Built between 1844 and 1850 by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company, this scenario deals with the section of the railway which runs from Bangor, over the Britannia Bridge and across Anglesey to Holyhead as part of the mail service route to Dublin. The line was so important for passenger, mail and freight transportation between Britain and Ireland that it saw the introduction of the world's first water troughs - long troughs that allowed steam trains to take on water whilst in motion, thus saving valuable time.

This scenario was designed as Kickstarter incentive for the Indie Boards and Cards 2nd Edition reprint.


Click to view route map

Track layout

Stations in detail

Bangor

The last mainland station on the line to Holyhead, the station was opened on 1st May 1848 at a cost of £6,960 (around £21 million in today's money) and is today the busiest station in North Wales, in terms of passenger numbers.

Player count : 3-5
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts :

4 rubble (excavation) - 4 points
2 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
4 stone - 9 points
3 stone - 6 points
2 stone - 4 points

Menai Straits

Representing one end of the Menai Straits, this station requires 4 stone to be constructed, at which point the card is flipped and the first Britannia Bridge station square becomes accessible.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 1
Surveyor pts : 0

4 stone - 1 track credit

Britannia Bridge

Designed and built by Robert Stephenson (who also designed and built the tunnel through which the Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway runs), the original bridge at this location was put in place as a rail bridge to complement the Menai Bridge (designed by Thomas Telford) one mile further east which provided a road link to the Isle of Anglesey. The requirements of the site included ensuring that the strait remained accessible to shipping, so the bridge was designed with two main spans, supported by masonry piers, and two smaller spans, together combining to form a 461m bridge connecting Anglesey to the mainland.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 2
Surveyor pts : 0

1 steel bar and 2 stone - 13 points
1 steel bar and 2 stone - 11 points

Menai Straits

Representing the other end of the Menai Straits, this station requires 4 stone to be constructed, at which point the card is flipped and the second Britannia Bridge station square (in games of 3 - 5 players) becomes accessible.

Player count : 3 - 5
Build spaces : 1
Surveyor pts : 0

4 stone - 1 track credit

Britannia Bridge

On the evening of 23rd May 1970 the Britannia Bridge was seriously damaged when boys playing inside the bridge dropped a burning torch and set light to the tar-coated wooden roof of the wrought iron tubs that the bridge consisted of. The heat of the fire destroyed the structural integrity of the bridge, so it was rebuilt as an arched bridge carrying the A55 road on the top level, and rail traffic on the bottom level.

Player count : 3 - 5
Build spaces : 6
Surveyor pts : 1

1 steel bar and 2 stone - 13 points
1 steel bar and 2 stone - 11 points

Llanfair PG

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch, to give it its full name, is home to the longest place name in Europe (invented for promotional purposes in the 1860s). Although closed in 1966, it reopened after the Britannia Bridge fire to serve as a terminus for trains from Holyhead and remained in place following the re-opening of the bridge in 1972.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts : 1

4 rubble (excavation) - 5 points
4 stone - 9 points
3 stone - 7 points
2 coal - 6 points
1 steel bar - 7 points

Gaerwen

A small station which served as junction from which the Anglesey Central Railway ran north to Amlwch, the station opened in January 1849, and closed in 1966, although the adjoining freight yard remained open for coal and fertiliser traffic until 1984.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts : 2

4 rubble (excavation) - 5 points
3 stone - 7 points
1 steel bar - 1 track laying credit
1 steel bar - 7 points
1 steel bar - 6 points

Bodorgan

A small, unmanned, halt, Bodorgan opened in October 1849 with a small signal box, goods yard and a water tower.

Player count :
Build spaces : 3
Surveyor pts : 4

4 rubble (excavation) - 5 points
4 stone - 9 points
1 steel bar - 6 points

Ty Croes

A small station which opened in November 1848 and remains open to this day, it also featured a small goods yard, a warehouse and crane, and a signal box.

Player count :
Build spaces : 4
Surveyor pts : 7

4 rubble (excavation) - 5 points
4 stone - 9 points
1 steel bar - 7 points
1 steel bar - 1 track laying credit

Valley

Serving the village and RAF base of the same name, the station opened in November 1849 with a small goods yard for livestock, and a siding for a nearby corn mill. In 1962 sidings were put in place for the loading of spent fuel from the nearby Wylfa nuclear power station, and in 1989 sidings for turning steam locomotives were also put in place.

Player count :
Build spaces : 3
Surveyor pts : 10

4 rubble (excavation) - 5 points
4 stone - 9 points
1 steel bar - 1 track laying credit

Holyhead

The western terminus of the North Wales Coast Line, Holyhead is on the Holy Island, a small island off the western coast of Anglesey. The first station was opened in August 1848, being replaced by a second in May 1851, and a third - in use to this day - in January 1866. The Packet Steamer Hibernia features in the game at this station - launched in 1842, she was a wooden paddle steamer built at Robert Steele & Co. in Greenock and would have been used to carry mail from Holhead over the Irish Sea to Ireland before being sold to the Spanish Government and broken up in 1869.

Player count :
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts : 15

4 rubble (excavation) - 4 points
2 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
4 stone - 9 points
3 stone - 7 points
7 resource cubes - 12 points (PS Hibernia)

Scenario train

Train in detail

No. 13 The Dawn Raider

Whenever the Lay Track event occurs, the owner of this train may, instead, lay track themselves up to the current Work Rate and provided they have the steel bar(s). The track has to be clear, and the game will lay the track if the owner chooses not to.

Scenario contract cards

Contract cards in detail

Contract no. 27

Contract terms
If the player has this Contract card, score 2 victory points per Coal cube in your personal supply.

Bonus effect
After all other Build Actions have been resolved, you may take a Build Action as though you had placed a Labourer here this Round.

Type : Coal bonus
Effect location : G
Points :

Contract no. 28

Contract terms
This contract is complete if you have built in each station and Britannia Bridge (you only need to have built in one section of one part of Britannia Bridge to achieve the Bridge element of this Contract bonus).

Bonus effect
Immediately move one of your placed Labourers to any different, empty, Action space.

Type : Building bonus
Effect location : A
Points : 28

Contract no. 29

Contract terms
This contract is complete if you have build in each of Stations 1 - 6 or 2 - 7.

Bonus effect
You may ignore the limit on taking Coal from the Stock Yard this Round.

Type : Building bonus
Effect location : A
Points : 16