Rail Baron (1977)

Rail Baron is one of the earlier train games - boardgames with a railroad theme.

Players move trains along historical USA railroad lines and collect delivery payoffs. They compete to purchase the railroads in order to assemble a network that gives access to important map destinations while simultaneously trying to prevent their opponents from doing so.

The GENERAL Index Article List:

• The GENERAL Vol.15,No.2
  • Rail Baron – “Strategy for the Fourth Man - A Rail Baron Clinic” (Strategy) Michael Gray
• The GENERAL Vol.16,No.5
  • Rail Baron – “The Short Game and the Two-Man Game” (Variant Discussion) Gary Charbonneau
• The GENERAL Vol.25,No.5
  • Rail Baron – “Freight Train- A Rail Baron variant” (Variant) Kenneth Waido
• The GENERAL Vol.23,No.6
  • Rail Baron – “My Favorite Lines - The Railroads of Rail Baron” (Strategy) by Matt Ellis
• The GENERAL Vol.28,No.3
  • Rail Baron – “Government Intervention in Rail Baron- A variant for Avalon Hill's game of empire-building” (Variant Discussion) Stephen Taylor, Jim Brown and Alan Marian

Rail Baron (1977) Revised 1980
Avalon Hill revised existing published design
Designed by R.J. Erickson
Development by Richard Hamblen

The most successful non-wargame AH has ever produced in terms of its appeal to wargamers and non-wargamers alike. The revision consisted of a simple correction to the payoff tables. The game did change packaging shortly after its introduction. Originally called BOXCARS, Hamblen’s addition of the Superchief and new artwork vastly improved the game.