Introduction	1
Game Components	1
Setting Up The Game	1
How To Win	1
Player Etiquette	1
Game Phases	2
The Stock Market	2
White Zone	3
Blue Zone	3
Yellow Zone	3
Green Zone	3
Brown Zone	3
Closed Zone	3
Initial Value (Red) Zone	3
Shares, Share Certificates, and Limits on Ownership	3
Movement of Stock Prices	4
Share Price Protection	4
Eligibility	5
Procedure	5
Share Redemption	5
Eligibility	5
Procedure	5
Share Reissue	5
Procedure	5
Sequence of Play	6
Stock Round	6
Initial Stock Round	6
Private Companies	7
The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company (Cost: $40 Revenue: Special)	7
The Saint Louis and Alton (Cost: $70 Revenue: $15)	7
The Saint Louis Freight Line Company (Cost: $80 Revenue: Special)	7
The Lacrosse and Milwaukee Railroad Company (Cost: $90 Revenue: $15)	7
The Rock Island Railroad Company (Cost: 120 Revenue: $20)	8
The Chicago Freight Handling Company (Cost: $160 Revenue: $20)	8
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company (Cost: $180 Revenue: $15)	8
Formation of Corporations	8
Corporations	8
Systems	8
Companies	8
Tokens	8
Change in Presidency	9
Operations Round	9
Overview	9
Lay or Upgrade Track	9
Additional Token Placement	9
Train Operation and Dividend Calculation	10
Dividend Payment	10
Share Price Adjustment	10
Train Purchase	10
Purchase of Tokens from Other Company	11
Mandatory Train Purchase	11
Merger	12
Bankruptcy	13
Tile Placement and Tile Upgrades	13
Chicago-San Francisco Connection	14
New Orleans-Southwest Connection	14
Station Token Placement	14
Ending the Game	14
Historical Background	15
Acknowledgments, Credits and Copyright Notices	15
Appendix A: Charts and Tables	1
A1.0 Train Manifest	1
A2.0 Corporations	1
A3.0 Systems	2
A3.0 Tile Manifest	3

Introduction
18MW is an “18xx” game set in the upper Midwest of the United States. 18MW attempts to capture the flavor of early railroad expansion westward from Chicago to St. Louis, the Mississippi and beyond.
Game Components
The game includes a Map, a Stock Market chart, an Initial Offering and Trains Available chart, four sheets (one yellow, one green, one brown and one composite) of track tiles, ten sheets of shares, Private Company certificates, and trains, and twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) in various denominations which represents the initial amount of money in the Bank.
Setting Up The Game
Lay the Map, Stock Market, Initial Offering and Trains Available charts flat between the players. Carefully separate and sort the track tiles, share certificates, Private and Minor Companies, trains, and tokens. Place the share certificates on the Initial Offering chart and the trains on the Trains Available chart. Sort the Bank into denominations and place it near the Map and Stock Market within easy reach of the players. Put the Corporation Charters near the play area. Put the Private Companies on the Map in ascending order of value. Distribute the starting capital  to the number of players (from 3 to 5) who are participating as shown in the table below. Randomly determine the move order using the five numbered markers, give the Priority marker to the first player, and begin the initial Stock Round.
Number of Players	3	4	5	
Initial Cash	$650	$550	$450	
How To Win
Players win by having the greatest net worth at the end of the game. Cash on hand and stock shares owned add to net worth. Company capital and other Company-owned assets are not added to nor subtracted from net worth.
Player Etiquette
Players should attempt to expedite their actions to the maximum extent practicable. In particular, determining what share to buy or what tile to lay or upgrade is best done during another player’s turn.
Player cash and Company capital are public knowledge.  Both player cash and Company capital should be piled neatly in front of the player (in the case of personal cash) or in the Treasury section of the Company Charter. Other Company assets should also be neatly displayed on the Company Charter: trains in the train section and unused station tokens in the token section.
Each player should display his owned Certificates neatly in front of him and must reveal his holdings in a Company on demand.
Corporate transactions are public knowledge, whether conducted between the Company and the Bank, the Company and a player, or between two Companies.

Game Phases
18MW proceeds through a series of Phases, which affect which tiles may be played, which trains are bought or scrapped, how many trains may be owned by Companies, and the status of Private Companies.  Each Phase lasts until the Triggering Event for the next Phase.

PhaseTriggering EventMaximum Trains Owned***New Tiles and Improvements AvailableNumber of Operating RoundsTrains ScrappedOff-Map Value Used1	-	4	Yellow	1	-	First(Left)	2Purchase of first 2 train4-1-First (Left)3Purchase of first 3 train4Green2-First (Left)4Purchase of first 4 train3-22Second (Middle)5Purchase of first 5 train *3Brown33Second (Middle)6Purchase of first 6 train** 2Small cities may be upgraded or paved.34Second (Middle)8	Purchase of first 8 train	2	Gray	3	-	Third (Right)10	Purchase of  first 10 train	2	Corporations may merge to form Systems.	3	5	Third(Right)	D	Purchase of first D train****	2	-	3	6	Third(Right)	*
**

***

****	All Private Companies close.
Remove the Chicago doubling token and the extra revenue token for St. Louis.   
A system may hold one extra engine in all phases.
Borrowing of D train while in Receivership does not cause a phase change to occur.				The Stock Market
The Stock Market shows the current Market Value of each Company’s stock. The value shown is the value for a single share of a Company’s stock usually represented by a single Share Certificate.  A single 5% share in a System is worth half (rounded down) of the present market price.  The 10% (or if a player sells two 5% shares at the same time) in Systems are worth the full market price.  The Stock Market is divided into a number of Zones, which are described below.  The Initial Value (Red) Zone is considered part of the White Zone for all purposes.  The Yellow, Green and Brown Zones are collectively referred to as the Colored Zones.
White Zone
The White Zone is the part of the Stock Market in which stock values will primarily operate.  All normal rules apply to ownership of stock valued in the White Zone.  It should be noted that the Initial Value (Red) Zone is considered a part of the White Zone for all purposes.
Blue Zone
Any stock which is presently valued in the blue zone gain one new advantage and one new restriction.  Any Company whose stock value is in the blue zone must have a route value that is equal to or greater than its present market price in order to move forward.  On the other hand, if its route is equal or greater than three times its current market price, the Company’s stock value is moved two spaces to the right.   
Yellow Zone
Stock valued in the Yellow Zone does not count against a player’s holdings for Certificate limit purposes.  All other rules apply to stock valued in the Yellow Zone.
Green Zone
Stock valued in the Green Zone is subject to the same rules as stock valued in the Yellow Zone.  Additionally, players may exceed the 60% rule on stock ownership.
Brown Zone
Stock valued in the Brown Zone is subject to the same rules as stock valued in the Green Zone, and additionally may be purchased from the Bank Pool (not the Bank) in unlimited amounts during a player’s turn in the Stock Round. All other rules apply to stock valued in the Brown Zone.
Closed Zone
The Company is immediately closed when the stock enters the Closed Zone: the Company Charter, all residual capital, and all Station Tokens are permanently removed from play.  Any trains owned by the closed Company are placed in the Bank and are available for resale.  Stock that becomes valued in the Closed Zone, is discarded.  Companies whose stock value enters the closed zone may not be restarted.
Initial Value (Red) Zone
The Initial Value (Red) Zone is part of the White Zone.  It indicates the Initial Values permitted for Corporations entering play through the Stock Market.  Other than as a reference point, the Initial Value (Red) Zone has no impact on play.
Shares, Share Certificates, and Limits on Ownership
There are important distinctions between shares and share Certificates.  A share is equivalent to ten percent of a Company’s capital value.  The President’s Certificate represents twenty percent of the Corporation’s capital value and is referred to as Double Share Certificate.  For purposes of share ownership in a Company, only the percentage of ownership as represented by shares is relevant: for purposes of Certificate limits, only the number of Certificates held is relevant.  60% rule: Players are limited to a 60% holding in any particular Company (exceptions: share price protection Green Zone, Brown Zone).  Each single share in a System is worth 5% of a System's capital value, but only counts as ½ of a certificate towards a player's certificate holding limit.  Each System has a 10% President's share and one 10% share which are referred to as Double Share Certificates; each of these count as one certificate.
Except for stock valued in the Colored Zones, players are limited to owning Certificates (not shares) in accordance with the following table:
Number of Players3 Players4 Players	5 Players	Certificate Limit*2016	13	*Reduce these numbers by one for each merger that occurs.  See chart A4.0 for summary.
A President’s Certificate may never be sold, and may consequently never (exception: bankruptcy) enter the Bank Pool.  It may, however, be transferred to another player as a result of stock sales or purchases.
Except as the result of a Bankruptcy, a Company may never have more than fifty percent (50%) of its stock in the Bank Pool.
Movement of Stock Prices
Share prices move as a result of several factors.  These are described below.  The share price of a System behaves exactly the same as that of a Corporation except where noted.
If a player sells one or more shares during a single Turn of the Stock Round, the share price of the Company sold moves down one row for every share sold (exception: share price protection).  However, a Company’s market value token may never move down below a ledge on the Stock Market.  A System's share price token moves down one space for each 10% sold.  Odd 5% shares sold do not affect the share price.
If, at the conclusion of the Stock Round, players or corporate Treasuries hold all of a Company’s shares, the share price of the Company moves up one row.  If the Company’s price token is already on the top row, it is moved right one column and down one row (i.e., diagonally down and to the right one space).
If a Company Operates and declares a dividend which is equal to or greater than its current 10% certificate price, but less than three times its current 10% single certificate price, its share price is moved one column to the right.
If a Company operates and declares a dividend that is equal to or greater than three times its current 10% certificate price, and its price is presently in the blue zone, move the Company’s share price two columns to the right. 
If a Company Operates and withholds its dividend or declares a dividend of $0, its share price is moved one column to the left.
If a Company operates and its route value is greater than zero but less than its current 10% certificate price, and its price is currently in the blue zone, its share price remains unchanged.
The Stock Market also has certain spaces that contain arrows.  These arrows are to indicate spaces from which a Company’s share price moves up instead of right, or down instead of left.
If a Company’s token moves into a space that is already occupied by other Companies’ tokens, it is placed at the bottom of the stack of tokens.  This is true of initial valuations as well as token movement for the reasons described above.

Share Price Protection
Share Price Protection is the act of a president stepping into the market to support the price of his Company/ System's stock by buying all of the shares that were just sold by another player.  After a player has finished his entire stock round turn, share price protection may occur pursuant to the rules set out below.  Share price protection is always voluntary.  Share price protection occurs in strict share price order, highest price stock first on down to the lowest price stock.  When a particular President’s turn to price protect arrives, the banker must determine whether the President is eligible to price protect (see below).
Eligibility
A President is eligible to price protect if he passes all of the following tests:
1.	The President has enough money to purchase all of the sold certificates.  Players may not sell stock or private companies to raise money to price protect.
2.	The President will not exceed the certificate holding limit as a result of the purchase.  Note that this refers to the total certificate holding limit and not to the 60% rule.
3.	The President has not sold any shares of the stock in question during the present stock round.
4.	Share Price Protection may occur during the operating round as a result of enforced sales.
Procedure
If the President chooses to price protect, the President immediately pays the bank for all of the shares purchased.  Those shares are transferred to the president without entering the bank pool.  This is an exception to the rule that all stock transactions must be conducted with the bank.  The stock price token remains in its present location.  Each President in turn makes the same decisions and then play proceeds to the left of the player who sold the stock.  If the President chooses not to price protect or is ineligible, move the Company’s stock token according to the rules on stock selling stated above.  If at any later time, the president sells shares in a Company in which he has more than 60% of the stock due to share price protection, he must sell all shares in excess of 60% at the same time (exception: if at the time of the sale, the stock is valued in the green or brown zone).
Share Redemption 
Eligibility
Companies are allowed to own shares of its own stock in order to help support the Company's stock price.  The Company may redeem stock round pursuant to the following rules.  
1.	A Company may not redeem any shares until it has operated at least once.
2.	The Company must have cash to pay the current market price for all certificates redeemed.
3.	Companies may only redeem shares from the bank pool, but there is no limit to the number of shares the Company may redeem.
4.	Shares may not be redeemed from any player or the initial offering. 

Procedure
A player as his turn of the stock round, announces that he wishes to redeem shares on behalf of one of the Companies for whom he is President.  The banker determines whether or not he is eligible to redeem.  If he is eligible, the President pays the bank with the funds available in the Company’s treasury.  This action takes the entire stock round turn for the President.
Share Reissue
Procedure
A player may buy stock from the corporate/system treasury as his turn of the stock round.  The player pays the corporate/system treasury the current market price.  Companies may not refuse to sell their stock to any player who has the money to buy it and is eligible. 

Sequence of Play
Play of 18MW consists of Stock Rounds, followed by one or more Operating Rounds. Play always continues through a complete set of Operating Rounds.
Stock Round
During a Stock Round, players may buy and sell stock.  Players begin with the player who has the Priority marker and proceeds in order until all players have passed in succession.  The priority marker is then given to the player who initiated the final round of passes, the share prices of fully owned Companies are adjusted, and the first Operating Round begins.
During each of his turns in the Stock Round, a player may sell as many shares of stock as he wishes, subject to the restrictions listed above, and buy one Certificate (except for stock valued in the Brown).  He may buy any certificate available in the Initial Offering, a corporate/system treasury or in the Bank Pool, subject to the 60% rule and Certificate limits.  If he buys multiple shares of stock valued in the Brown from the Bank Pool, such purchase is considered to be his one purchase allowed: he may not then buy an additional share from the Bank Pool or the Initial Offering (even Initial Offering stock of the same company).  Players may never buy more than a single Company’s stock each turn, even multiple Company's stock is valued in the Brown.  A player may buy and then sell, sell then buy or sell then buy then sell, but once a player has sold stock of a particular Company, he may not buy stock in that Company for the remainder of the current Stock Round.
When stock is purchased from the Bank, the President’s Certificate must be the first Certificate purchased.  The player declares the initial value of the stock and pays twice that amount to the Bank.  When a player receives a President’s Certificate from the Bank, he immediately places a token on the appropriate space of the Par Value chart and a token on the corresponding space of the Stock Market in the Initial Value (Red) Zone.  Otherwise, there are no restrictions on stock purchases from the Bank or the Bank Pool.
Stock purchased from the Initial Offering is sold at the par value: the President’s Certificate, being a double share, costs twice the par value.
Stock purchased from the Bank Pool or a corporate/system treasury is valued at the price shown on the Stock Market. 
Stock that is sold into the Bank Pool is valued at the price shown on the Stock Market.  When selling more than one share of stock, the value received from the Bank is the same for all shares sold, and the share price of the sold Company moves down one row for each 10% certificate sold (see merger rules for rules on 5% certificates).  Players may not choose to sell multiple shares of a single Company’s stock as multiple transactions in the same turn.  Players may sell shares of Company’s that haven’t operated.
Once the Stock Round has been ended by a complete set of passes (in succession), the share prices of fully owned Companies are adjusted upward (or diagonally if on the top row) and the first Operating Round begins.
Initial Stock Round
The initial Stock Round differs from all subsequent Stock Rounds in that the Private Companies may be purchased from the Bank, and, indeed, must all be purchased before any Corporation can be floated.  Prior to the initial Stock Round, the seven Private Companies are placed on or near the map, in increasing order of purchase price.  Players may not sell stock or Private Companies in the initial stock round. 
The private companies are auctioned in parallel.  Starting with the player who holds priority deal, each player in turn may bid or pass on any Private Company.  Bids start at face value and subsequent bids must be at least $5 more than any previous bids.  Players should place the money that they are bidding next to the Private Company or in some other convenient place to keep track of how much money they have available for future bids.  If a player is overbid on a Private Company, the player who was outbid may take back his money to use on other bids, but once he does so, he is no longer considered to be in an auction for the original Private Company.  Once all players have passed in succession, the player with the highest bid pays the bank the amount of the bid and receives the Private Company.  Any Private Companies upon which no players have bid remain unsold.  Give the priority deal card to the player on the left of the player who made the last bid.  If all the Private Companies have been sold, players starting with the holder of priority deal may buy corporate stock.  If any Private companies are unsold, including the Hannibal and St. Joseph, play an operating round in which only the Private Companies pay revenue to their owners.  Players may not buy corporate stock (nor may the owner of the M&O Private Company sell the share of M&O stock) until all of the Private companies are sold. In the next or subsequent stock rounds, if all the Private Companies have been sold, players may sell stock/Private Companies as normal. 

Private Companies
Private Companies represent small companies which pioneered railroading in the Upper Midwest and, in some cases, were later absorbed by larger companies.  Private Companies enter play by being purchased from the Bank during the Initial Stock Round.  Each Private Company provides revenue(see below) to the owning player until the first 5 train is bought.   Each Private Company provides the owning player with certain special powers that are described below.  Once the first 3 train has been bought, Companies may purchase Private Companies from players at any mutually agreeable price not less than half nor more than twice the Private Company’s face value, unless sale is specifically prohibited.  Private Companies which are owned by Companies provide their revenue to the Company, not to the player.  Once a Company buys a Private Company, that Private Company remains in the Company’s treasury until it closes (the St. Louis and Alton closes if you use its extra token).  Players may buy  Private Companies from other players for any mutually agreed price on the buying player’s turn of a stock round (other than the first).  Purchasing a Private Company from another player does not count as a stock action.  Private companies count as one certificate until they close.  Note that the doubling of Chicago and the St. Louis Freight revenue last until the first 6 train is bought.  The game has tokens for marking these special revenue makers. 
The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company (Cost: $40 Revenue: Special)
The revenue of the Hannibal and St. Joseph varies depending on the phase of the game.  In Phases 1-3, the revenue is $20.  In phases 4 the revenue is $10. 
The Saint Louis and Alton (Cost: $70 Revenue: $15)
Once the Saint Louis and Alton is owned by a Company, the owning Company may place a token in any space (in which there is a large city circle) regardless of connection or railhead.  The Company must pay for the token (see below for cost).  The token placement must obey all the other rules for token placement.  Placing the token closes the Private Company.  The token gained from the Private Company is extra.  If the president chooses to sell the extra token, it returns to the company charter to be played again. 
The Saint Louis Freight Line Company (Cost: $80 Revenue: Special)
Anytime a Company traces a route into or through St. Louis, the owner of the SLFLC receives $10.  Note that the owner receives the $10 payment each time a company traces a route into or through St. Louis.  Place a die near St. Louis as a reminder.  This company may be sold to a Company.  The extra revenue token is removed as soon as the first 6 train is bought.  Designer’s note: use dice to keep track of how many times a player is due the bonus during an operating round, and then pay the player at the end.  
The Lacrosse and Milwaukee Railroad Company (Cost: $90 Revenue: $15)
This Private Company may be exchanged for a single initial offering, corporate/system treasury or Bank Pool share of any Company.  This action closes the Private Company.  Once the share has been acquired, it functions normally, as if it had been acquired normally from the Bank.  The player may make the exchange during his turn of the stock round, between any two player’s turns of the stock round or at the beginning of any operating round (as long as the company hasn’t been closed).   If the special ability is used at the beginning of an operating round and the player does not collect revenue for the Private Company.  If the player exercises the special ability at the beginning of the Operating round and takes a share from the Initial Offering and that share would float the Corporation, the Corporation floats and operates as normal during the Operating Round.  This Private Company may not be sold to a Company.
The Rock Island Railroad Company (Cost: 120 Revenue: $20)
The owner of this Private Company receives half of the money for each bridge that is built by any Company.  The bridge cost refers to the cost that a Company must pay to the bank to lay a tile that abuts a river hexside. 
The Chicago Freight Handling Company (Cost: $160 Revenue: $20)
The Company that owns the Chicago Freight Handling Company doubles the value of Chicago for all routes traced to Chicago.  Remove the doubling token when the first 6 train is bought. 
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company (Cost: $180 Revenue: $15)
This Private Company comes with a single share of GM&O stock.  The owner of the M&O Private Company, if he is the President of a Company, may exchange the Private Company for an engine at no cost.  The exchange occurs during the operating round turn of the Company that will receive the engine, during the train purchase phase.  This exchange closes the Private Company.  Note that since this Private Company does not close until the first 5 train is purchased, it is possible for a player to trade the M&O for the first 5 train.  This Private Company may not be sold to a Company.  
Formation of Corporations
Once six shares of a Corporation are in the hands of players, the Corporation forms (“floats”).  As soon as the sixth share of the Corporation is sold, the player who owns the President’s Certificate receives the Corporation Charter, the Corporation’s station tokens, and the Corporation’s starting capital, which is equal to ten times the Corporation’s Initial Value.  If a player uses the special ability of the Lacrosse and Milwaukee Private Company and acquires the sixth share from the Initial Offering, the Corporation floats as if the stock were sold.  Since the Private Company ability can be used at the beginning of an Operating Round, a Corporation may float at the beginning of the Operating even though the stock was not sold during the Stock Round. The President must then immediately place the Corporation’s base token in the appropriate hex and station.     
Corporations
Corporations are stock companies that own and operate trains, providing revenue to their shareholders. A Corporation opens and may operate in the turn in which six shares are acquired from the Bank during the stock round.
Systems
Systems are companies that come into being as a result of a merger between two Corporations.  In most respects they function exactly the same as Corporations.  The players should assume that a System obeys the same rules as a Corporation except as specifically noted.
Companies
The word Company refers to either a Corporation or a System.  Company is used when no distinction between the two exists as far as the rules are concerned.
Tokens
The number of tokens that a Corporation will have to play during the game depends on the stock price at which it was floated.  Corporations floated at $70, $75 or $80 receive 2 tokens (base plus one extra).  Corporations floated at $85 or $90 receive 3 tokens (base plus two extra) and those floated at $100 receive 4 tokens (base plus 3 extra).  All tokens cost $40 + $10/hex as the crow flies from the base hex of the Corporation to the hex in which the Corporation wishes to lay the token (except the base and doubled tokens, which are free). 
Change in Presidency
The President of a Corporation is the player who owns the most shares of the Corporation.  If two or more players are tied for most owned shares, the player who currently owns the President’s Certificate is the President.
If at any time the President owns fewer shares than another player, he must exchange the President’s Certificate for an appropriate number of share certificates owned by the other player.  A player who takes over a System by acquiring more shares than the current President(whether by purchase or sale) must trade the Double Share certificate to the old President if he owns it.  The new President receives the Company Charter and all assets of the Company.  If two or more players are eligible to become President and have an equal number of shares, the player whose turn is the earliest using Stock Round rules after the current President becomes the new President.

Operations Round
Overview
Each Operating Round begins with revenue collection from open Private Companies. This revenue is paid to the owner. After all revenues from Private Companies have been paid, each Company operates in descending order of their stock price. Companies whose stock values are equal, but whose stock tokens do not occupy the same space, operate in order from right to left: the Company whose token is furthest to the right operates first, followed by the next rightmost Company, until all Companies with the same stock price have operated.  Companies whose stock tokens are stacked in a single space on the Stock Market operate in order from top to bottom.
Each Company operates once during each Operating Round.  When all Companies have operated, players begin a new Operating Round or a new Stock Round, depending on the Game Phase and the number of Operating Rounds already conducted.
Except for exercise of Private Company special powers, Companies must conduct their operations in strict conformance to the order described below.  The special powers may be exercised at any time during the owning Company’s turn, and are in addition to any normal tile or token placement operations conducted by the Company.
Lay or Upgrade Track
A Company may lay two yellow tiles, or upgrade one tile in accordance with the rules set forth below.  A Company may not lay a tile that runs off the board.  If a hex has a dollar amount printed in the hex, a Corporation must pay that amount to lay a yellow tile in that hex.  There is no additional cost to upgrade a tile (exception: river hexes).  Anytime a Corporation lays a tile that abuts a river hexside, the Corporation must pay $40 if it is the Mississippi (dark blue) or $20 for all other river hexsides (light blue).  A river hexside is defined as the hexside nearest the path of the river (designer’s note: it may be necessary to explicitly state which hexsides these are for the rules lawyers out there).  Anytime a Corporation upgrades a tile such that some portion of the new track abuts a river hexside, the Corporation must pay the river cost as stated above.  Note: one Corporation may lay a tile that abuts a river hexside and then either the same Corporation or some other Corporation may lay a tile to join the other one that has already been placed.  Both Corporations (or the same Corporation both times) must pay the river cost.  After the purchase of the first ‘6’ train, Companies may upgrade or downgrade small city tiles.  Small cities are upgraded to #5, #6 or #57 tiles or downgraded to #7, #8 or #9 tiles.  Kansas City, St. Louis and Milwaukee have special brown and gray hexes designated with “St.L.”, “K.C.” and “M” respectively.
When a Company upgrades a tile, the upgrade must preserve all the track on the previous tile, but the new track does not have to be open to the company laying the tile.  Track laying is classified as "permissive" under the Steve Thomas rules.
Additional Token Placement
Companies may place an additional station token, if the Company has one available, on any open city to which it may legally run, given a train of arbitrary length.  A Company may only place or buy one station marker token per Operating Round.  Tokens may not be placed in a city that would block the base of a Company even if that tile could be upgraded to provide another city circle; the tile must be upgraded first before the token is legally playable.  A Company may only place one token on any given tile.  The cost of each additional token placement is $40 + $10/hex as the crow flies from the Company’s base hex to the hex in which it wishes to lay the token.  Systems calculate the price from both of the bases and pay the cheaper cost.  It must immediately pay the requisite amount from its Treasury.

 
         
Train Operation and Dividend Calculation
A Company, which owns one or more trains, operates them and calculates the resulting route value.  A Company must calculate the maximum possible route value using all its trains (not necessarily the maximum possible route value for any particular train if more than one train is owned).  Route values are calculated as follows:
•	Each train must operate on a legal route.  A legal route contains one or more Cities containing the Company’s station token (not necessarily at the beginning or end of the route) and one or more other Cities or Off-Map Locations.
•	The maximum number of Cities and Off-Map Locations that may be included is the train number.  D trains may run routes of unlimited length, but must conform to all other rules of legal routes.
•	A train may not skip Cities.
•	If a train runs to an Off-Map Location, it must be a terminus.  A train may both begin and end a route at different Off-Map Locations, provided the route is otherwise legal.
•	A train may not reverse at a junction, nor may the same track be used more than once.
•	A train may not run more than once to the same City.
•	A train may run to, but not through, a City that is completely filled with other Company's station tokens.
•	Trains may not use track used by any of the Company’s other trains in the same Operating Round.  Trains may, however, run to the same Cities, provided they do not reuse any track used by the other train.
•	The route value is equal to the sum of the values of all Cities and Off-Map Locations included in the route.  The total route value is equal to the sum of the value of all the Company’s train routes values.
Dividend Payment
A Company may pay out its revenue (i.e. declare a dividend) or may withhold its revenue.  A dividend is calculated by dividing a Company’s revenue by ten.  The Bank pays each player the amount of the dividend, multiplied by the number of shares owned by the player.  5% shares in a System are put together into 10% shares for the purpose of dividend payment.  Odd 5% shares are paid half the dividend rounded up.  Shares in the Bank Pool do not pay dividends.  Shares in the initial offering and the treasury pay their dividends to the corporate/system treasury.  If the Company withholds its revenue, the bank pays the entire Company’s route value to the Company's Treasury.  
Share Price Adjustment
The banker adjusts the Company’s Stock token, if necessary.
Train Purchase
If a Company has operated in the current Operating Round, and if it has fewer trains than the current Train Limit, it may purchase a train from the Bank or from another Company owned by the same player.  To purchase a train from the Bank, the Company must pay the purchase price of the available train it wishes to buy to the Bank from its Treasury.  Players may not buy trains from Companies owned by other players.  To purchase a train from another Company owned by the same player, the Company must pay the other Company a mutually agreed price which may be as little as $1.
Purchase of Tokens from Other Company
A Company may buy a token from another Company after the train purchase phase of the purchasing Company’s turn of the operating round.  The Corporation may only buy or place one token per operating round.  A token placed using the St. Louis and Alton Private Company does not count against this limit.  The buying Company must be able to place a token in the space that will be vacated by the purchased token within the rules stated above for the placement of tokens.  The buying  Company pays the selling Company $100.  The buying Company then pays the bank the cost to actually place the token.  In essence, the buying Company pays the selling Company to remove its token thus allowing it to place a token in that space.  Companies may sell the doubled token to another Company. 
Mandatory Train Purchase
A Company that has operated in the current Operating Round must own a train at the end of its turn in the current Operating Round, whether or not it has a legal run.  If it has sufficient funds in its Treasury, it may buy any train or trains that are available from the Bank.  The president may also satisfy the mandatory train requirement by purchasing a train from another Company he owns or by Merger (see below), even if there is no money in the Company's treasury (see below).  If the Company does not have sufficient funds to buy the lowest-valued train currently available from the Bank, the Company’s President must make up the difference by having a fire sale.  Use the following procedure to conduct a fire sale.  
1.	First, the president must offer any redeemed shares for sale one at a time.  An auction is conducted between all players except the president.  The player holding priority deal gets the first bid.  All bids must be at least one-half of the present market value or at least $5 more than any previous bid.  Once a player passes, he may not re-enter the bidding.  The last player to bid gets the share at the price he bid.  If no one bids on the share, the bank buys the share at 50% of present market price rounded down.  The stock price token is moved down one row.  The money goes into the corporate treasury.  A player may, as a result of stock purchases made during the fire sale, acquire more shares than the president.  If so, the president transfers the President’s share to the new president and receives two regular shares in return.  The new president now conducts the fire sale and is responsible for purchasing the engine.  The president should recalculate how much money he needs to buy an engine and if he needs more, he proceeds with the fire sale.  
2.	The president may at his option then offer any tokens other its base token that are on the board for sale one at a time.  The president chooses which tokens to auction if any, but may not participate in the auction.  The bidding starts with the player who has priority deal.  A player bids on behalf of a Company he controls.  A player may only bid for one Company at a time.  The player must state the name of the Company for which he is bidding as well as the price.  The president chooses the starting bid, but may not change this price if there are no bidders.  Each player’s bid must be at least equal to the minimum bid set forth by the president.  After any minimum bids have been satisfied, bidding proceeds in $5 increments.  Once a player passes, he may not re-enter the auction even for a different Company.  Only players who are presidents of Companies that both have enough money and an unused token may bid.  The player must then pay for the token as if they were laying the token during a normal operating round.  Therefore, the Company that is laying the token must have enough money in its treasury to cover the bid and the cost of playing the token.  The Company must have a connection to the hex in which the token is located to bid.  The auction proceeds in stock round order until there is a winner.  The winning player then pays the winning bid price from the Company treasury to the Company holding the fire sale and replaces the token that was sold with one of its own tokens.  The replaced token is returned to the corporate treasury.  Note: it is possible for a company to receive less money than it paid for a token originally during a fire sale.  If no one bids for the token the president may choose to put up another eligible token for sale and so on.  Once the last available token is sold or rejected, the fire sale ends.  The bank never buys tokens.
If the company still does not have enough money to buy a train even after the fire sale, the president must make up the deficit with his own cash.  Note: keep the Company’s cash and personal cash separate until the president actually purchases the engine.  If the President does not have enough cash to make up the difference, he must sell stock as if it were a Stock Round until he has raised sufficient cash to purchase the least expensive train available from the Bank (or to pay up to face value for an engine from another Company he controls).  Although the Presidency of other Companies/Systems may change as a result of such stock sales, the President of the Company needing the train may never sell shares of that Company so as to cause a change in Presidency of that Company (although players may choose to bid for and buy shares that are sold during a fire sale resulting in a change of presidency).  Shares of stock are sold and all monies collected and any change of Company Presidency is resolved before the transaction to buy an engine occurs.  This means that if a player makes decides to purchase an engine from another Company he owns and while raising money to buy this engine he sells enough stock to cause a transfer of Presidency in the Company that was offering the engine for sale, the change in Prediency happens BEFORE the engine is bought.  Since that player is no longer the President of the Company offering the engine for sale, the transaction is cancelled.  As an alternative, the President may purchase a train from another Company he owns at a mutually agreed price as little as $1 or he may merge with another Company he owns(see below).  Once a player uses $1 or more from his personal cash, that player may not pay more than face value for an engine that he purchases from another Company he controls.

Merger
If, after the purchase of the first 10 train, a Corporation (but not a System) finds itself without an engine and without sufficient funds in its Treasury to purchase the least expensive alternative from the bank, the President may, but is not required to, merge the Corporation into one of his other Corporations to form a System.  The two Corporations wishing to merge must connect in the sense that a route, free of blocking tokens, must exist connecting at least one of the station marker tokens of one of the Corporations to at least one of the station marker tokens of the other Corporation wishing to merge.  Systems, themselves, are not eligible to merge with other Corporations or Systems.

To execute a merger, follow these steps:
1.	Take a System charter from the Bank.  The Systems have historic names, but need not correspond to the actual merger taking place.  
2.	The newly created System has its own tokens and share certificates.  The two President's shares are exchanged for 10% shares in the new System.  One of these 10% shares will be new President's share for the System.  All 10% shares in both merging Corporations are exchanged for 5% shares in the System, including those in the Bank Pool and the Initial Offering.  The System gets tokens equal to the sum of the number of tokens of the two Corporations that formed it.  
3.	The new System gets all of the cash left in the Treasuries of both Corporations as well as any trains owned by either Corporation.  The new System may hold one extra engine during each game phase.
4.	When dividends are paid, 5% certificates are combined together and paid as 10% certificates.  Odd 5% certificates are paid half of the 10% dividend, rounded up.   
5.	The new share price of the System is the arithmetic mean of the two prices of the two Corporations that formed it.  The token is placed on the top row of the stock chart.  The token is placed in the box with the highest share price that is less than or equal to the mean price.  The new par price is the mean of the original par prices.  Place the token in the box closest to, but less than the mean par price.  
6.	All token belonging to the Corporations involved in the merger are replaced with tokens belonging to the new System.  Duplicate tokens are returned to the System charter and may be placed later.  Any unused tokens from the Corporations are also replaced and put on the System charter and may be placed later.
7.	The newly created System does not operate until the next Operating Round.  This may mean that two engineless Corporations may merge and avoid having to purchase an engine until the next Operating Round.
8.	Each 10% share in the new System counts as a full certificate towards the certificate limit.  Each 5% share counts as ½ a certificate towards the certificate limit.  The price on the stock chart refers to the price/cost of 10% of the System stock.  A 5% share is worth half of the stock market price.  Players must pay half the present stock market (price rounded) up to purchase a 5% share from the Bank Pool or System Treasury.  Any 5% shares in the Initial Offering cost half the par price (rounded up).  
9.	A System operates exactly like a Corporation.  It lays two yellow tiles or one upgrade per Operating Round.  It may place one station marker token each Operating Round.  The price paid for a station marker token is calculated from both of the bases of the original two Corporations.  The System pays the cheaper of the two costs.  Systems must own an engine at the end of their turns in the Operating Round and the player may go bankrupt attempting to buy an engine for a System.  A System may sell station marker tokens to other companies and may buy or agree to sell a train to another company owned by the same player.
Bankruptcy
If the President of a Company needing a train cannot raise enough cash to buy a train for that Company through stock sales and either chooses not to or is ineligible to merge , he is bankrupt.  When a player is bankrupt, he is eliminated from further play: however, the game continues for the other players.  All of the bankrupt player’s shares are placed in the Bank Pool including all President’s shares.  All of the player’s personal cash is put back into the bank.  That player’s final score is $0.  The Companys’ treasuries stay out until ownership in these Companies is decided.  The Treasury is open for inspection.  These Company’s market value is unaffected by the return of shares to the Bank Pool.  
To determine ownership of Companies, follow the procedure set down below.  For each Company owned by the bankrupt player in share price order, the player with the most shares in the Company (at least two) takes over the Company.  If two or more players have an equal number of shares in the Company, the player closest to priority deal takes control.  If no player owns two or more shares, the company is placed into receivership.  The player who has priority deal becomes the first receiver.  The first receiver runs the first company to go into receivership.  The player to the left of the priority dealer runs the next company and so on.  The receiver decides which tiles to play, whether or not to place tokens, and whether or not to pay dividends (if the Company has an engine).  If the Company is engineless, the Company  “borrows” a D train from the bank and must retain earnings until it has enough money to purchase the cheapest train available in the bank.  Borrowing of the D train does not cause a phase change.  While a Company is in receivership, it may not buy any engines except the borrowed D train.  A Company in receivership may not sell any of its engines.  Players may buy stock in Companies that are in receivership, but the first certificate purchased must be the President’s certificate.  A player who already owns stock in a Company that is in Receivership need only buy sufficient stock to acquire 20%(10% for a System).  For example, a player with 10% of CB&Q stock may purchase a single 10% share from the bank pool and then trade both of the 10% shares for the 20% President's share.  Once a player purchases the president’s certificate of a Company in receivership, that company is removed from receivership and that player is now responsible for the Company.  The borrowed engine is immediately returned to the Bank.  If a Company manages to accumulate enough money and buys an engine while still in receivership, any player who takes over the Company runs the Company as if it were never in receivership.
If a player takes over a Company, one of two things happens.  If the Company has an engine, the player runs the Company as a regular Company.  If the Company was engineless, the player has two options.  He may provide a train for it, either by buying one from another Company he owns or by enforced purchase from the bank or he may merge the Corporation into one of his other Corporations to form a System(note engineless Systems may not be merged).  The decision must be made immediately during the first Operating Round after the player takes over the Company and is final.  . 
Tile Placement and Tile Upgrades
Players lay track by placing tiles on the map or upgrading previously placed tiles.  At first, only yellow tiles may be placed. Subsequently, yellow tiles may be upgraded to green tiles, which may in turn be upgraded to brown tiles, and finally to gray tiles.  Tiles must always be upgraded consecutively: a yellow tile must be upgraded to a green tile before it can be upgraded to a brown tile, before finally to a gray tile.  It is possible for a yellow tile to be blocked from being upgraded to a brown or gray tile because of the lack of the intervening green or brown tile upgrade.
Once placed, a tile becomes part of the Map and is only removed if it is upgraded to another tile.  In addition, the following restrictions apply:
•	Tiles may not be placed or upgraded in such a fashion as to cause any new track to run to a prohibited hex.  A prohibited hex is defined as any impassable (dark green) hex, or any blank hexside of a gray or red (Off-Map Location) hex.
•	Tiles may not be placed or upgraded in such a fashion as to block the route of any Corporation that has never operated prior to the current Operating Round.
•	Hexes with a City () may only have yellow tiles with City circles (#5, #6, and #57) placed on them.
•	Hexes with a small dot on them may only have a #3, #4 or #58 tile placed on them. 
•	Upgraded tiles must maintain all connections existing prior to the upgrade.  All tokens present on a tile that has been upgraded are placed on the new tile in the same configuration that they were on the old tile.  The old tile is removed from the map and may subsequently be used again.
•	There are special tiles for St. Louis, Kansas City and Milwaukee.
Chicago-San Francisco Connection
The first Company to actually run a route which connects Chicago to San Francisco Off-Map Area receives a $500 bonus, half of which ($250) is paid to the Company and half of which ($250) is added to the route value.  If that Company also places a token (the token is free but not extra) in San Francisco, that city will be doubled for the owning Company for the rest of the game including the turn on which it makes the initial connection.  If the Company which actually does the connection run does not lay the doubled token immediately, any other Company may lay the token if otherwise legal to do so, but that Company must pay for the token.
New Orleans-Southwest Connection
The first Company to actually run a route from New Orleans to the Southwest Off-Map Area receives a $400 bonus, half of which ($200) is paid to the Company’s treasury and half of which ($200) is added to the route value.  If that Company also places a token in Southwest (the token is free but not extra), the Southwest will be doubled for that Company for the rest of the game.  If the Company which actually does the connection run does not lay the doubled token immediately, any other Company may lay the token if otherwise legal to do so, but that Company must pay for the token.
Note that the Southern Pacific may place an additional token in the Southwest Off-Map Area if it is the Company who does the New Orleans to Southwest connection run.  
Station Token Placement
A Company may only place a station marker token if it has one available.  The city hex in which the token is placed must be accessible to the placing Company by a legal route using a train of arbitrary length.  At least one of the City circles on the City hex must be open.  To place a station token, the Company must trace a legal route from one of its current station tokens to the target City hex.  A Corporation may not lay a station marker token such that it blocks the base city of a Corporation that hasn’t started yet.  A Company may only lay one station marker token in each hex (exception: see New Orleans to Southwest Connection).  The Corporation pays $40 + $10/hex as the crow flies from the base hex of the Corporation placing the token to the hex in which the Corporation wishes to lay the token to the bank from its Treasury.  A system pays $40 + $10/hex as the crow flies from either of it two base hexes.  The Systems pays the lessor amount to the Bank.  If the Company has insufficient funds in its treasury, it may not place the station token
Ending the Game
The game ends after the end of the last Operating Round of the set of operating rounds in which the Bank runs out of money.  This applies whether the Bank runs out of money during the Stock Round or during an Operating Round: in either event a full set of Operating Rounds is played and players receive all revenues earned during the final set of Operating Rounds.  At the conclusion of the final Operating Round, players calculate their net worth as follows:
•	Calculate the total asset value of all shares of stock held by multiplying the final stock price by the number of shares held.  5% shares in systems are still worth only half the present market price when determining final score.  Combine 5% shares into 10% shares and then round up any odd 5% shares in each system.
•	Add total cash on hand.
The net total is the player’s net worth.  The player with the highest net worth wins the game.

Historical Background
Railroading in the Upper Midwest began with the chartering of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad in 1846. By 1860, a robust network of railroads connected Chicago, St. Louis, and the area east of the Mississippi. Little progress on railroad development was made during the Civil War, but afterwards, spurred in part by President Lincoln’s signing of the Trans-Continental Railroad Act of 1862, significant progress was made in establishing a rail network west of the Mississippi.
Acknowledgments, Credits and Copyright Notices
The 18MW Integrated Game System (hereinafter referred to as “18MW”) is © 1992-2001 Robin Barbehenn, who is hereby declared the Author of 18MW for all purposes. Physical systems design is © 1996 David G.D. Hecht.
The Author recognizes that 18MW incorporates, and, indeed, would not be possible without, numerous subsystems and concepts originally used in other Integrated Game Systems. In particular, the Author acknowledges the original 1829, 1829 Northern Board, and 1853, designed by Francis Tresham and published by Hartland Trefoil Ltd.; 1830, designed by Francis Tresham and Bruce Shelley and published by The Avalon Hill Game Company; 1835, designed by Michael Meier-Bachl and published by Hans-Im-Glueck-Verlag and Mayfair Games Inc.; 1856 and 1870, designed by Bill Dixon and published by Mayfair Games Inc.; 1832 and 1850, designed by Bill Dixon and currently unpublished; 1837, designed and privately published by Leonhard Orgler; and 1841 (formerly known as “1839”) and 1849 (formerly known as “1850”), designed and privately published by Federico Vellani. Additionally, the Physical Systems Designer is indebted to Chris Lawson, publisher of the 1841 and 1899 Game Kits, and to Federico Vellani, for certain aspects of the physical systems design (in particular the tile layout and Corporation charter/share/token layout, and the use of oversized upgrade tiles for Chicago).
1829 and 1853 are trademarks of Hartland Trefoil Ltd.
1830 is a trademark of The Avalon Hill Game Company.
1835 is a trademark of Hans-Im-Glueck-Verlag.
1856 and 1870 are trademarks of Mayfair Games Inc.
1837 is a trademark of Leonhard Orgler.
1841 and 1849 are trademarks of Federico Vellani.
1899 is a trademark of Ingo Meyer.
The 18xx Rail Tile Game System was originated by Francis Tresham and Hartland Trefoil Ltd.
Use of trademarks without acknowledgment is not intended to disparage or challenge the intellectual property claims made by authors or publishers.
The above enumeration is not intended to be exhaustive. Enumeration of certain individuals or companies is not intended to disparage others. 

Appendix A: Charts and Tables

A1.0 Train Manifest

Train Type	Number Available	Cost	
2	7	80	
3	6	180	
4	5	300	
5	4	425	
6	3	550	
8	3	800	
10	3	900	
D	Unlimited *	1100	
*Only six ‘D’ train cards are provided.

A2.0 Corporations
Corporation	Starting City	
Southern Pacific	Southwest	
Northern Pacific	Minneapolis	
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific	Des Moines	
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific	Milwaukee	
Chicago and Northwestern	Madison	
Illinois Central	Springfield, IL	
Missouri Pacific	St. Louis	
St. Louis and San Francisco	Kansas City	
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy	Rock Island	
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio	New Orleans	

A3.0 Systems
Systems	
Burlington Northern	
Conrail	
CSX	
Norfolk and Western	

A4.0 Certificate Limits after Merger(s)
Number of Players	One Merger	Two Mergers	Three Mergers	Four Mergers	
3	19	18	17	16	
4	15	14	13	12	
5	12	11	10	9	

A5.0 Tile Manifest

Yellow
#3 – 2
#4 – 3
#5 – 3
#6 – 3
#7 – 8
#8 – 20
#9 – 20
#57 – 4
#58 – 3

Green
#14 – 3
#619-3
#15 – 5
#16 – 2
#17 – 1
#18 – 1
#19 – 2
#20 – 2
#23 – 4
#24 – 4
#25 – 2
#26 – 2
#27 – 2
#28 – 2
#29 – 2

Brown
#39 – 1
#40 – 1
#41 – 2
#42 – 2
#43 – 2
#44 – 2
#45 – 2
#46 – 2
#47 – 2
#63 – 5
M – 1
K.C. – 1
St. L. – 1
Gray
M - 1
K.C. – 1
St. L. – 1