"EXPRESS"

A game for 2, 3 or 4 players

DESCRIPTION

The game consists of a pack of 44 cards. The pictures on the cards are fine illus­trations of railway engines, coaches, trucks and other rolling stock, accurately reproduced with the full co-operation of British Railways.

The cards are made up as follows:—

5 London Midland Region (Passenger Set)
Engine, First Class Coach, Third Class Coach, Restaurant Car, Guard's Van.

5 Eastern Region (Passenger Set)
Engine, First Class Coach, Third Class Coach, Restaurant Car, Guard's Van.

5 Southern Region (Goods Set)
Engine, Gas Cylinder Wagon, Grain Wagon, High Open Wagon, Brake Van.

5 Western Region (Goods Set)
Engine, Low Open Wagon, Bogie Bolster Wagon, Covered Wagon, Brake Van.

5 Pool (Interchange Set)
Engine, Coach, Wagon, Guard's Van, Brake Van.

4 Red Signals, 4 Green Signals 1, 4 Green Signals 2, 3 Pass Cards, 4 Stations.

There are, as set out above, 4 complete Trains (one for each British Railways Region), each made up of 5 cards, and a "Pool" Train also of 5 cards. Cards of the Pool Train are for use in play as substitutes for Engines, Coaches, etc., of the Regional Trains as follows:—

Pool Engine may be used instead of ANY Regional Engine.
Pool Coach may be used instead of ANY Coach or Restaurant Car (on Passenger Trains L.M.R. or E.R.).
Pool Wagon may be used instead of ANY Wagon (on Goods Trains S.R. or W.R.).
Pool Guard's Van may be used instead of EITHER Guard's Van (Goods Trains S.R. or W.R.).
POOL BRAKE VAN MAY BE USED INSTEAD OF EITHER BRAKE VAN (on Passenger Trains L.M.R. or E.R.).

OBJECT OF THE GAME
To be the first player to make up a complete train of any one Region by collecting the necessary five cards, and moving it out of the station by the use of the Signal Cards.

THE DEAL
Before dealing, each player takes a Station card, and places it face-up on the table in front of himself.

If less than 4 players, the stations left over are put aside.

Now choose a dealer who shuffles and deals the cards, giving each player seven cards. A further card is placed face-up in the centre of the table and the remainder of the pack is placed face-down beside it.

THE PLAY
The first object of every player is to collect in their hands one of the 4 Region Trains, remembering that the cards of

the Pool Train can be used instead of certain Region Train cards, as stated previously. Each player therefore looks at his hand and decides which train he is going to collect. This is done by:—

1. Drawing and Discarding.
The player on the left of the dealer begins by taking into his hand either the face-up card beside the pack in the centre or (if it is no use to him in making up his Train), he takes the top card of the pack.

He then discards one card from his hand, placing it face-up beside the centre pack.

The turn passes to the left, each player drawing and discarding. The discarded cards are placed one on top of the other.

When the centre pack has been used up, shuffle the discards, replace them facedown and continue play as before.

2. Pass Cards.
The Pass Cards can be exchanged for

other cards as follows:—

(a) If a player has a Pass Card he can, at his turn, after he has picked up a card and before discarding, ask any player for any card he wants except Signal or Pool Cards. This means that the Pass card can only be used to obtain Region Cards for making up Trains.

Cards of Engines, Guard's Vans or Brake Vans must be asked for by their Regions and name, e.g.:—"Please give me the Eastern Region Guard's Van".

When asking for Coaches (which include Restaurant Cars), or Wagons, the Region and either the word "Coach" or "Wagon" must be mentioned. It is not necessary to specify the kind of Coach (First, Third, etc.), or Wagon (Covered., Open, etc.)

If the player asked has the wanted card he hands it over and is given the Pass Card in exchange.

If the player asked has not the card demanded of him, the Pass Card must be discarded, and that completes the turn.

The next player may not pick up this Pass Card from the discard stack but must draw the top card from the pack.

(b) A Pass Card can also be used by a player when it is NOT his turn, to obtain a discarded Region Train card from the top of the discard pack.

When any player at the end of his turn discards and the following player does not want that discard, any other player may obtain it if he holds a Pass Card. He calls out "Pass", takes the discard and puts his Pass Card in its place on top of the discard stack. This is not counted as a turn. The player whose turn it was next now continues, but he may not pick up the Pass Card from the discards but must take the top card from the pack. The Pass Card may not be exchanged for Signal or Pool Cards.

3. Setting out Complete Trains.
As soon as a player has collected a complete train he lays it down on the table at his turn, after drawing. It is arranged thus:—

He then discards as usual. Play continues as before, but now the Signal cards take effect.

4. Exchanging POOL Cards for correct cards.
If a player should lay out a Train with POOL Cards in its any player who holds the correct card may, when it is his turn to play and after drawing, take into his hand the POOL card from the Train on the table and put the correct card in its place. He then discards normally and this completes his turn.

5. SIGNAL Cards.
When Signal cards are discarded, a train or trains on the table are moved forward past the station or backward. Only one Signal card may be discarded at a time. If at his turn a player picks up a Signal card from the discard stack he may NOT discard it until his next turn.

(a) Green Signals.
These cards move a train FORWARD, and they bear the figure 1 or 2 in the green circle of their lamps. When a Green signal is discarded ONLY THE TRAIN OF THE PLAYER WHO DISCARDED IT is moved forward and he moves it immediately after discarding. For example, if the train is in position as first set out and he discards a Green Signal bearing the figure 1 he moves his train one card's length forward "into" the Station. That is, the Station stays where it is and the train is moved to the left so that the engine is alongside the Station. If he discards a Green Signal 2 he moves his train 2 card lengths forward (to the left), and the first Coach or Wagon will be alongside the Station card.

(b) Red Signals.
These cards shunt trains BACKWARD, but no train can be moved further back than its position when first set out (see sketch paragraph 3). When a Red Signal is discarded ALL TRAINS WHICH HAVE MOVED FORWARD EXCEPT THAT OF THE PLAYER WHO DISCARDED IT are moved back ONE card's length. Players move their own trains. (It will be seen that players who hare themselves no train on the table can move other players' trains backward by dis­carding a Red Signal at their turn. This helps them to prevent players with trains moving them right out of their stations—and so winning—before other players have set out their own trains').

END OF GAME— THE WINNER
The winner is the first player to move his train right out of his station, that is, to reach this position:—

The game can end now or further hands may be played, in which case points are given at the end of each hand, as shown below. The winner will then be the player with the highest score after an agreed number of hands.

SCORING.
5 points to each player who has laid down a train. 10 points extra to the player winning the hand.

Cards held in hands, other than the winner's, count against them and must be deducted from their score as follows: One point for each card left in the hand.

ALTERNATIVE SHORTER GAME
If a shorter game is desired the train can be made up of an Engine and any 2 of the other 3 cards, plus Brake or Guard's Van.

FOR YOUNGER PLAYERS
For younger children it may be helpful to tell them which regions they have to collect. Each player then knows that he simply collects all cards with "L.M.R." or "S.R." on them, and so on.