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Where can I find a simplified Railways of the World map for player reference? Question
I've just gotten a copy of Railways of the World after playing and enjoying a few games. The eastern-US map is physically very large and "artistic". I and some of my friends have vision problems that make it hard to see things especially near the center of the board, except by hovering over the table in a way that interferes with other players. What I'd really like is a player aid, a "schematic" version of the map that we can consult for quick things like "which city in that clump is the red one?" or for calculating track-building costs. A schematic would include the names and colors of cities and the surrounding terrain types (three options), in an easy-to-see format. I've dug through Board Game Geek without success (though there are a lot of files and maybe I missed something). I've found plenty of images of the map, but no simplified renderings.
I want to augment this (source):
With something like this excerpt (mockup, not the right scale, but just to show the idea):
I made that mockup by searching for hex grids online and coloring in a small portion of the full map. The proportions aren't right -- I didn't find the right hex layout -- and anyway, I'd rather not build the entire map like this if someone else already has made something that would meet my group's vision needs.
Has someone? Where can I find a simpler reference map to use alongside the real one?
1 answer
You can use ASCII representations of hexagonal grid maps as shown on Rogue Basin.[1] If doing so feels less tedious than making a picture directly, you could take this map and write a script to build you an SVG.
~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ^ . ^ ^ ^ .Bos
. . . . . . . . . . . ~ ^ ^ . ^ . ^ . .
. . . . . . . . . . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Alb^ . .Prv
. . . . . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ^ ^ ^ ~ ^NHv
. . . . . . ~ ~ ~Tor ~ . ^ ^ ^ ^ ~ ~ ~
. . . . . . . . ~ . . ~Buf^ ^ ^ ^ ^ .NYC
Dl. . . . ~ . . ~ ~ ~ . ^ ^ ^ ^ . .
. . . . ~ ~ . . ~ ~ ~ . ^ ^ ^ . .Phl.
. . . . . ~ . . . ~ . ^ ^ ^ ^ . . . ~
. . . . . ~ . .Det~ Clv. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^Bal .
Mn. . . . . . . . . . .Pgh^ ^ ^ ^ . Dov
~ ~ . . .Mil . .Tld. . . . . ^ ^ ^ ^Wsh~ .
. . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . ^Whl^ ^ ^ ^ . .
. . ~ ~ ~ . .Chi. . . . . .Cbs. ~ ^ ^ ^ ^ .Rch~Nfk
. . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . ~ ^ ^ ^ ^ . . . . .
. . . .Rck. . . . .Ind. . . . ~ ^ ^ ^ . . . . . . ~
.DMn. . ~ . . . . . . . .Cin~ ~ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . . . . .
. . . . ~ . . . . . . . ~ . . ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . .Ral. .
. . . . ~ . . . . . . .Lou.Lex. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . . . . .
. . . . ~ ~ . . . . ~ ~ . . . ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ . . .Wil
. . . . . .StL. . . ~ . . . . ^ ^ . ^ ^ ^ . . . .
~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ . . . . ^ ^Knx^ ^ ^ . . . .
.KSC~ . . . . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Nsh^ ^ . ^ ^ ^ .Col~ ~
. . . . . . . . ~ ~ ~ . . ^ ~Cht^ ^ ^ ~ . . .Chr
. . . . . ~ . . . ~ . ~ . . ~ ^ . ^ ^ . ~ ~ ~
. . . . . ~ . . ~ . . ~ ~ ~ ^ ^ .Atl. . . .Sav
~ ~ . . ^ ^ ~ ~ .Mem. . . . . ^ ^ . . . . . .
.Tul. ^ ^ ^ . ~ ~ . . . . .Bir. . . . . . . .
. . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . ~ .Mgm. . . . . . .
. . ~ . . .LRk~ ~ . . . . ~ . ~ . . . . . . .Jkv
. . . . . . . . . ~ . . . ~ . ~ . . . . . . . . ~
. . . ~ . ~ ~ ~ . ~Jck. . ~ ~ . . . .Tal. . . . .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ . ~ . . . ~ ~ . . . . ~ ~ ~ . . .
. . . . . ~Shr. ~ ~ . . . .Mob. ~ . . .
. .Dal~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . . .
. . . . . ~ . . . . ~ . ~ .
. . . . . . ~ . . . . ~ ~ NOr
The ASCII itself is probably even harder to read than the original, unless the text is colored. I cheated a little bit below and swapped in some Unicode characters. You can also see a dark mode map with the original ASCII.
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Fun fact: Your simplified map is rotated 30° from the original. The even-only grid works with the original map, though. ↩︎
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