Ewert Technologies Home

Introduction

Rail Baron Tools is designed to be a quick reference app, that you can use while playing Rail Baron. It allows you to quickly lookup rolled Destinations and Payoffs and also provides reference information about Regions, Cities and Railroads. When you start the app you are presented with a Welcome/Home screen from which you can select the following options:

• Destination
• Payoffs
• Payoff Scaling Factor
• Regions
• Cities
• Rail Lines
• Misc Ref
• Players

Destinations

When playing Rail Baron, your destination city is determined by rolling all three dice (two white and one black). The black die determines the Odd or Even value, and the sum of the two white dice determines the Roll value. Instead of using the chart to look up the results, use the app, by toggling the Odd/Even value, and using the slider to set the dice Roll; the destination value is then displayed.

Payoffs

Payoffs are your main source of income in Rail Baron; you receive a Payoff once your Train/Pawn reaches its Destination. The amount of the Payoff is determined by the length of the trip (the longer the trip the higher the Payoff). Rail Baron Tools can be used to calculate the Payoff, between any two Cities.

Payoff Scaling Factor

There is an option, to change the scaling factor used to calculate payoffs. This could be done if you wanted to play a shorter version of the game, where each Payoff would be increased. The following Scaling Factors are available:

• 1.00
• 1.10
• 1.25
• 1.33
• 1.50
• 2.00

Regions

In Rail Baron, the game map is divided into seven Regions. Each Region contains several Cities and has several Rail Lines that run through it. To view the Regions available, tap on Regions, from the Welcome Screen. A screen is displayed showing all of the Regions in the game, with colour backgrounds that match the game board map:

The Region's Name and Abbreviation are shown, as well as the probability of rolling that particular Region.

To view the details of a particular Region, tap on the Region's row. The Region details screen is then displayed, showing the Region's name, abbreviation and odds; shows a list of the Cities in the Region, and a list of the Rail Lines that run through the Region:

To view a City's details tap on the City row (see Cities, for more details). To view a Rail Line's details, tap on the Rail Line row (see Rail Lines, for more details).

Cities

Cities are the square "dots" on the map and are used as the starting and ending locations for your trips. Each city is in a Region and is connected to other Cities by Rail Lines. To view information about Cities, tap on Cities, from the Welcome Screen. A screen is displayed listing all of the Cities included in the game:

The Cities can either be viewed grouped by their Regions or listed in one Alphabetical list. When listed by Region, the probability of rolling that city, within its Regions is shown next to the City's name. When displayed in an Alphabetical list, the overall probability of rolling the City is shown. The overall probability is the probability of first rolling the Region that the City is in, and then rolling that particular City.

To view a City's details tap on a City row:

The City Details screen show information about the City including:

• The Cities Name
• The Region the City is in
• Odds of rolling this City, within its Regions
• Overall odds of rolling this city (odds of first rolling its Region and then rolling this City)
• A list of the Rail Lines that connect to this City

There is also a More Info link, which opens your browser to the Wikipedia article for this City.

Rail Lines

Rails Lines connect the various Cities and are what you use to move your "Train", from one City to your Destination City, in order to earn your Payoff. Rail Lines can be bought and sold, and when you own a Rail Line, it allows for cheaper movement when you travel along it. Different Rail Lines have different costs and values, based on the number of Cities it connects. To find out more information about a Rail Line, and to help you in making decisions as to which Rail Line to buy, tap on Rail Lines, on the Welcome Screen. A screen is displayed listing all of the Rail Lines available in the game:

The list shows the Rail Line abbreviation, full name, price, and a value called the "City Odds per $1,000" (see below for more details). To view more details about the Rail Line, tap on the Rail Line row:

The Rail Line details screen shows similar information as what is shown on the Rail Line Title card that comes with the game. The screen shows:

• The full name of the Rail Line
• The price
• Odds of rolling a City that is on the Rail Line
• City Odds per $1,000 (see below for more details)
• The Rail Line Logo
• The list of Regions that the Rail Line passes through
• The list of Cities that are connected to the Rail Line

There is also a More Info link, which opens your browser to the Wikipedia article for this Rail Line.

The cost of Rail Lines ranges from $4,000 to $42,000. The cost depends on the size/length of the Rail Line, with larger Rail Lines costing more. When deciding to buy a Rail Line, cost is not the only factor, in addition, you should consider buying Rail Lines that will connect to each other allowing you to travel, as much as possible, to all parts of the game board. When comparing two similar Rail Lines (lines that travel in the same general area), Rail Baron Tools has included a metric that allows you not only to compare the cost but to compare their value. For each Rail Line, the app lists its City Odds per $1,000.

City Odds per $1,000

City Odds per $1,000

Odds of rolling a City that lies on the Rail Line, divided by Cost of Rail Line (in thousands of dollars). Rail Lines with a higher "City Odds per $1,000" are a better value since there is a better chance of rolling a city on the Rail Line, for a lower price

Examples:

Southern Pacific (SP) has 14 Cities. The odds of rolling one of those cities is 22.4%. The price for SP is $42,000.

City Odds per $1,000 = 22.4/42 = 0.53

Seaboard Air Line (SAL) has 8 Cities. The odds of rolling one of those cities is 9.7%. The price for SAL is $14,000

City Odds per $1,000 = 9.7/14 = 0.69

These examples show that although SP is a great Rail Line that takes you across most of the Western and Southern parts of the map, in some ways, SAL is a better value since there is a better likelihood of rolling a City on that Rail Line per amount spent on the Rail Line.

Misc References

Rail Baron Tools also includes some miscellaneous reference information, which may be useful while playing the game. Currently, you can look up:

• The amount of cash, each player starts with
• The cost of an Express Train.
• The cost of a Superchief Train (including optional variants for the number of players)
• The amount of cash needed to win (including optional variants)

This information can also be found on the Reference Charts page on a site.

Players

Rail Baron allows from 3 to 6 players, to play the game. Each has a colour, for pawns and tokens and also has a Home City. The player must return to their Home City, to win the game. Rail Baron Tools, allows you to add players and include their Name, Token Color and Home City.

This page contains Reference Data for playing Rail Baron, taken from the reference charts included with the game. This page contains the following charts:

• Destination Table roll charts
• Dice Rolling odds
• Railroad Price chart
• Payoff Chart (download)
• Misc Reference Info

Destination Table

(Roll twice to find your DESTINATION. First, roll and consult the REGION chart to find the region, then roll again and consult the chart for that region to pinpoint the destination city)

Region

	ODD	EVEN
2	PLAINS	SOUTHWEST
3	SOUTHEAST	SOUTH CENTRAL
4	SOUTHEAST	SOUTH CENTRAL
5	SOUTHEAST	SOUTH CENTRAL
6	NORTH CENTRAL	SOUTHWEST
7	NORTH CENTRAL	SOUTHWEST
8	NORTHEAST	PLAINS
9	NORTHEAST	NORTHWEST
10	NORTHEAST	NORTHWEST
11	NORTHEAST	PLAINS
12	NORTHEAST	NORTHWEST

Northeast

	ODD	EVEN
2	NEW YORK	NEW YORK
3	NEW YORK	WASHINGTON
4	NEW YORK	PITTSBURGH
5	ALBANY	PITTSBURGH
6	BOSTON	PHILADELPHIA
7	BUFFALO	WASHINGTON
8	BOSTON	PHILADELPHIA
9	PORTLAND	BALTIMORE
10	NEW YORK	BALTIMORE
11	NEW YORK	BALTIMORE
12	NEW YORK	NEW YORK

Southeast

	ODD	EVEN
2	CHARLOTTE	NORFOLK
3	CHARLOTTE	NORFOLK
4	CHATTANOOGA	NORFOLK
5	ATLANTA	CHARLESTON
6	ATLANTA	MIAMI
7	ATLANTA	JACKSONVILLE
8	RICHMOND	MIAMI
9	KNOXVILLE	TAMPA
10	MOBILE	TAMPA
11	KNOXVILLE	MOBILE
12	MOBILE	NORFOLK

North Central

	ODD	EVEN
2	CLEVELAND	CINCINNATI
3	CLEVELAND	NORFOLK
4	CLEVELAND	CINCINNATI
5	CLEVELAND	CINCINNATI
6	DETROIT	COLUMBUS
7	DETROIT	CHICAGO
8	INDIANAPOLIS	CHICAGO
9	MILWAUKEE	ST LOUIS
10	MILWAUKEE	ST LOUIS
11	CHICAGO	ST LOUIS
12	MILWAUKEE	CHICAGO

South Central

	ODD	EVEN
2	MEMPHIS	SHREVEPORT
3	MEMPHIS	SHREVEPORT
4	MEMPHIS	DALLAS
5	LITTLE ROCK	NEW ORLEANS
6	NEW ORLEANS	DALLAS
7	BIRMINGHAM	SAN ANTONIO
8	LOUISVILLE	HOUSTON
9	NASHVILLE	HOUSTON
10	NASHVILLE	FORT WORTH
11	LOUISVILLE	FORT WORTH
12	MEMPHIS	FORT WORTH

Plains

	ODD	EVEN
2	KANSAS CITY	OKLAHOMA CITY
3	KANSAS CITY	ST PAUL
4	DENVER	MINNEAPOLIS
5	DENVER	ST PAUL
6	DENVER	MINNEAPOLIS
7	KANSAS CITY	OKLAHOMA CITY
8	KANSAS CITY	DES MOINES
9	KANSAS CITY	OMAHA
10	PUEBLO	OMAHA
11	PUEBLO	FARGO
12	OKLAHOMA CITY	FARGO

Northwest

	ODD	EVEN
2	SPOKANE	SPOKANE
3	SPOKANE	SALT LAKE CITY
4	SEATTLE	SALT LAKE CITY
5	SEATTLE	SALT LAKE CITY
6	SEATTLE	PORTLAND
7	SEATTLE	PORTLAND
8	RAPID CITY	PORTLAND
9	CASPER	POCATELLO
10	BILLINGS	BUTTE
11	BILLINGS	BUTTE
12	SPOKANE	PORTLAND

Southwest

	ODD	EVEN
2	SAN DIEGO	LOS ANGELES
3	SAN DIEGO	OAKLAND
4	RENO	OAKLAND
5	SAN DIEGO	OAKLAND
6	SACRAMENTO	LOS ANGELES
7	LAS VEGAS	LOS ANGELES
8	PHOENIX	LOS ANGELES
9	EL PASO	SAN FRANCISCO
10	TUCUMCARI	SAN FRANCISCO
11	PHOENIX	SAN FRANCISCO
12	PHOENIX	SAN FRANCISCO

Dice Odds

These are the odds of rolling a particular number when rolling two 6 sided die

Roll	Odds	Percentage
2	1:36	2.7%
3	2:36	5.6%
4	3:36	8.3%
5	4:36	11.1%
6	5:36	13.9%
7	6:36	16.6%
8	5:36	13.9%
9	4:36	11.1%
10	3:36	8.3%
11	2:36	5.6%
12	1:36	2.7%

Railroad Price Chart

Abbreviation	Name	Price
ACL	Atlantic Coast Line	$12,000
AT & SF	Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe	$40,000
B & M	Boston & Maine	$4,000
B & O	Baltimore & Ohio	$24,000
CB & Q	Chicago, Burlington & Quincy	$20,000
CMSTP & P	Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific	$18,000
C & NW	Chicago & NorthWestern	$14,000
C & O	Chesapeake & Ohio	$20,000
CRI & P	Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific	$29,000
D & RGW	Denver & Rio Grande Western	$6,000
GM & O	Gulf, Mobile & Ohio	$12,000
GN	Great Northern	$17,000
IC	Illinois Central	$14,000
MP	Missouri Pacific	$21,000
L & N	Louisville & Nashville	$18,000
NP	Northern Pacific	$14,000
N & W	Norfolk & Western	$12,000
NYC	New York Central	$28,000
NYNH & H	New York, New Haven & Hartford	$4,000
PA	Pennsylvania	$30,000
RF & P	Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac	$4,000
SAL	Seaboard Air Line	$14,000
SOU	Southern	$20,000
SP	Southern Pacific	$42,000
SLSF	St. Louis-San Francisco	$19,000
T & P	Texas & Pacific	$10,000
UP	Union Pacific	$40,000
WP	Western Pacific	$8,000

Payoff Chart

I have scanned the Payoff chart as a pdf file, which can be downloaded.

Download

Misc Reference Info

Starting Cash

Each player starts with $20,000 Cash.

Express Train

An Express costs $4,000. It allows players to get a Bonus Roll if they roll doubles on the white dice.

Superchief Train

A Superchief costs $40,000. It allows players to get a Bonus Roll every turn.

Optional Rule

No. of Players	Price of SUPERCHIEF
3	$40,000
4	$36,000
5	$32,000
6	$28,000

Declaring/Winning Amount

To "Declare" and then ultimately win, a player needs $200,000 cash.

Optional Rule: Instead of playing to $200,000 in cash, the players can play to the net worth indicated on the chart below:

No. of Players	Net Worth Needed
3	$300,000
4	$250,000
5	$225,000
6	$200,000

Welcome, Rail Barons!

Rail Baron, the Game of Building Railroad Empires, is an entertaining strategy game, where you are a Railroad mogul, buying up Railways across America and attempting to become the ultimate Rail Baron. The game is a lot of fun to play, with the only frustration being, the time it takes to look up information (Destinations, Payoffs, etc.) on the provided charts; which can really slow down the game.

Rail Baron Tools is a Rail Baron reference app that takes the drudgery out of this, by allowing you to quickly look up the data you need, and helping you to optimize your decision-making and strategies. Rail Baron Tools does not replace the game (i.e. you still play on the game board, using the actual playing pieces, money, dice etc.), but is meant to enhance it. The app provides data based on the 1977 edition Game published by The Avalon Hill Game Co.

Features

System requirements

• iOS device running iOS 12.0 or higher
• Android device running Android 5.0 or higher
• 1977 edition of Rail Baron board game
• A couple of hours devoted to having fun!

Get in Now

iOS App Store

Rail Baron Tools is available on the iTunes App Store.

Current Version: 1.0.5

Google Play Store

Rail Baron Tools is available on the Google Play Store.

Current Version: 1.0.2

Scan to Install

Review and Comments

Great companion app for Rail Baron/Boxcars!.

Thank you!

My vision has deteriorated and so having the payoff calculation is invaluable to me!

My suggestions would be to build in the dice roll for choosing cities. Also when calculating payoff, allow for city searching as an alternative to having to scroll the entire list of cities (e.g. typing “n” shows only cities that begin with that letter and “ne” brings up only New York and New Orleans!

I would be happy to pay for this app. Playing RB during the social distancing time has been wonderful for the family :)

Awesome!

Thank you so much for this app! No more looking at tiny numbers for payoff amounts, and I’m estimating this app will speed up our games by at least 7.4%! Now who’s ready to set up some remote rail baron games to pass the time during the quarantine?

No issues. Works great. Speeds up game play. Easier to read.

Thank you very much. Your app finally convinced me today to buy a used 1980's copy of this AH classic.

This is excellent. Rail Baron diehards everywhere thank you

More Information

You can find more information about Rail Baron on Wikipedia and on BoardGameGeek

Boxcars

The Rail Baron Tools app can also be used with the Boxcars game set from Rio Grande Games but will use the Destination dice roll odds from Rail Baron, instead of the slightly tweaked odds used in Boxcars. The other minor rule differences between Rail Baron and Boxcars, won't be affected by using this app.

Credits

• The Rail Baron game and the data and gameplay references used in the app and on this website are Copyright 1977 - The Avalon Hill Game Co.
• Game images are taken from BoardGameGeek