Tracks to Telluride
Encyclopedia
Tracks to Telluride is a railroad board game
centered on the construction of railroad track
, and servicing mines
along those railroad tracks. The setting of the game is in southwestern Colorado
during the mining boom of 1873 through 1888. This game is the first in the "Tracks series" of crayon railroad
games by Winsome Games. The game was developed by John Bohrer with playtesting by the Edgewood Gaming Group and the Pittsburgh Smoking Engineers.
The first release was called Colorado Rails.
. "One guy brought by a game he had gotten as a gift from his girlfriend called Rails through the Rockies." They played the game and found some shortcomings. Bohrer researched railbuilding in that region and era. He significantly revised the rules, used the Rails through the Rockies map and called the new game Rocky Mountain Rails.
The game board is copyrighted 1992.Tracks to Telluride is copyrighted 1994. Advanced Tracks to Telluride is copyrighted 1995.
Tracks to Titicaca
is the second game in the Tracks series. It is set in the Andes
between the years 1870 and 1930.
The game is played on a map of southwestern Colorado between the cities of Denver
, Grand Junction
, Dolores
and Trinidad
. The map is four sections of laminated paper riveted together in the center. The map is assembled by interlocking the tabs at the edge of the map.
All of the mine cards are then shuffle
d together. The top seventeen are dealt out as the initial set of open mines. The remaining mine cards are separated out in to four stacks by type: gold
, silver
, coal
and varied (miscellaneous).
The season
indicator card is set to summer. Play order is determined randomly
using the turn-order cards. In turn order, each player decides on his starting city: Denver, Colorado Springs
, Pueblo
or Trinidad. In reverse turn-order, each player then decides on narrow or standard gauge
track. Each player starts with $20. Play proceeds at the Determine Railroad Order stage.
The winner is the player whose railroad receives the most mine income at the end of the game. Remember, standard-gauge railroads receive twice the income from each mine that a narrow-gauge receives.
There are now four seasons, and the spring and fall may be mild or harsh (snowy). The game starts in a mild spring. During winter and harsh seasons, track needs to be plowed to be passable. During winter, snowplow
s may become stuck in passes, unable to plow any further the entire season. During winter, there is no building of new track, and an additional cost to build new track during harsh seasons. Each of the three types of snowplow can plow a different amount of track, but only the lowest technology (blade) is available at the beginning of the game. Each of the three types of snowplow will plow a different amount of track, but a given snowplow will plow the same amount of track regardless of the gauge.
A railroad may build dual-gauge
(both narrow-gauge and standard-gauge) track for a one-time surcharge of $25. Each section of track converted to dual-gauge costs the same as narrow-gauge track. Existing, plowed track may be converted to dual-gauge even during harsh and winter seasons, but at an additional cost.
A railroad will receive a "regional bonus" if it is the only railroad to have plowed track during a season in certain cities. Instead of a railroad getting an exclusive contract for a mine and receiving that mine's income, any railroad that has plowed track during a season to a mine will receive a share of the income. Standard gauge railroads received two shares to the narrow-gauge railroads' one.
Track maintenance costs must be paid for at a cost of one dollar for every:
Any player may choose to end the game once one of the ten game-ending-conditions has been met. The game winning conditions is the same as for the Tracks to Telluride for the first nine conditions. However, if the someone ends the game because of the tenth condition, a railroad has saved at least $300, then the railroad with the most money wins.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
centered on the construction of railroad track
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
, and servicing mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
along those railroad tracks. The setting of the game is in southwestern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
during the mining boom of 1873 through 1888. This game is the first in the "Tracks series" of crayon railroad
Crayon rails
Crayon rails is the generic term for a board game which recreates the building of railroads via the use of crayons on a reusable wipe clean board...
games by Winsome Games. The game was developed by John Bohrer with playtesting by the Edgewood Gaming Group and the Pittsburgh Smoking Engineers.
The first release was called Colorado Rails.
History
In the early 1980s, John Bohrer played a lot of war gamesWargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
. "One guy brought by a game he had gotten as a gift from his girlfriend called Rails through the Rockies." They played the game and found some shortcomings. Bohrer researched railbuilding in that region and era. He significantly revised the rules, used the Rails through the Rockies map and called the new game Rocky Mountain Rails.
- After further research I developed my own map; it eliminated eastern Colorado so that I could concentrate on western Colorado's mines and geographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
. I combined this map with probabilistic passMountain passA mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
completion system[sic] and further research on the mines to arrive at Tracks to Telluride.
- The historical event deck contains actual events, and I used this as a vehicle to illustrate the trials and tribulations these CEO's had in building the railroads, and to help the struggling railroads (1/3 of the deck) and to offer character building experiences (1/3 of the deck) to the powerful railroads. Some gamers call this the "hysterical event deck". I have kept it out of Advanced Tracks to Telluride at the request of the tournament players. AT2T will give them other acts of God to contend with, not the least being the weather.
The game board is copyrighted 1992.Tracks to Telluride is copyrighted 1994. Advanced Tracks to Telluride is copyrighted 1995.
Tracks to Titicaca
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It sits 3,811 m above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world...
is the second game in the Tracks series. It is set in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
between the years 1870 and 1930.
Setup
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Grand Junction
Grand Junction, Colorado
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...
, Dolores
Dolores, Colorado
The town of Dolores is a Statutory Town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. It is one of three incorporated municipalities in the county....
and Trinidad
Trinidad, Colorado
The historic City of Trinidad is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States...
. The map is four sections of laminated paper riveted together in the center. The map is assembled by interlocking the tabs at the edge of the map.
All of the mine cards are then shuffle
Shuffle
Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.-Shuffling techniques:...
d together. The top seventeen are dealt out as the initial set of open mines. The remaining mine cards are separated out in to four stacks by type: gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and varied (miscellaneous).
The season
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
indicator card is set to summer. Play order is determined randomly
Randomness
Randomness has somewhat differing meanings as used in various fields. It also has common meanings which are connected to the notion of predictability of events....
using the turn-order cards. In turn order, each player decides on his starting city: Denver, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
, Pueblo
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
or Trinidad. In reverse turn-order, each player then decides on narrow or standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
track. Each player starts with $20. Play proceeds at the Determine Railroad Order stage.
Play
Each season of play proceeds in the following order:- Change Season: The season card is flipped from summer to winter or vice versa.
- Draw Mine Event Card: Top mine event card is drawn and for each mine listed, open mines close or closed mines open.
- Draw Historical Event Card: Top historical event card is drawn and effect(s) take place.
- Determine Railroad Order: Least cash is first; ties go to narrow-gauge railroad; other ties resolved randomly.
- Declare Mountain Pass Attempts: During summer only, each player, in turn order, may declare up to two mountain passes to attempt to build through.
- Attempt Court Ordered Injunction: Each player, in turn order, may attempt a courtCourt orderA court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...
injunctionInjunctionAn injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
forbidding work on a pass. - Attempt Mountain Pass Completion: Each player, in turn order, may attempt to build through a declared pass not blocked by a court injunction.
- Build Track and Tunnels: Each player, in turn order, builds tracks and tunnelTunnelA tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s at rates determined by the terrainTopographyTopography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
. Standard-gauge railroads pay twice the narrow-gauge rate for building track. Bonuses are collected for the first railroad to build to each unconnected town. - Acquire Mine Contracts: Any previously-uncontracted or newly-opened mine will make an exclusive contractContractA contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
with any railroads built to it. If there is more than one railroad available, then the highest bidderAuctionAn auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
gets the exclusive contract to service that mine. - Announce Rate Wars: Each player whose railroad is connected at two or more cities with another railroad may declare a rate war with that other railroad, possibly decreasing both of their incomes.
- Receive Mine Income: Each player receives money from the open mines contracted to their railroad. Standard gauge receive twice the amount that the narrow-gauge railroad will receive.
- Investors: Each turn, each players receives $5 from new investorInvestmentInvestment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
s.
Winning
The game ends either when one railroad is connected to both Denver and Grand Junction, or all of the historical event cards have been played. At the end of that season, draw one more mine event card and close all mines listed on it.The winner is the player whose railroad receives the most mine income at the end of the game. Remember, standard-gauge railroads receive twice the income from each mine that a narrow-gauge receives.
Advanced Tracks to Telluride
Advanced Tracks to Telluride is an expansion for the Tracks to Telluride game that uses the same map and rules with some rule additions. The game was developed by John Bohrer with playtesting by the Edgewood Gaming Group, the Trout to Telluride Club and the Pittsburgh Smoking Engineers.There are now four seasons, and the spring and fall may be mild or harsh (snowy). The game starts in a mild spring. During winter and harsh seasons, track needs to be plowed to be passable. During winter, snowplow
Snowplow
A snowplow is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes...
s may become stuck in passes, unable to plow any further the entire season. During winter, there is no building of new track, and an additional cost to build new track during harsh seasons. Each of the three types of snowplow can plow a different amount of track, but only the lowest technology (blade) is available at the beginning of the game. Each of the three types of snowplow will plow a different amount of track, but a given snowplow will plow the same amount of track regardless of the gauge.
A railroad may build dual-gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...
(both narrow-gauge and standard-gauge) track for a one-time surcharge of $25. Each section of track converted to dual-gauge costs the same as narrow-gauge track. Existing, plowed track may be converted to dual-gauge even during harsh and winter seasons, but at an additional cost.
A railroad will receive a "regional bonus" if it is the only railroad to have plowed track during a season in certain cities. Instead of a railroad getting an exclusive contract for a mine and receiving that mine's income, any railroad that has plowed track during a season to a mine will receive a share of the income. Standard gauge railroads received two shares to the narrow-gauge railroads' one.
Track maintenance costs must be paid for at a cost of one dollar for every:
- Six hexes of narrow-gauge
- Four hexes of standard-gauge
- Three hexes of dual-gauge
Any player may choose to end the game once one of the ten game-ending-conditions has been met. The game winning conditions is the same as for the Tracks to Telluride for the first nine conditions. However, if the someone ends the game because of the tenth condition, a railroad has saved at least $300, then the railroad with the most money wins.
Additional references
- Tracks to Telluride: Rules of Play
- Advanced Tracks to Telluride Extension Set (Rules)
- Promotional material included with other games from Winsome Games.
- "Postscript/Motivations" section of the Advanced Tracks to Telluride rulebook, available online at http://www.gamecabinet.com/reviews/TracksTellu.html.