Rule Book

18CLE - Credits
Game Design Richard McGuire

Play Testers Thomas Cadenhead

Stewart Frazier

David Peck

John Seman

David Starre

Richard Zadnik

Game System based on the 18XX system developed by Francis Tresham.

Rules Version 1.5, 2016-08-14

Rules Questions E-Mail: aerochaser@gmail.com

Copyright by Richard McGuire, May 2016

All Rights Reserved.

2
 18CLE - Table of contents
18CLE - RULES OF PLAY........................................................................................................................................................................4
1 - Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 - Game Description................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 - Game Components.................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2.1 Rulebook........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
1.2.2 Game Board................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.3 Priority Card.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
1.2.4 Private Company Cards..................................................................................................................................................................5
1.2.5 Company Charters......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.6 Track Tiles..................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.7 Train Cards..................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.8 Share Certificates........................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.9 Tokens............................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.2.10 Game Money................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.3 Preparing for Play.................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2 - Starting Round.............................................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 - Seat Assignment step.............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 - Initial Money Assignment step................................................................................................................................................................ 6
2.3 - Corporation Sorting step......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3.1 Corporation with Special Abilities.................................................................................................................................................6
2.4 - Private Companies Assignment step....................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.4.1 - Initial Purchase of Private Companies............................................................................................................................................8
2.4.2 - Making a Bid for a Private Company..............................................................................................................................................8
2.4.3 - Private Companies Assignment example........................................................................................................................................8
2.4.4 - Failure to Sell Private Companies...................................................................................................................................................8
2.4.5 RTA Board of Directors.................................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.4.5.1 RTA Stock Rules......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
3 - Stock Round.................................................................................................................................................................................9
3.1 - Players' Stock Selling step....................................................................................................................................................................10
3.2 - Players' Stock Buying step....................................................................................................................................................................10
3.3 - Corporation Starting step...................................................................................................................................................................... 11
3.3.1 - Initial Market Value Fixing sub-step.............................................................................................................................................11
3.3.2 - Initial Emission sub-step...............................................................................................................................................................12
3.3.3 - Token Acquiring sub-step.............................................................................................................................................................12
3.3.4 - Corporation Starting example....................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.4 - Stock Round Ending step......................................................................................................................................................................12
3.5 - Stock General Notes............................................................................................................................................................................. 12
3.5.1 - Stock Valuation and the Stock Market..........................................................................................................................................12
3.5.2 - Limit of Stock Holding................................................................................................................................................................. 13
3.5.3 - Change of President......................................................................................................................................................................13
4 - Operating Round........................................................................................................................................................................14
4.1 - Track Laying step.................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
4.2 - Token Laying step................................................................................................................................................................................. 16
4.3 - Trains Running step.............................................................................................................................................................................. 17
4.3.1 - Routes Selecting sub-step............................................................................................................................................................. 17
4.3.2 - Revenue sub-step.......................................................................................................................................................................... 17
4.4 - Train Acquiring step.............................................................................................................................................................................. 18
4.4.1 - Emergency Money Raising sub-step.............................................................................................................................................18
4.4.2 - Train Purchasing sub-step.............................................................................................................................................................19
4.4.3 - Game Phase Change step..............................................................................................................................................................19
4.4.4 - Train Acquiring step ending.......................................................................................................................................................... 19
4.5 - Private Company Acquiring.................................................................................................................................................................. 19
5 - Standings Round........................................................................................................................................................................20
6 - Glossary.....................................................................................................................................................................................20
7 RTA Rules..................................................................................................................................................................................21
7.1 RTA Split Operations............................................................................................................................................................................ 21
7.2 RTA Merger Operations....................................................................................................................................................................... 21
7.3 RTA Track Laying................................................................................................................................................................................ 21
7.4 RTA Trains and Train Limit..................................................................................................................................................................22
7.5 RTA Tokens.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
8 Historical Notes........................................................................................................................................................................23
18CLE - APPENDICES...........................................................................................................................................................................24
1 - Tiles available............................................................................................................................................................................24
1.1 - Yellow tiles........................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
1.2 - Green tiles............................................................................................................................................................................................. 24
1.3 - Brown tiles............................................................................................................................................................................................ 25
1.4 - Gray tiles.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 25
18CLE - Sequence of Play...................................................................................................................................................................26

3
4
 18CLE - Rules of play
1 - Introduction
In 1848 the first trolley car service began in Cleveland, Ohio. The company to first offer passenger service by
rail in the region was a railroad that transported coal from Pennsylvania mines to the flats by the name of The
Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Co. (CMV). There were stage coach companies in the region prior to
this; the most notable was the Berea Street Stage Coach Company, which later became The Cleveland and
Berea Street Railroad Co. These first companies used horse drawn trolley cars that were guided by rail.
Electrification of the rails first occurred in Akron, Ohio, which was the first use of electric rail lines anywhere
in the world. This game is based on the historic boom of local streetcar companies in Cleveland that would
eventually go bust and form one regional monopoly. In 1893 the first round of mergers occurred, which was
called The Little Consolidation. By July of 1903 a monopoly was formed: The Big Consolidation. The
City of Cleveland purchased The Big Consolidated and it became The Cleveland Transit System (CTS) in April
of 1942. During World War II there was gas rationing and the trolley car business became very profitable for
the last time. In 1956 the last trolley cars were converted to trackless trolleys, which were electric busses that
operated with the overhead electrical lines that the trolleys used. In December of 1974 The Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was established to absorb the CTS and form a countywide public
transportation system that still exists today.
1.1 - Game Description
18CLE is a railroad game set in Cleveland, Ohio from 1848 to 1980. The players take on the role of railroad
investors, promoters and Presidents with the general objective of making money. Their methods may reflect a
greater or lesser degree of public responsibility depending on their personal inclinations.
A player's wealth is accumulated mainly through owning shares of Stock in the several Railroad Corporations
included in the game. Stock shares make money in two ways: they can provide ready cash via dividend
payments and they can increase in value. The single largest Stockholder in a Corporation becomes its President
and operates the Corporation, ideally, but not necessarily, for the benefit of all Stockholders.
The play of 18CLE is composed of an initial routine (Starting Round), a certain number of Game Turns (each
composed of a Stock Round and one to three Operating Rounds), and a final routine (Standings Round).
In the Starting Round the players receive their initial positions; in a Stock Round they have the opportunity to
buy and sell Stock in Corporations; in an Operating Round they perform the various functions concerned with
running a Corporation; in the Standings Round they determine the final standings.
The game ends when either:
The Bank funds are exhausted.
A Stock Certificate reaches $500 in value.
All nine public corporations fall into RTA.
The winner is the wealthiest player at the end of the game. A player's wealth is made up of his / her personal
cash and his / her Stock Certificates - at current market values (Corporation assets, whether funds, Stock, or
trains, are not counted in the total).
1.2 - Game Components
1.2.1 Rulebook
The Rulebook is the 25 page manual that you are currently referencing.
1.2.2 Game Board
A hexagonal grid is superimposed on the game board. During the game, the track tiles are laid on this grid. The
playable area has a beige background. Some hexes have markings (stations, values, names, colors, etc.). The
blue area represents Lake Erie. You will notice two winding blue lines heading south from Lake Erie. The
western line represents Rocky River and the eastern line (central relative to the map board) represents the
Cuyahoga River. The hexes that these two rivers run through are the only terrain cost penalties that companies
must pay to lay track; all other hexes are free to lay yellow tiles on.
5
On the stock market table, which is located in the blue field (Lake Erie) above the hex grid on the game board,
plastic tokens track the price of company stocks as they change during the game. The red box indicates the
initial par values available. The gray boxes below the stock market and above the hex grid track the par values.
Two sets of plastic tokens are included;
One for the stock value
One for the par value
1.2.3 Priority Card
The priority card is used to indicate the priority deal, which determines who is the first player to get an action
during a stock round. The priority card is also used to determine the president of the RTA, which can change at
the end of each stock round. The reverse side of the Priority card shows the 10% earnings received from
revenue generated by RTA operations. The priority card does not count toward certificate limits nor does it
provide share value in the final scoring round.
1.2.4 Private Company Cards
There are 8 private company cards; all of which are auctioned off at the beginning of the game.
1.2.5 Company Charters
There are nine company charters; one for each public corporation. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit
Authoritys charter is located on the game board in the lower left corner.
As a player can be director of several companies during the game, all trains, tokens and money of each
company are kept separate for each company on its company charter. The company charters also have
important game information listed on them such as train limits and tile availability depending on what phase the
game is currently in.
1.2.6 Track Tiles
There are a total of 139 (hex) track tiles. Yellow, green, brown and gray tiles are used during the game to build
trolley networks. Yellow tiles are available for use from the start of the game until the end. The other colored
tiles become available as the phases of the game change, which is dependent on which trains have been
purchased by corporations. The track tiles are enumerated in the appendices.
1.2.7 Train Cards
There are a total of 42 train cards. These represent the trolleys used in the game. The price and the range of
each vehicle are indicated on its card. Each card has a photo of a trolley from the different time periods. These
photos are from the Cleveland Public Library and are in the public domain.
1.2.8 Share Certificates
There are 90 share certificates total.
There are two types of shares:
1. The trolley company shares, consisting of 8 single share certificates representing 10 % each and 1
Presidents share certificate, representing 20 % of the company.
2. The RTA company shares, consisting of 18 single share certificates each representing 5 % and 1 share
certificate for the president of the board of directors. The presidents share certificate represents 10 %
and is located on the reverse side of the Priority Card.
1.2.9 Tokens
There are a total of 64 tokens; 22 plastic and 42 wooden. The wooden tokens are used to indicate the stations of
each corporation. The plastic tokens track the share price and par value of each corporation on the stock market
table. Each company has a number of tokens of a single color. The numbers and colors are listed in the table
within section 3.3. There is one plastic token (City Council) that tracks the number of operating rounds. There
are two plastic tokens marked +10 and +20 respectively for the West Side Market private company; one of
the two tokens may be placed on the game board to upgrade the revenue generated by a stop.
1.2.10 Game Money
The bank has a total of $12,000. Most 18xx game groups use poker chips to represent game money.
Depending on which game kit you have purchased there may or may not be paper money included.

6
1.3 Preparing for Play
Lay out the board and place all the money in the Bank and the eight Private Companies on the board.
The train cards should be sorted by class and laid out on the Available Trains square located on the map board
near the upper left corner. Start with the 2 train cards on the top of the stack and then place each card in
numerical order with the 6D train at the bottom of the stack. This will allow players to see the cost and which
class of train is currently available during the game.
The track tiles must also be laid out so as to be available for inspection and use. Only the yellow tiles are
needed at first, but the others are relevant to planning for the later stages of the game and should be available
for inspection.
The Corporation Charters can be placed beside the map board and the Stock Certificates are placed on the
appropriate locations on the IPO Chart, with the President's Certificate on top in each case.
The RTA certificates are placed in a stack above the RTA charter located near the left edge of the game board.
Play may now commence.
2 - Starting Round
2.1 - Seat Assignment step
The appropriate number of Wooden Station tokens; numbered one to number of players (three to six) are placed
in a cup, then each player draws one token randomly from the cup. The players then take their seats in
clockwise order, and the task of managing the bank should be divided between the first and the last player, with
the Bank put in a position between the two.
2.2 - Initial Money Assignment step Number of Money Assigned
The initial money is given to the players, in the amounts shown in the table on Players To Each Player
the right. 3 $700
2.3 - Corporation Sorting step 4 $550
At the start of the game all nine public corporations are available to be 5 $500
purchased and may open in any order. The RTA certificates can never be
purchased and are only available to share holders of companies which merge 6 $450
into the RTA.
2.3.1 Corporation with Special Abilities
Cleveland, Southwestern & Columbus Special Ability
The Cleveland Southwestern & Columbus Railroad (CSC) floats at 20%, which means that after the private
corporations are all successfully auctioned off it will start the game floated. No additional shares need to be
sold out of the IPO for the CSC to operate in the first operating round of the game. This is the only
corporation that floats at less than 60%.
Shaker Heights Rapid Special Ability
The first operating round after the Shaker Heights Rapid (SHR) successfully floats (60% of the shares are
sold out of the IPO) it will operate first. This brakes the normal rule that corporation operate in share value
order. This rule applies only to the very first operating round in which the SHR operates. It will operate in
the normal sequence based on share value relative to other corporations after this operating round.
Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Special Ability
The Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad (ABC) doubles the value of the red Akron station when
determining revenue for trains running to Akron. These values are doubled for every color phase; yellow,
green, brown and gray. The ABC is the only company that gets to double the value of the Akron station.
Other corporations that run to Akron score it normally for generating revenue. Note that the RTA does not
inherit this ability if the ABC merges into the RTA.

7
2.4 - Private Companies Assignment step
The Banker begins the game by offering for sale, one at a time and in order of increasing value, the Private
Companies available at the start of the game. He / she starts with the player who drew the lowest number place
token (this could be himself / herself) and offers him/her the first company, the Euclid Railroad, using the
procedure given in Rule 2.4.1. If player #1 buys The Euclid Railroad at face value, the Union Depot is then
offered to the next player and so on in clockwise rotation. If player #1 passes the opportunity to buy the Euclid
Railroad, it is offered to player #2, and so on.
Only after all the Private Companies have been bought may the Banker begin selling stock in the public
Corporations. When buying stops, the player on the left of the last person to buy is given the Priority Deal card.

Name Cost Rev. Notes

A Corporation cannot lay track in the E-26 hex until this
Euclid Railroad $20 $5
Company is either eliminated or bought by any Corporation.
Only the owning corporation may upgrade hex E-18 to green
and brown colored tiles. No connection to hex E-18 is required
Union Depot $35 $5 by the owning corporation to make these upgrades, but they do
count toward the corporations tile lay for the operating round.
Upgrading hex E-18 to brown closes the Union Depot.
The owning Corporation may do one of three things:
Upgrade any stop that it runs to by plus $10 revenue.
Upgrade Ohio City by plus $20 revenue if it can legally run to
West Side Market $40 $10 Ohio City.
Upgrade any yellow stop to a yellow station maintaining
existing track assuming the correct station tile is still available.
Using any one of the ability closes the West Side Market.
Blocks east west routes over the Cuyahoga River until any
corporation buys this company. The owning corporation may
Central Viaduct $60 $10
place one tile on any river hex for free. Placing the free tile
closes the Central Viaduct.
Blocks tile placement on hex F-15. Only owning company
may place a tile on hex F-15. Placing a tile on hex F-15 closes
Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. $80 $15 Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. This company does not close with the
purchase of the first 6 train and may remain open until the end
of the game.
Until the Terminal Tower is purchased by a corporation; hex F-
17 blocks train routes from passing through. The owning
corporation may place a station marker on hex F-17 for normal
cost and does not need to be able to reach hex F-17 to place the
The Terminal Tower $110 $15
station marker. The empty station spot on the upper right side
of hex F-17 is reserved for the corporation owning this private
company until this private closes. Placing a station marker on
hex F-17 closes the Terminal Tower.
Provides one 10% share of CPE to owning player. May not be
Cleveland, Painesville
$135 $20 purchased by a corporation. Closes when the CPE pays its first
& Ashtabula Railroad
dividend.
Provides 20% president share of CSC to owning player. Only
Cleveland & Berea
$150 $0 20% is required to float CSC such that the CSC begins the
Street Railroad Co.
game floated. Closes when the CSC purchases its first train.

8
2.4.1 - Initial Purchase of Private Companies
While at least one Private Company remains unsold a player must, in his / her turn, do one of the following:
Buy the Private Company offered at face value;
Bid for another as yet unsold Private Company;
Pass (i.e., elect not to make any deal).
2.4.2 - Making a Bid for a Private Company
A bid for a Private Company not yet offered for sale must exceed the face value of the company (or of any other
bid already made for it) by at least $5. The player must place the bid money in front of him / her on the table
and not use it for any other purpose until ownership of the company is resolved. Any number of players may
bid for the same company. A player gains no benefit from bidding twice for the same company. A Company that
has been bid on is not offered for sale in the usual way. Instead, once the company preceding it has been sold,
the normal procedure stops. If only one bid has been received, the Private Company is sold to the player
concerned for the amount bid. If several bids have been made an auction is held in which all bidders (but no one
else) take part. The starting price for the auction is the highest sum bid, and the minimum raise is $5. A player
purchasing a company by auction may use the money they have already staked in the original bid to make the
purchase. Unsuccessful bidders are now free to use the money they set aside as their bid. Play then resumes
with the player to the left of the last player to buy a company offered by the Banker.
2.4.3 - Private Companies Assignment example
The following sequence can happen in a four-player game:
The Euclid Railroad is offered for $20:
player #1 ($550): Bids $115 for the Terminal Tower;
player #2 ($550): Bids $120 for the Terminal Tower;
player #3 ($550): Bids $65 for the Central Viaduct;
Player #4 ($550): Buys the Euclid Railroad for $20.
The Union Depot is offered for $35:
Player #1 ($435): Bids $85 for Azko Nobel Salt, Inc,;
Player #2 ($430): Buys the Union Depot for $35;
The West Side Market is offered for $40:
Player #3 ($495): Buys the West Side Market for $40.
This halts the normal turns of the round and triggers the following chain of events:
At first, the Central Viaduct is sold to player #3 for $65 (the Central Viaduct would be the next to be
sold and there is a single bid on it);
Then, Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. is sold to player #1 for $8 (Azko Nobel Salt, Inc. would be the next to be
sold and there is a single bid on it);
Then an auction is held between players #1 and #2 for the Terminal Tower. Player #2's bid of $120 is
high, and player #1 must raise the bid to at least $125 or drop out.
Regardless of who wins the auction, when the Terminal Tower is finally sold the round returns to its normal
sequence; The Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad is offered to player #4 for its face value of $135.
2.4.4 - Failure to Sell Private Companies
If a complete Stock Round fails to sell the Euclid Railroad, then another Stock Round begins immediately. The
Euclid Railroad is offered again but for $5 less than face value. This procedure may be repeated if necessary,
the price being reduced in $5 decrements until a buyer is found. If there is no buyer at $5, then the first player
offered it at $5 must accept it now for free. This counts as a purchase. If any other Private Company fails to find
a buyer after a complete Round, the Starting Round ends in the usual way and revenue is paid to each Private
Company that has been bought. Another Starting Round then begins. This situation may continue for several
Rounds.

9
2.4.5 RTA Board of Directors
The RTA does not function in the same way as the other corporations. The RTA is a government controlled
entity which appoints a board of directors every few years. These directors change over time and are not
necessarily based on the most qualified, experienced or influential candidates available. To simulate this
process the player possessing the Priority Deal Card is nominated to be president of the RTA over the next set
of operating rounds. The president may change or remain the same at the end of each stock round; based on the
player who controls the Priority Deal Card. Note that the player that owns the most certificates of RTA stock is
not the president and may not even be on the board of directors at all depending on seating order and Priority
Deal location.
The players sitting directly to the right and left of the player that possesses the Priority Deal Card are also on
the board of directors for the next set of operating rounds.
2.4.5.1 RTA Stock Rules
RTA stock is obtained by exchanging shares of corporations that are forced to merge into the RTA. There is an
exchange rate listed in the following table.
This is how many 10% shares of the merging corporation are required to receive Total Number of
one 5% share of RTA stock. If multiple companies are forced to merge into the Corporations in Exchange
RTA simultaneously then all shares of all corporations that are merging are Rate
RTA
pooled together from each players holding and each player trades their total in to
receive as many shares of RTA that they can qualify for. Any left over shares are 1 1 to 1
lost and the player receives no compensation for these shares. The total 2 2 to 1
companies within RTA equals the amount previously merged added to the amount 3 2 to 1
currently forced to merge. The net total is used to determine the exchange rate of
merging corporation shares for RTA shares. If there are not any shares of RTA 4 3 to 1
stock remaining, then the player(s) receive nothing. 5 3 to 1
6 4 to 1
Example: When the first 4 train was purchased the SHR was the only company 7 4 to 1
that did not possess a train, since it only owned 2 trains and they just all rusted 8 5 to 1
by the purchase of the first 4 train. All players owning shares of SHR
9 5 to 1
immediately receive one 5% share of RTA for each 10% share of SHR, since only
one corporation is merged into RTA at this time and there were no previous corporations in RTA. Note that the
president share of corporation counts as two 10% shares for trade in purposes. Later in the same game when
the first 8 train is purchased three more corporations find themselves without any trains, since they all owned
4 trains. The CSC, ABC and C&E are all in this situation and are forced to merge into the RTA. Player #1
owns 60% of the CSC, 10% of the ABC and 10% of the C&E. The current exchange rate is 3 to 1 since four
corporations are now in the RTA. The SHR from earlier plus the ABC, C&E and CSC yields 4 total. Player #1
has a total of eight 10% shares that they need to exchange. You divide the total 10% shares by the exchange
rate, which in this case is 8 / 3 equals 2.66666. Rounding fractions down Player #1 would receive two 5% RTA
shares. Unfortunately player #1 lost two shares of stock in this exchange. If player #1 possessed one more
share of the ABC or C&E then they would have received three shares of RTA stock (9/3) in this case.

Players may not purchase shares of RTA stock although they can sell certificates that they own. Each 5% share
of the RTA sold yields 50% of the current stock value. Selling shares of the RTA does not drop RTAs stock
value. Shares sold this way are returned to the RTA certificate stack located near the left edge of the game
board and are not placed in the Bank Pool for purchase by other players.
3 - Stock Round
During this activity each player, starting with the Priority Deal Cardholder, can perform a Selling step, a Buying
step or a Corporation Starting step in any order, but you may not perform the same step twice in a single stock
round action. Example: You can buy a single share of stock then sell as many shares as you wish, but you may
not sell / buy / sell in a single stock round action.
When he / she has finished then play proceeds to the next player on his / her left until all players have passed
consecutively, when the Stock Round ends with a Stock Round Ending step.

10
Please note that:
A player may have several turns to operate in a single Stock Round;
A Stock Round will keep going as long as players continue to operate;
A player is not precluded from further dealing because he / she has passed, as the Round may be kept
going by someone else and anyone is then free to resume trading subsequently.
When everyone has stopped trading the player on the left of the last player to buy or sell is given the Priority
Deal card. This signifies that he / she will have the first opportunity to operate in the next Stock Round.
If no deals take place during a Stock Round, the holding player retains the Priority Deal card.
3.1 - Players' Stock Selling step
During this step a player can either:
Sell one or more of his / her personal Corporate Stock Certificate(s) at the current market value;
Pass.
In order to sell one or more Stock Certificates the player has to perform the following activities:
He / she moves the Certificates to be sold to the Bank Pool;
The Banker gives him / her an amount of money equal to the current market value of the sold
Certificates;
The Banker moves the Stock Market token of the Corporation whose Stock has been sold (in current
market value order), one row down for each 10% Share sold.
A player cannot sell a Certificate of a Corporation if:
With the sale the Bank Pool would contain more than half of the stock of a single Corporation.
Please note that:
If a player sells a Certificate of a certain Corporation he / she cannot buy Stock of the same Corporation
until the next game turn;
Certificates placed in the Bank Pool are available to be purchased;
All sales of Stock from the Bank Pool are made at the current price on the Stock Market;
All sales of Stock from the Corporate IPO are made at par value, which is set by the player that first
purchases the President certificate;
Sales of Stock have the effect of lowering its value but the change does not affect the price the seller
receives for that sale;
The Stock Market token is lowered one row for every 10% Share sold;
The President's Stock Certificate may not be sold into the Bank Pool (it can only be disposed of as
explained later);
If a player currently possesses more than the allowed number of certificates on his / her turn he / she is
compelled to sell one or more Certificates (see Rule 3.5.2).
When selling more than one certificate, the Banker moves the Stock Market token of the Corporations
which Stock has been sold in current market value order. This means that if three shares are being sold
(in Corporations A, B and C) and they are all on currently the same price (with A on top and C at the
bottom of the stack), after the sale the order of the stack remains unchanged.
3.2 - Players' Stock Buying step
During this step a player can either:
Buy one Corporate Stock Certificate at current market value from the Bank Pool, giving the money to
the Bank;
Buy one Corporate Stock Certificate at face value from a Corporate IPO, giving the money to the Bank
(the Corporation receives 100 % of its starting money (ten times its par value) when at least 60 % of its
stock is sold from the IPO.
Pass.

11
A player cannot buy a Certificate if:
With the purchase the player would exceed the maximum allowed (depending on the number of players,
see Rule 3.5.2) Note that this will be reduced by a factor based on the number of corporations that
merge with the RTA;
With the purchase the player would own more than the maximum allowed in a Corporation (60%, see
Rule 3.5.2);
He / she have sold a Certificate of the same Corporation in the current Stock Round.
3.3 - Corporation Starting step
To start a new Corporation a player has to take its Corporation Charter and then perform the sub-steps described
in the following paragraphs.
In the game the following 9 Corporations are included plus the RTA:

Handle Name Home Base Color # of Tokens

Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Yellow 3
ABC Hex K-26
Railroad

Cleveland & Eastern Green 3

C&E Hex E-22
Interurban

Cincinnati & Lake Erie Orange 3

CLE Hex H-3
Railroad Co.

Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Gray 3

CMV Hex G-18
Railroad Co.

Cleveland Southwestern & Tan 3

CSC Hex K-10
Columbus Railway Co.

Cleveland Painesville & Black 3

CPE Hex A-26
Eastern Railroad Co.

Lakeshore Electric Railway Blue 3

LSE Hex G-12
Co.

Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Purple 3

SHR Hex G-26
Co.

Woodland Avenue & West Brown 3

WWS Hex H-15
Side Railroad Co.

3.3.1 - Initial Market Value Fixing sub-step

All Corporations have a par value which is selected by the player who purchases the first share of stock from
the corporations IPO (he presidents share). Each corporation may have a par value of $100, $90, $82, $76, $72
or $68. The value selected is the cost of each 10% share purchased from the corporations IPO. Notice the red
box that goes down one of the columns on the stock market. This is the starting column and the President of
the corporation places the plastic Stock Market token in the appropriate position based on the par value that
they selected for their Corporation once 60 % of the IPO has sold out. Place the second plastic par value token
in the appropriate grey box located between in the stock market and the hex grid. These are the par value
boxes. These tokens may be removed once a corporations IPO is sold out or the corporation is forced to merge
into the RTA.

12
3.3.2 - Initial Emission sub-step
The President now must buy the President's Certificate. Any player (President included) can buy the other
Certificates at face value from the IPO or at current market value from the Bank Pool during their regular
Buying step, with the money going to the Bank.
The player remains President as long as no other player accumulates a larger holding of Stock in that
Corporation.
3.3.3 - Token Acquiring sub-step
The Corporation now receives all of its station markers. Each public corporation has three wooden station
tokens. One for the home base and two expansion stations that may be built later for the appropriate cost listed
on the corporate charter. The President then places one token on a vacant station space on its base face down to
denote that it has floated, but has not yet operated and therefore does not block any other Corporation that
operates ahead of it during the first operating round after the Corporation has successfully floated. The Station
token will be turned upright at the beginning of the Corporations operating step.
3.3.4 - Corporation Starting example
In his / her turn of the third Stock Round of a four player game, player A, with $552 decides to start a
Corporation. The Presidential Certificate of the CMV, C&E, LSE, CLE and WWS are still available since the
other Corporations were started earlier in the game. Player A takes the CMV Charter and fixes the initial
market value at $82. Player A then buys 20% of the Stock (the maximum which can be bought in this phase),
giving $164 to the Bank. The Corporation places its starting station for free upside down on Hex G-18; the
token will be turned upright once the corporation operates to denote that the token does not yet block the hex.
The remaining two station tokens are placed on the Corporations Charter for future purchase at a cost of $40
and $100 respectively. On his / her turn of the Stock Round, player A will buy another Stock Certificate of the
CMV Corporation, which then will leave Player A with $306. This is enough money to purchase three more
stock certificates of the CMV Corporation in the following three stock actions for a total cost of $248 leaving
player A with $58 left over to purchase other stock from other corporations since Player As maximum stock
limit of 60 % has been reached for Corporation CMV. Once 60 % of CMV Corporation has been sold from the
IPO; the Corporation will receive 100% of its starting capital, which is ten times its par value. In CMV
Corporations case; the Treasury would get $820 and be permitted to operate in the next operating round.
3.4 - Stock Round Ending step
During this step the following activities are performed:
The Priority Deal Card is assigned to the player at the left of the last player who did not pass;
The Stock Market token of all the Corporations with no Stock in the Bank Pool or in their IPO is raised
one row, unless already on the top row. If the token is on the top row of a column then it is moved one
space directly to the right.
3.5 - Stock General Notes
3.5.1 - Stock Valuation and the Stock Market
All Stock transactions take place at the current market value indicated on the Stock Market Chart.
Stock valuation is changed as follows:
During a Stock Round the Stock Market token is moved downwards (i.e. towards the bottom of the
chart) one row for each 10% sold into the Bank Pool. This action may be repeated as many times as is
necessary but the token cannot be moved further once it reaches the bottom row of the Stock Market
Chart. (The token can only be moved straight downwards, it may not be moved sideways in order to
achieve a lower row.)
At the end of a Stock Round, if there is no Stock for a particular Corporation remaining in the Bank
Pool and in its IPO, its token is moved upwards one row. If the stock value is at the top of a column
then it moves one space directly to the right.
Every time a Corporation declares a dividend the Stock Market token is moved one column to the right.
If the token has already reached the end of a track it will be moved up one row instead. In this way, any
Corporation can theoretically reach a value of $500 given sufficient time and sufficient dividends.

13
 The red line near the bottom of the stock market reduces the amount of spaces that selling off shares will
cause the token to move down by exactly one. If the token is on a space directly above the red line and
a player sells a single share of stock then the token will not move down, but if a player sells two shares
of stock then the marker will be moved down one space.
If the Corporation is active and no dividend is paid (for whatever reason), the Stock Market token is
moved one column to the left unless the end of the track prevents this, in which case the token is moved
one row downward.
When a token is moved on the Stock Market Chart to indicate a change in a share's price and it enters a square
already containing one or more tokens of other Corporations, the shifting token is always placed on the bottom,
under any tokens already there.
The Bankers should ensure that the Stock Market Chart is kept up to date.
If the Stock Market Token enters the Closed section of the Stock Market Chart then the Corporation is
merged with RTA and its station tokens are replaced with RTA tokens. Private Companies that it owned
are removed from the game. The Shareholders do not receive any compensation, and the corporate
money is returned to the Bank (the Corporation is now a part of RTA and may not be re-opened).
3.5.2 - Limit of Stock Holding
If a corporations stock value is on a yellow square then the certificates of that corporation do not count toward
the players certificate limit.
If a corporations stock value is on a green square then same as above plus a player may purchase more then
60% of the corporation.
If a corporations stock is on a brown square then same as above plus a player may purchase as many shares
from the Bank Pool that that desire in a single stock buying action.
A player may never control more than 60% of a single Corporation unless the stock value is on a green or a
brown square.
If a player acquires more than the maximum certificate limit (because of losing a Presidency) the situation must
be corrected in his / her next turn of the Stock Round.
The maximum number of Stock Certificates a player may hold altogether Number of Total RTA Limit
is given in the table on the right. Players Certificate Reduction
Corporations merging into the RTA reduce the Certificate limit based on
3 21 1
how many players there are. In a 3 to 4 player game every corporation
that merges into the RTA reduces the certificate limit for each player by 4 18 1
one. In a 5 to 6 player game every two companies that merge into the 5 15 2
RTA reduces each players certificate by one, rounding fractions down. 6 12 2
3.5.3 - Change of President
The original President will only retain control of the Corporation as long as another Stockholder does not
exceed his / her Stockholding. Another Stockholder may gain control due to purchasing more Stock or because
the President has sold Stock. Note there is no change of control just because another Stockholder's holding is
equal to the President's.
When a change of control occurs there is an immediate exchange of Stock Certificates to enable the new
President to hold the President's Certificate. This is a straightforward exchange, which permits both
Stockholders to hold the same percentage of Stock as they did before the exchange took place.
Example: consider two players both holding 30% of the CMV Corporation, with player #1 holding the
President's Certificate. If player #2 bought a fourth 10% Certificate, a change of President would immediately
take place as player #2's holdings now exceed the President's, 40% to 30%. Player #1 passes the President's
Certificate to player #2 in exchange for two 10% Certificates, and passes the Corporation Charter with all its
assets.
A player can relinquish his / her position as President in any situation where the necessary amount of Stock can
be sold (i.e., no more than 50% of the total shares will appear in the Bank Pool), and provided there is another
Stockholder holding at least two 10% Certificates. He / she announces the sale of his / her Stock, exchanges
Certificates with the new President, and then places the ordinary Certificates in the Bank Pool. A Presidency
cannot be transferred in cases where there is no other Stockholder holding more than one 10% Certificate.
A President's Certificate may never appear in the Bank Pool. Thus, once a President's Certificate is obtained by
14
any player, it will be held by one player for the rest of the game (exception: Rule 7.2). An exchange of Stock
Certificates may well result in the out going President holding more Certificates than normally allowed. In such
cases, the excess must be sold in the President's next Stock Selling step.
In most cases, the new President is simply the largest Stockholder. If several players have the same
Stockholding after the former President has sold Stock (and they now each hold more than the former
President) the office passes to the player who is next in line to the left of the old President.
4 - Operating Round
At the beginning of each Operating Round each Private Company owner (either player or Corporation) receives
the revenue for each Private Company owned from the Bank. Then every active Corporation operates.
During an Operating round each Corporation may:
Lay (or upgrade) one track tile (Two yellow track tiles may be laid during Phase 1 only);
Purchase one station token (to mark a new railhead);
Run its trains;
Pay or withhold dividends;
Purchase one or more new trains;
The actions of the Corporations are directed by their respective Presidents and are operated according to the
sequence discussed below. They will each have the opportunity to construct track, earn revenue, purchase
trains, and other financial activities. They may either distribute their earnings as dividends among the
Shareholders (raising their Stock value) or retain them to finance further corporate activities (lowering their
Stock value).
The Corporations take their turns in order, beginning with the one with the highest current market value. The
Banker examines the Stock Market to determine which share has the highest value. This Corporation operates
first, then the next highest value, and so on. Note that the RTA starts at a par value of $100 and will only
operate for the first time if one of the RTAs two starting conditions have been met and the current operating
corporations stock value is $100 or greater.
The RTA will start when:
A corporation is forced to merge into the RTA because it does not own a train.
After the first 6-train is purchased even if no public corporations have merged into the RTA yet.
The RTA stock token is placed on the bottom of the $100 par value within the stock market. When tokens are
in the same space of the Stock Market, the Corporation whose token is on top operates first. When shares of
two different Corporations have the same value, but are in different columns, the Corporation whose token is
furthest to the right operates first.
These activities must be carried out in the order given. Any that are optional may be skipped. In addition to
these activities, a Corporation can buy from a player one or more Private Company(s) at any time during its
Operating Round, giving the money to the player.
Any purchase must be made with available funds. Credit is not allowed, even to the end of the same turn. For
example, the money required to lay a tile in a river hexagon must be available in the Treasury. Revenues are not
available until the Train Running sub-step, and thus cannot be spent on track construction until next turn.
During the later stages of the game the scope for corporate activities expands steadily because of the
availability of larger trains that can travel a greater distance and thus earn more revenue per turn, and of more
complex designs of track tiles that produce routes that are more elaborate and that also raise station revenue
values.
The sequence of routines changes in the later stages of the game, when first two and then three Operating
Rounds are performed between each Stock Round. All these changes are directly linked to the types of trains in
use, which determines what Phase the game is currently in.

15
4.1 - Track Laying step
The game board features a hexagonal grid superimposed over a map of Cleveland, Ohio. The boundaries of the
map board are the boundaries of Cuyahoga County. The hexagonal tiles may be laid on this grid to construct
trolley routes joining the various stations and stops portrayed on the map. Areas of the map colored yellow
green and red depict already existing lengths of track. Tiles must not be laid on these red areas, but the other
areas may be upgraded as normal. Hexagons colored in yellow cannot be upgraded until green tiles are
available.
Each Corporation that is operating may lay one tile during this step, except in phase 1 it may lay two yellow
tiles. At first, only yellow tiles are available and these may be placed only on light beige areas of the board. The
tile and position chosen must constitute an extension of a route already available to the Corporation building it.
The new track must be connected ultimately to a station position occupied by a token of the Corporation. (In the
case of tiles that portray two different pieces of track, it is only necessary for one of them to form a legal
extension.)
There is only one exception to the rule requiring a tile placement to be an extension of an existing route: the
hexagons containing the base tokens of a Corporation. If a hexagon is occupied by one of its tokens, the
Corporation may place an appropriate yellow tile on it, regardless of connections. A tile may not be placed so
that:
A track runs off the grid, or
Terminates against the blank side of a red hexagon, or
Terminates against an impassable hex-side.
It may be placed to utilize track on a red hexagon, but this is not required.
Tiles may be laid on clear hexagons without charge but laying a tile on a river hexagons has a cost, which is
depicted in the table on the right:
Yellow
Note that upgrading a tile on a river hex does not cost any additional funds. Track
Clear 0 TM
River 50 TM
Tiles of the correct type must represent Stations portrayed on the board as reported on
the table on the right.
Type of Representation Representation
Tiles representing stops or stations may not be placed on other Station on the Map on the Tiles
locations.
Stop One black dot One black cross-bar
When green tiles become available they may, in general, be
used to replace yellow tiles that are already on the board. A One circle /
replacement must maintain all existing tracks, alterations Station One circle multiple tangent
being additions to what was previously depicted. Similarly, circles
when brown tiles become available, they may be used to replace green tiles. Finally, gray tiles may be used to
replace brown or green tiles. A list of all legal replacements is given in the appendices for reference.
A Corporation may only replace a tile if it can trace a legal train route of any length from one of its
station markers to and along one of the NEW track segments on the new tile, or increase the value of a
city it can run to on the new tile. This does not require that the route is actually in use, or even could be used
with a train able to travel a sufficient distance, but it must not be closed to the Corporation.
The red hexagons upgrade automatically. Once there is a phase color change immediately use the appropriate
colored box to calculate revenue for that hex. The color of the box corresponds to the color of tiles that are
currently available to be placed on the map.
Yellow and green tiles, which have been replaced, are available for re-use. Replacing a tile is an alternative to
laying a new tile. Brown tiles are only available during phases four and five; after the first 5-train has been
purchased up to when the first 8-train is purchased. After this green tiles may be upgraded directly to gray tiles
at the following costs:
Upgrading a green stop to a gray stop costs $50.
Upgrading a green station to a gray station costs $100.

16
The brown phase simulates the Great Depression. All of the values on the brown tiles are lower than their
green counterparts. A corporation is motivated to place the brown tiles because as soon as the first 8-train is
purchased all of the brown tiles are immediately upgraded to gray tiles for free. These upgrades are an exact
replacement keeping all existing track and not adding any additional track to the tile.
Another reason a corporation may want to upgrade from green to brown is the ability to remove its station
marker from the hex it is upgrading. A corporation may not remove a station marker from its home base
(starting location). The station marker is placed back upon the corporate charter at the highest cost space
available and may be re-placed in the future for the cost listed on the charter.
A corporation can upgrade any stop to a brown tile that is already a green tile and that it can trace a legal path
too, but a corporation may only upgrade a station tile from green to brown that it has a station marker on.
A green station tile that contains two corporations station markers that is upgraded from a two-hole to a
single-hole brown station tile must obey the following rules:
If the station tile is one of the two corporations home base, then the other corporation has its station
marker removed from play (placed back on its corporate charter in the highest cost spot available to be
placed in the future).
If the station tile is not the home base of either corporation then the corporation that upgrades the tile to
brown removes its station marker back to its corporate charter in the highest cost spot available.
These tiles may not be used on any other locations, nor may ordinary tiles be laid on these positions on the
board. The orientation of these tiles is restricted by the rules requiring the maintenance of existing track.
Now look at the figure on the right:

The two white circles are station marker locations.

The track sections southeast, southwest, northeast, east and west from the station are standard trolley
tracks.
The number 50 within the circle is the revenue value of the station.
The number 41 on the left bottom corner is the tile number.
4.2 - Token Laying step
Tokens designate priority railroad rights when placed on a station. They have two effects:
They prohibit rival Corporations from running train routes beyond the station;
They allow the station to be used as a base for their Corporation's train routes. The token base and the
track connecting to it are a Railhead for the Corporation.
When a Corporation starts, one token is placed on its base station. Base stations are pre-determined (see Rule
3.3).
A Corporation may place additional tokens from the Corporation Charter on any permitted location for a cost,
which is printed on the Charter. A permitted location is any station, which is connected by a legal route
(however long) to a Railhead. Note there must be a vacant space to receive the token on the station concerned.
Some station tiles have space for more than one token. In these cases, the station remains open to all until all
spaces are occupied. Tokens may not be placed to block the base station of a Corporation that is not yet in
operation. Two tokens of the same Corporation may never be placed on the same hexagon. A Corporation may
place only one token during this step.
A Corporation may run routes into a station, which is occupied by other tokens, but such a station may only
serve as a terminus; the route may not extend past the station. This restriction also applies to the placing of
tokens themselves. A Corporation may not place a token on a station that can only be reached by passing
through a station, which is entirely blocked by other Corporation's tokens.
The requirement for a legal route between the new token and a Railhead is waived if the Corporation owns the
Terminal Tower Private Company and may place a token in Hex F-17 even if it can not trace a legal path to this
17
hexagon.
4.3 - Trains Running step
During this step, a Corporation can run its train(s) to generate revenue. The President then chooses if the
revenue is to be kept in the Corporation Treasury or to be distributed to the Shareholders. In the first case the
Corporation's token on the Stock Market is moved one column to the left; otherwise it is moved one column to
the right.
Wealth being the objective of the game, and Corporation revenue being one of the principal methods of gaining
wealth, it follows that the planning of remunerative routes and the provision of trains to run them is of
paramount significance to the strategy of this game.
4.3.1 - Routes Selecting sub-step
During this activity the President must select the route of each of his / her trains. A route is a length of track
joining two or more stations or stops. It must be continuous and it must not involve reversing across junctions,
changing track at crossovers, or traveling the same track section twice. A route that enters a station down one
line may, however, leave along any other line.
When two or more routes are being run in the same turn by the same Corporation (i.e., two or more trains are
operating) they must all be separate along their entire length, except that they may meet or cross at stations, or
use two independent tracks on the same tile.
Every route used by a Corporation must include at least one station occupied by that Corporation's token.
Initially, such a station is very likely to be the Corporation's base station, but as the game progresses,
Corporations may operate from other stations that provide the base for routes that are more lucrative.
A train may be used on a shorter route than the maximum allowed if desired or when a maximum route does not
exist.
A route must include at least two stations or stops. A route can include any number of stops, but may only
include a number of stations equal to the current train level. Example: a 3 train may have five stops on its route,
but may not have more than three stations. Normally a train must start and stop at a station unless the only
route available is between a station and a stop. A route must include at least one station (with the Corporation's
token) and one station or stop.
4.3.2 - Revenue sub-step
All stations and stops on either the tiles or the board are marked with revenue values, which can vary from $10
to $120. The revenue, which is earned each time a train is run on the route, is the total of all the revenue values
of the stations (stops and ferries) concerned.
Example: a train running a route through cities of 30, 20 and 20 revenue values would earn $70 revenue.
The highest legal revenue that can be demonstrated must be collected, although sharp-eyed players are not
required to point out higher possible revenue than claimed.
6D-trains operate slightly different than all of the other trains. The 6D run may include as many stops as
possible and generates revenue from them as normal, but it may only count six stations for its run. Each of the
six stations revenue values are doubled when calculating the amount of revenue generated by a 6D-train.
The President decides whether the revenue should be paid as dividends or diverted into the Corporate Treasury.
If a dividend is paid, the total earnings from all the trains owned by the Corporation are paid out to the
Stockholders (10% for each 10% Stock held). The Corporation receives the payment due to any Stock in
the Bank Pool, while nobody gets payments due any Stock in the Corporations IPO.
Example: consider a Corporation where the President owns 50% of the Stock, 20% remains unsold in the
Corporate IPO and 30% is in the Bank Pool. If the Corporation's revenue is $50 and a dividend is declared,
the player holding 50% receives $25, $15 goes into the Corporation's treasury, and the other $10 remains in
the Bank.
If no dividend is paid, the entire earnings are passed to the Corporation. The Stock valuation is then adjusted on
the Stock Market as per Rule 3.5.1.

18
4.4 - Train Acquiring step
A Corporation can buy one train (only) from the Bank (at face value) or from another Corporation (at any price,
minimum $1). This step can be repeated several times, until the Corporation reaches the train limit or runs out
of funds. If a train bought from the Bank is the first of a new class, a new Game Phase begins immediately, with
some alterations to the standard rules. Phase One begins with the beginning of the game, Phase Two begins
with the first 3-train sold, Phase Three with the first 4- train, Phase Four with the first 5-train, etc.
Trains are bought from the Bank in order of increasing size. The smallest, the 2s, are bought first. When all the
2-trains have been sold then the 3-trains become available, then the 4-trains etc.
Depending on the game Phase currently in effect, a Corporation may own a specified maximum number of
trains.
A Corporation that finds itself with an excess of trains, must immediately return the surplus to the Bank. No
payment is made for them, but they may be re-sold by the Bank as an alternative to whatever other trains are on
offer (if they are of a type still in use). Re-sale is at face value.
Here on the right you can see a complete list of the number of trains of each type. Train Number
Example: during Phase Four of the game a Corporation owning two 4 trains Class Available Cost
may buy the first 6 train offered because prior to this sale the Corporation was
2 9 $80
allowed to hold three trains. Immediately after the purchase, however, the
Corporation must return one of its trains to the Bank as it is now over the new 3 6 $180
train limit of two. 4 4 $300
Example: during Phase Five of the game a Corporation owning two 4 trains may 5 3 $450
not buy the first 8 train offered because of the train limit of two, even if the
beginning of Phase Six would eliminate the 4 trains. 6 3 $630
Trains may be purchased either from the Bank at face value or from another 8 4 $800
Corporation at any mutually agreed price. Whenever a Corporation purchases a 10 4 $950
train from another the transfer takes place in the purchaser's turn. Corporations 6D 9 $1100
may buy trains from each other for at least $1.
Any Corporation that is operating must have at least one train during its turn of an Operating Round unless
there is no route available on which it could possibly run. Otherwise, a Corporation that begins its turn of an
Operating Round without a train must purchase one during that turn.
4.4.1 - Emergency Money Raising sub-step
A Corporation must perform this sub-step if all the following apply:
The Corporation currently has no train;
The Corporation is compelled to have a train;
The Corporate money is less than the amount required to buy the cheapest train available from the
Bank;
The President of the Corporation cannot (or does not want) arrange a deal to buy a train from another
Corporation with the available money.
The corporation is not forced to merge with the RTA per Rule Section 7.
During this sub-step the President has to respond to the situation with his / her personal properties, at first by
giving to the Corporation his / her Personal Money, then by selling, if necessary, his / her Stock Certificates and
giving the money so earned to the Corporation. This sale cannot cause a Presidency shift of the currently
operating Corporation.
If the money is not enough the Corporation has to declare bankruptcy and is merged with the RTA including all
of its tokens and Certificates (Private Companies included). The Shareholders do not receive any compensation,
and the corporate money is returned to the Bank.
In case of bankruptcy, the unlucky President's properties are reduced to zero. In this case he / she must leave the
game. It is very difficult to go bankrupt since the RTA is acquiring corporation at the start of every phase in
which trains rust and a corporation does not possess a train. You may still attempt to pay out of pocket by
purchasing all trains from one corporation into another as long as a phase change does not occur while the
corporation is train-less it will not be merged into the RTA.

19
4.4.2 - Train Purchasing sub-step
During this sub-step, the money is paid to the Bank or to the selling Corporation, and the train is transferred to
the Corporation's train pool. A Corporation that has collected money through Rule 4.4.1 must buy the cheapest
train available from the Bank (this could be a train previously discarded by another Corporation); it cannot buy
a train from another Corporation.
4.4.3 - Game Phase Change step
This step is performed whenever the first train of a new type is bought, as some aspect of the game changes
immediately.
The following table depicts all the game changes:

Phase 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Game
Phase Change 1st 3 1st 4 1st 5 1st 6 1st 8 1st 10 1st 6D
Start
Trains Available 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 6D
Rusted Trains None None 2 None 3 4 5 6
Tiles Available Yellow Yellow and Green Yellow, Green, Brown All excluding Brown
Operating Rounds in
1 2 3
each Game Turn
Train limit for each
4 3 2
Corporation
Private Companies Can be bought by Corporations Eliminated

4.4.3.1 - General Notes

At the beginning of Phases Three and Five the maximum number of trains allowed to a Corporation changes. A
Corporation, which finds itself with excess trains, must immediately return the surplus to the Bank. The
President chooses which train to discard. No payment is made for discarded trains but they may be re- sold by
the Bank as an alternative to whatever other trains are on offer (if they are of a type still in use). Re-sale is at
face value.
4.4.4 - Train Acquiring step ending
If the Corporation has not reached its train limit, wants to buy another train, and has enough money, then the
Train Acquiring step can be repeated.
4.5 - Private Company Acquiring
(From Phase Two to Phase Five)
A Corporation can buy from a player one or more Private Companies at any time during its Operating Round,
giving the money to the player.
The RTA may not purchase any of the Private Companies.
A Private Company cannot be traded once it belongs to a Corporation.
The trading price can be set anywhere between half the face value and twice the face value.

20
5 - Standings Round
The game can end in either of three ways, whichever happens first: when a Stock Market token reaches the
$500 value, when all nine public companies merge into RTA or when the Bank runs out of money.
If a Corporation's market value reaches $500 the game ends at the end of the Operating Round of the
CURRENTLY OPERATING Corporation. Corporations that have not yet operated for this Operating Round
lose their turns. If a Corporation's market value reaches $500 at the end of a Stock Round, the game
immediately ends.
If the Bank runs out of money the game ends on the completion of the current Operating Round that is currently
in progress, unless a Corporation's market value first reaches $500, in which case the game ends after the
Operating Round of the Corporation whose Stock is valued at $500. If the Bank is depleted during a Stock
Round, the sequence of events must be played out to the end of the next series of Operating Rounds. For
example, if the Bank runs out of money in a Stock Round, the Stock Round and the number of Operating
Rounds which would normally take place must be completed before the game is ended. If the Bank runs out
during the first Operating Round of three, complete this Operating Round. During this time all payouts that
cannot be met from the Bank should be recorded on paper and added to the players' scores at the end of the
game. If preferred, all players may be asked to contribute an equal sum of the Bank to allow normal payouts to
continue.

When the game ends, the players determine their wealth by summing up the value of all their possessions
(money and Corporation Stock). Corporate money and trains do not count, while player(s), who have gone
bankrupt, as per Rule 4.5.1, have a final position of $0.
The wealthiest player wins.
6 - Glossary
Bank Pool: The place where Certificates are held which a player or Corporation has sold during their
respective Stock Selling steps. The Bank Pool can never contain more than half of the Stock of a single
Corporation.
Corporate money: All the money owned by a Corporation.
Corporation Charter: The Corporation Charter is the place where a Corporation keeps all its assets. The
tokens, trains (when these have been acquired), Stock, and money in the Treasury are placed on the appropriate
positions on the Corporation Charter. The tokens available and the number and type of trains owned must be
clearly visible for inspection by other players. The money may be kept in a stack, but other players can verify
the amount. It is very important that these funds be kept strictly separate from the player's own reserve of cash.
Consequently, corporate funds must always be held on the Corporation Charter.
Personal money: All the money owned by a player. Other players can freely verify the amount.
Personal Stock: All the Stock Certificates owned by a player.
7 RTA Rules
The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) does not function in the same way as the public corporations. The RTA is
a government controlled entity. Players may not purchase RTA stock, which can only be obtained from public
corporations merging into the RTA or by obtaining the Priority Deal Card. Section 2.4.5.1 contains the rules for
how many shares of stock are gained from a public corporation merging into the RTA. A public corporation
will merge into the RTA if it does not own any trains immediately after a phase change that causes trains to rust
has occurred. I.E after the first 6-train is purchased all 3-trains rust and any company that does not possess a
train after the 3-trains rust is forced to merge into the RTA. The RTA will begin its operations during an
operation round in which a public corporation merges into the RTA or after the first 6-train is purchased even if
no public corporations have yet been forced to merge into the RTA. Section 4 further explains when the RTA
operates for the first time. Note that the RTA stock token does not move back the first time RTA operates due to
the RTA not owning a train, but remains in place at the $100 space on the stock market chart. In future
operating round the RTA must pay out dividends and its stock token is moved one space directly to the right
every operating round. The RTA charter is on the map board in the lower left hand corner. Note that the RTA
never has any money in a treasury. When the RTA purchases a train it simply takes the next available train for
free. The following sections will further explain how the RTA operates.
7.1 RTA Split Operations
The RTA is not operated by a single player, but by a team of three players determined by the seating position of
the players relative to the player holding the Priority Deal card. If a player is seated adjacent to the player
holding the Priority Deal card or is the player Holding the Priority Deal card then they are on RTAs board of
directors. More specifically: the players directly to the right and left of the player holding the Priority Deal
Card make up the board of directors. The board of directors controls the RTA temporarily. The board of
directors will change at the end of each stock round based on which player has the Priority Deal Card.
7.2 RTA Merger Operations
If a public corporation(s) is / are forced to merge with the RTA, then stock is traded in at the exchange rate
described in section 2.4.5.1. The public corporation that triggered the phase change and is currently operating
finishes its turn first. Then the player who owns the corporation that triggered the phase change will get to
trade his / her stock in first if they own any stock of the merging corporation(s). This process will proceed
around the table in a clock-wise fashion one player at a time. This is done in case the 5% shares of RTA stock
that are available run out. Once the 5% shares available for the RTA have all been distributed to the players; the
remaining players will receive no compensation for their stock. Note that the RTA will still operate at its
regular turn sequence even if a merged public corporation has already operated during the current operating
round.
7.3 RTA Track Laying
The player directly to the right of the player holding the Priority Deal Card may optionally lay one yellow tile
or upgrade one track tile that the RTA can legally reach or pass. This tile placement or upgrade may not cost
any money such as placing a yellow tile on a river hex or upgrading a green station to a gray station. After this
optional tile placement; the player directly to the left of the player holding the Priority Deal Card may
optionally place one yellow tile or upgrade one tile that the RTA can legally reach or pass. Again, this tile
placement or upgrade may not cost any money such as placing a yellow tile on a river hex or upgrading a green
station to a gray station. Finally the player holding the Priority Deal card must place one yellow tile or upgrade
one tile that the RTA can legally reach. This tile may have a cost to it. If the tile placement has a cost, then
there is a vote by the three players that make up RTAs board of directors. The player holding the Priority Deal
Card is automatically voting yes for the tile placement, since it was they who proposed it. A simple two-thirds
majority is needed to place or upgrade the tile. If both of the other players vote against the tile placement or
upgrade then the player holding the Priority Deal Card loses their tile placement for the RTA this operating
round.

Page 22
7.4 RTA Trains and Train Limit
The RTA purchases one train per operating round during its normal train purchasing step even if it has space to
purchase additional trains. The RTA takes a train, since it does not have a treasury. The RTA is operating with
tax payer money and funds are assumed to be unlimited. Trains will rust for the RTA as they do for public
corporations. If the RTA does not own a train and it is not the first time the RTAs has operated, then its stock
token will be moved to the left one space on the stock market.
The RTA has a train limit of 1 + n, where n is the number of public corporations that have merged into the RTA.
Example: The RTA owns a 6-Train and an 8-Train. This is the third time that the RTA is operating during the
game. The ABC and the CSC have previously merged into the RTA, so the RTA has a train limit of three.
During RTAs third operation; the board of directors will place or upgrade three tiles, then the RTA will operate
its 6-Train and 8-Train. If any players can determine a more profitable train run then the run with the highest
value must be used. Dividends are always paid out. The stock market token advances one space to the right on
the stock market. Then the RTA will take the next available train, which happens to be a 10-train. This action
will end the RTA current operation round.
No trains may ever be bought from or sold too public corporations by the RTA. All of RTAs trains are
purchased from the stack of available trains only (The Bank).
The RTA is mostly composed of 5 % shares. Although these shares are only 5 %; each one counts as a full
certificate toward a Players maximum certificate limit. The 10% president share of the RTA, which is located
on the reverse side of the Priority Deal card, does not count toward certificate limit. The 10% president share
can never be sold and is considered to not be owned by any player during a stock round and during the final
scoring round. After RTA trains have run each player will receive dividends at the rate of public
corporations, since the RTA shares are 5% shares. For example if the RTA generates a total of $200 in revenue,
then each player will receive $10 for each 5% RTA share that they possess.
7.5 RTA Tokens
The RTA has two sets of tokens. The first set is station tokens. There are six station tokens total. These tokens
are used for the RTAs initial home bases, which are Public Square and Hopkins and are marked on the game
board with RTA inside the station circles. The remaining four station tokens are used to expand RTAs network.
The President of the board of directors, who is the player that obtained the Priority Deal card at the end of the
previous stock round, must place a single station token during a complete set of operating rounds. Note that
this placement is mandatory, but the token may always be placed somewhere that is not very beneficial to
operation of the RTA. The token must be placed in a spot that is legal following all of the normal rules for
token placement.
The second set of tokens is referred to as replacement stations. There are nine replacement tokens total.
These tokens are swapped for the previous placed station tokens of public corporation that merge into the RTA.
These tokens do not follow the normal rules for token placement and happen at the moment that the public
corporation merges with the RTA. There are no connection rules for placement of these tokens, but the RTA
can not have more than one token in a single hex.
Example: Late in the game the SHR merges with the RTA. The SHR and RTA both have tokens in the Public
Square space. The SHR also has its home base station and never placed its third token on the game board. In
this case the SHR token located in Public Square would be removed without another RTA token being swapped
into the spot, since the RTA already has a token in the Public Square hex. The SHRs home base token would be
replaced with one of the RTAs replacement tokens. Finally, the station token that is still on the SHRs
corporate charter is simple removed from play.

Page 23
8 Historical Notes
Cleveland, Ohio was the third largest city in the United States for a period from the Great Depression up until
World War II. It was the first city in the world that connected its international airport to the city center by
trolley car. Akron, Ohio was the first city in the world to have electrified rail lines. Every corporation used in
this game is real. I was able to find the corporate logos for all of the corporations except the CMV and WWS.
The CLE mostly had passenger service from southern Ohio to Toledo, but it did run a passenger line from
Toledo to Cleveland using the rails that the LSE constructed.

Historical facts about the privates used in 18CLE:

The Euclid Railroad never owned any rolling stock. It leased its rolling stock from the Nickel Plate
Railroad based in Columbus Ohio. The Euclid Railroad was supposed to connect South Euclid to
Euclid, but it never finished the line and was bought out by the Nickel Plate Railroad.
The West Side Market is actually located in Ohio City and that is why a special bonus marker is
provided if used to upgrade Ohio City. The West Side Market is still operating today.
The Union Depot was the first major passenger terminal constructed in Cleveland. By the 1920s it was
old and run down. The Cleveland City Council wanted to demolish it and construct the Terminal Tower,
but the Union Depot was still being used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Eventually the Union Depot
was demolished after the construction of the Terminal Tower.
The Central Viaduct was the first rail bridge to cross the Cuyahoga River. Previous to its construction
all passengers heading east had to disembark at Whiskey Island and take a ferry across the river. The
Cleveland City Council strongly opposed the construction of the Central Viaduct because of the tax
revenue generated locally by travelers heading from Chicago to New York being forced to stop in
Cleveland.
Azko Nobel originally had a temporary lease to build a salt mine on Whiskey Island that went under
Lake Erie. The Cleveland City Council kept renewing the lease since the salt deposit was far larger than
anyone estimated. The salt mine is still owned and operated by Azko Nobel today.
The Terminal Tower was originally built for the Shaker Heights Rapid (SHR). The SHR was the first
company to have a station in the Terminal Tower and the SHRs special ability to operate first gives it an
edge in the game to not be blocked from reaching Public Square (where the Terminal Tower was built).
The Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad was a subsidiary of the CPE.
Cleveland & Berea Street Railroad Company was originally a stage coach company that took passengers
from Berea to Clevelands city center. The railroad would grow to become known as the Southwestern
System and offer passenger service from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio via Mansfield, Ohio.

The Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Railroad (ABC) was historically based in Akron, but for game balancing
purposes it is based in Bedford. The ABCs special ability to double Akron is both representative of:
1. Akron was where most of the ABCs revenue was generated historically.
2. Akron was the first city to have electrified rail lines.

There were three major mergers in the Cleveland trolley business, which are all represented by the RTA:
The Cleveland City Railway Co., a.k.a. Little-Consolidated was formed in 1893.
Cleveland Electric Railway Co., a.k.a. Big-Consolidated was formed in 1903.
The Cleveland Transportation System (CTS) was formed in 1942 when the city of Cleveland bought out
the merged trolley companies. The CTS was reformed into the RTA in 1974 and its influence was
extended to include all of Cuyahoga County, which is the entire 18CLE game board.

Page 24
18CLE - Appendices
1 - Tiles available
In the game are included 48 yellow tiles, 45 green tiles, 19 brown tiles, and 27 gray tiles for a total of 139 tiles.
1.1 - Yellow tiles
Tile # Qty. Green Substitutions Map Prerequisites
9 6 11, 12, 24, 25 Clear, River
8 4 11, 12, 13, 14, 25 Clear, River
7 4 11, 12, 14, 24 Clear, River
4 8 15, 16 Stop
58 8 15, 16, 20 Stop
3 6 15, 16, 20 Stop
57 4 18, 19 Station
5 4 18, 19 Station
6 4 17, 18, 19 Station

1.2 - Green tiles

Brown Gray Yellow
Tile # Qty.
Substitutions Substitutions Prerequisites
10 1 30 44; Must be brown first. Hex E-18
11 4 None None 9, 8, 7
12 4 None None 9, 8, 7
13 2 None None 8
14 2 None None 8, 7
15 8 21, 22, 23 34, 35, 36, 40 (+$50) 4, 58, 3
16 8 21, 22, 23 34, 35, 36, 40 (+$50) 4, 58, 3
17 2 33 39, 41 (+$100) 6
18 2 31, 32, 33 37, 38, 39, 41 (+$100) 57, 5, 6
19 4 31, 32, 33 37, 38, 39, 41 (+$100) 57, 5, 6
20 4 23 35, 40 (+$50) 58, 3
24 2 None None 9, 7
25 2 None None 9, 8

Page 25
1.3 - Brown tiles
Gray Green
Tile # Qty.
Substitutions Prerequisites
21 4 34 15, 16
22 4 35 15, 16
23 4 36 15, 16, 20
30 1 44 10
31 2 37 18, 19
32 2 38 18, 19
33 2 39 17, 18, 19

1.4 - Gray tiles

Tile # Qty. Green Prerequisites Brown Prerequisites Map Prerequisites
34 4 15, 16 (+$50) 21 Stop
35 4 15, 16, 17 (+$50) 22 Stop
36 4 15, 16 (+$50) 23 Stop
37 2 18, 19 (+$100) 31 Station
38 2 18, 19 (+$100) 32 Station
39 2 17, 18, 19 (+$100) 33 Station
40 2 15, 16, 20 (+$50) None Stop
41 4 17, 18, 19 (+$100) None Station
42 1 17, 18, 19 (+$100) 31, 32, 33 Hex G-18
43 1 17, 18, 19 (+$100) 31, 32, 33 Hex J-9
44 1 10; Must be Brown first. 30 Hex E-18

Page 26
 18CLE - Sequence of Play
Starting Round
Seat Assignment Operating Round
Initial Money Assignment Private Companies' Revenue
Corporation Sorting Track Laying
Private Companies Assignment Token Laying
Trains Running
Stock Round Routes Selecting
Players' Stock Selling Revenue
Players' Stock Buying Train Acquiring
Corporation Starting
Stock Round Ending Standings Round

Phase 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Game
Phase Change 1st 3 1st 4 1st 5 1st 6 1st 8 1st 10 1st 6D
Start
Trains Available 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 6D
Rusted Trains None None 2 None 3 4 5 6
Tiles Available Yellow Yellow and Green Yellow, Green, Brown All excluding Brown
Operating Rounds in
1 2 3
each Game Turn
Train limit for each
4 3 2
Corporation
Can be bought by Corporation
Private Companies Eliminated

Number of Players 3 4 5 6
Certificate Limit per Player 21 18 15 12
Certificate Limit Reduction of 1 1 1 2 2
per # of companies falling into RTA

Page 27