For any
Rail Baron fans, I just wanted to pass on news that I had apparently missed a few years ago. The game has been reprinted by Rio Grande Games under the original
Boxcars name used by the inventors (the Erickson brothers). Avalon Hill had bought the rights from the Ericksons after they had printed a thousand copies of the game with the Boxcars name back in the 70's. After Avalon Hill was scooped up by Hasbro and eventually dismantled, the Ericksons renewed their right to go elsewhere. Unfortunately both brothers passed away before the reprint in 2013.
Anyway, here's what you need to know:
1. The board is
one piece, instead of
three!
2. The colored symbols for the railroad companies have changed from the original, but the new thick tiles (which have a space on the board) are really cool, and I like them better than just cards.
3. Minor rule changes that make the game less irritating (i.e. Choosing a home city after rolling for the region, and riding rails you own for free).
4. The board is two-sided, and includes a Great Britain map on the back. The railroad tiles flip for the USA/GB companies, and the money flips from dollars to pounds.
5. There is an improved (and corrected) payoff chart that is now a giant poster. The Destination Table is made from tile stock, which is nice. It is reversible for the GB destinations.
6. The game has an app for Apple or Android, which helps with destination rolls and payoffs. The app does not have good reviews, but there are other (better) apps out there that can compute the payoffs. I like rolling the dice myself.
7. The moving pieces are little wooden trains, which are awesome. However, they have a slightly larger piece for when you upgrade to an Express, and an huge train piece for when you upgrade to the Superchief. The Superchief piece is just too big, and covers several dots. I think I'll stick with the basic small train piece, which fits over just one dot and reminds you which direction you're travelling.
