, Detroit  
R	Chicago & Northwestern		Milwaukee, Gasper, Chicago, Duluth, WT, Omaha, St Paul 
R	Chicago, Milwaukee, & St Paul	Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul, Kansas City, St Joseph, Omaha
R	Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe 	Los Angeles, El Paso AACC and Denver, St Jo, KC, Chicago
R	Denver & Rio Grand Western	Salt Lake City, Denver
R	NY, New Haven, & Hartford	New York, Boston
R	Northern Pacific       		Spokane AACC and Duluth
L	East Coast			Any East Coast City
L	Big City			New York, Chicago
S	Stock Market Corner		5 CID. You may buy 1-2 Stocks directly from an opponent 
S	Watered Stock			2 CID. Gain 1 extra Stock (Above your starting 10)
S	Rail Road Strike       		Target Opponent loses 10 WT and discards 2 random cards
S	Financial Scandal		Target Opponent loses  2 IC and discards 2 random cards



CHICAGO RULE
All players may build on any rail line that connects directly to Chicago even if other players 
have built there already. When figuring a Route to, from, or through Chicago, you must pick only 
1 persons rails to use, preferably your own. 

LINKS
Boar, Card Files & Updated/Revised Rules    
Click Here     BGG


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SECTION

QUESTION > Players take turns. Each turn has 8 Phases:
> Is this: All players do phase 1, all players do phase 2, etc. or
> first player does all 8 phases, second player does all 8 phases?
ANSWER> first player does all 8 phases, second player does all 8 phases...
sorry about the down time. 

QUESTION > R & D PHASE
> Place a Rail Marker on that Level to show that you are the one who made it.
> You may buy extra levels at the same time, but they will cost double.  
> When buying extra levels, are you leaving gaps that can be filled in by players after you?
ANSWER> Do not leave gaps, you must buy the levels in order. 













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