Across
the Boards: Historical Routes
for the Railways of 1825
by Lou Jerkich
Introduction
Although the railways of 1825 essentially represent historical
railroads in Great Britian from the era before the 1923 Grouping, it
can be difficult at times to plot out the main routes of these
railroads. Some of the cities and towns of importance in the
actual routes of each historical line are not even represented on the
game map. Moreover, the limitations posed by the track tiles
themselves, as well as the board's hexagonal grid, likewise make the
task of exactly recreating the historical lines difficult or at times
impossible. Hexags containing two towns or two cities usually
cause the most problems in attempting to create a reasonable facsimile
of the historical routes, and some historical cities had more railway
lines passing through the hexes than is possible using the track tiles
of the game. Nevertheless, for those interested in railway
history, the route proposals povided below are suggested as the best
approximations to the historical mainlines of these companies in the
1825 game. In re-creating these routes, all track tiles from
Units 1, 2, and 3, plus those of the various kits of the 1825
series have been employed.
The recreation of historical routes for individual lines in 1825 can be
achieved in a general sense, even if the exact particulars are
impossible. However, it is much more difficult to recreate the
criss-crossing of routes and lines across the entire combined map of
Units 1, 2, and 3, plus the regional kit boards, when all 14 Major
Companies and all ten Minor Companies are to be depicted. I have
managed it, albeit poorly in places, except that the combined track
tiles of all the Units and kits fall short of one needed brown #63
tile, to be placed at Carlisle, in
order to make the routes reasonably complete. The track
descriptions that follow indicate the
starting points and the directions the lines should follow to reach
their destinations. Required mainline bases and potential
stations for branches are shown in bold font so that legal routes for
game purposes can be created. Naturally, the later trains which
can run longer routes will eliminate the need for some of the branch
station locations, barring competion with other lines that may require
a base to be established to protect one's route.
What follows is a list of the companies showing the grid hexes and
tiles therein that are needed to best create their individual
routes.
(The tile orientation is shown by the compass direction of the tile
number.) One
might challenge some of these route recreations, in which case I invite
players to propose alternatives. The tiles shown are the ones
needed in order to create not only the routes being indicated but also
to permit connections, junctions, and cross-overs for other railway
lines. If desired, one can backtrack from these tiles to the
appropriate yellow, green, or brown tiles to indicate just the original
routes of a particular company without reference to the lines of other
companies. Were one to just attempt to depict the routes followed
by a single railway company, the task would be much easier than in this
multi-railway compilation.
Also, for reasons unknown to me, the city of Berwick did not get placed
on the 1825 Unit 3 map. It should be located in G13, which is not
a permitted track location in the game. The NBR had a mainline
terminus at Berwick, and so did the mainline of the NER. I have
noted track locations as if this hex G13 was a playable hex with the
city of Berwick located there. A type 6 yellow tile fits very
well here, and an upgrade during the game to a green type 12 tile is
even better.
As an experiment, I suggest making G13/Berwick a playable hex as a
variant to 1825. If players prefer not to make this a playable
hex, then the NER should
terminate at G9 (Edinburgh) and the NBR should terminate at I13
(Blyth/Ashington). These two cities would be connected via G11
and H12. (Note: Due to distance limitations for trains in the
1825 game, while historically Berwick should be part of the NBR and
NER, it may possibly be better for the profits of those railroad
companies if
Berwick does not exist. Only experimentation in play-tests can
determine what impact having a playable hex for Berwick would have on
the game.)
The Unit 2 board and the companies located in that region were the most
difficult to organize into historical routes. This is due to the
large number of city locations having two separate cities which never
connect, even on the grey tiles. Some routes thus become very
difficult to connect, and this is made all the more problematic when
base station tokens can block the routes needed, such as at Barnsley
and Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham, and Wolverhampton and
Walsall. Sometimes, these cities must be interchangeable in their
hex in order for the lines to work. (For example, for the GCR and
GNR, Rotherham must sometimes be considered to be Sheffield.)
Unlike Liverpool when it is a grey station and therefore
easy to
pass through, it can be very difficult to maintain a route through
Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. Thus, it is possible for the
LNWR to build a route direct through Birmingham, but the Midland then
cannot also do the same for two separate railways cannot both have a
separate route passing directly
through Birmingham. Thus we see the Midland Railway
forced to take a circuitous line through Hanley (Q13) and Wolverhampton
(R12) in order to reach Birmingham from Derby and then also continue to
Bristol. If a direct connection did exist by orienting the
Birmingham grey tile differently, then it would be the LNWR and
the GWR that would have awkward connections and routes.
I have indicated my choices for the placement of additional station
tokens beyond the base token. These would be the most desirable
places to place these tokens in the event one was playing a
game and wanted to preserve the historical routes depicted here.
In the event that tokens placed at PORTS (those coastal cities having
the name of the city printed in white in large capital letters,
e.g. Dover, Hull, Stranraer, etc.) will in some future rules supplement
or kit be required in order for the PORT benefit to
be taken (as with Steam Packets in 1829), I have included such ports as
desirable station locations.
I give alternative locations for the station token to be placed in the
event that there are no rules being used that make placement of the
token in ports an advanatageous endeavor.
The railways listed below are grouped according to the Unit in which
they are found. Note, however, that the LNWR, which appears in
both Units 1
and 2 of 1825, has been placed only under Unit 1 in the list
below. The track layouts assume a board situation with all three
Units combined. If working with just one or two of the Units,
there would be different mixes of track tiles available and different
base locations might be recommended. (For example, if the track
layouts are being placed just on Unit 1's board, the LNWR would have as
an extra the Preston base token listed below for placement on the Unit
2 map.)
Contents
Part 1A: The Major Railways of Unit 1
Part 1B: The Minor Railways of Unit 1
Part 2: The Railways of Unit 2
Part 3: The
Railways of Unit 3
Return
to
Lou's Game Corner: Rail Game Links
<>Originally posted August 7, 2007. Revised with new
format, 25 November 2007.
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