1838IL: Railways Across Illinois 2026

Illinois is known for more than the Land of Lincoln. Illinois is also known as a Railroading Mecha with the 2nd most railway lines in the United States.

1838IL is a stock market and railroad building game set in the State of Illinois where the players take the roles of railway investors and company presidents. In these roles, players try to accumulate wealth. Players do this through the ownership of shares of stock in the railroad companies and cash on hand. When a company earns money and pays dividends, the dividends are paid to the players owning shares in the company. As shares increase and decrease in value, so does the wealth of the owning players.

Another aspect of the game, another unique historical twist, includes when the last 3-train is purchased (during WW2), triggers the USA government taken over the railroads by the United States Railroad Administration. The USRA is optional for Major Railways to allow to run the company for two operating rounds. The company receives a free 4-train for two rounds then pays a discounted price of $175 for the train. As a trade-off, all stock values are frozen and all dividends are paid half.

For an 18xx game, this is a mid to high complex, large in scale and length. Typical games last at least 6 hours. The size of the game allows for up to 8 players. The game includes both choice of Minor Companies and Major Railroads, Private Companies, Commodities and Manufacturing. The game also has four types of trains, (-) trains count consecutive spots, (X) trains skip towns, (+) trains count everything with towns as a bonus and D trains which skip towns and double cities.

GAME CONTENTS: Rulebook: 1 Gameboard: 1 Train Pool / Loans / Bank Pool: 1 Double Sided Major / Minor Charters: 15 Single sided Major Charters: 2 Major Railroad Certificates: 16 Minor company Certificates: 15 Private Company Certificates: 10 Train Cards: 60 Traction Cards: 8 Commodity Small Cards: 23 Manufacturing Cards: 10 Minor Company Tokens: 30 Major Railroad Tokens: 172 Minor Location Cubes: 48 Loan Cubes: 17 Yellow Track Tiles: 131 Green Track Tiles: 80 Brown Track Tiles: 55 Gray Track Tiles: 14 Play Order Cards: 8 Conrail Bond Cards: 10 USRA Cards: 10 Minor Company Cards: 63

-description from designer