station-master/docs/rules/glossary.md

# Station Master — Glossary

Every defined term, alphabetized for lookup. The core comes from the Definitions section of
`rules-v0.1.md` (§2); terms introduced by gap decisions carry their `rules-v0.2.md` section. The
"Where" column points at the defining section.

| Term | Definition | Where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **A/D (Arrival/Departure) Track** | Short sidings in front of your office where trains arrive and depart from. A train at an Office occupies one A/D track. If a train arrives and no A/D track is available, it is a collision. | §2.1, §8.3 |
| **Caboose** | Red rolling stock, for the conductor and switch crews. Returns directly to the Division Yard when used. Counts toward the Crew Tray's four-piece limit. | §2.2, §A.4 |
| **Classification Yard** | Where used Rolling Stock is placed. When the Division Yard empties, everything here moves back to it. | §2.2 |
| **Coach** | Passenger rolling stock (blue = loaded, white = empty). | §2.2 |
| **Consist** | A collection of Rolling Stock (cars) in a Crew Tray. Order is significant. | §2.2, §A.3 |
| **Control Point** | An Office where trains are reported in to the distant (NPC) dispatcher — Division Points, Depots, Stations, Terminals. Whistle Posts are not Control Points. Denoted by a train order signal on the card. | §2.1 |
| **Crew Tray** | The canoe-shaped holder containing the train pieces. Must always hold an engine; may hold at most four Rolling Stock, cabooses included. | §2.2, §A.4 |
| **Day** | A series of twelve Stages. | §2.4 |
| **Departments** | Three face-up slots beside the Home Office deck from which cards may be drawn and to which they may be discarded. Fed from the one deck, not decks of their own. | §2.6 |
| **Dispatcher** | The imaginary (NPC) person running the railroad and granting rights to trains to operate. | §2.6 |
| **Division** | Your company's tracks connecting the Eastern and Western Division Points. May represent hundreds of miles and several Offices. | §2.1 |
| **Division Point** | Where your railroad ties into other railroads. There is an Eastern and a Western Division Point. | §2.1 |
| **Division Yard** | A table-top pile of Rolling Stock. Cars for cargo, passengers, or trains are selected from here. | §2.2 |
| **East** | The player's right. | §2.4 |
| **Engine** | The engine piece. May pull cars, push cars, or both. Has couplers on the front end. | §2.2, §A.3 |
| **Extra Platform** | Modifier card: +1 green and +1 red slot at a Passenger Facility. | §12.5 |
| **Extra Train** | A one-and-done train; its card returns to the Salvage Yard on completion. Head-on card image, so the drawing player picks its direction. Numbered with an "X" prefix; the following number gives its seniority, and it yields to the Timetabled train of that number. | §2.3, §8 |
| **Facility** | A business which loads/unloads cargo and freight. | §2.5 |
| **Freight Facility** | Mine Tipples, Produce Sheds, Grocer's Warehouses, Oil Refineries, Power Plants. Some allow only outbound, some only inbound, some both. Per-card values in §12.5. | §9, §12.5 |
| **Freight House** | Not a card — the collective term for a freight facility permitting both directions, namely the Grocer's Warehouse and the Oil Refinery. | §9.3, §12.5 |
| **Highball** | When a train holding at an Office automatically departs. | §2.4 |
| **Home Office** | The primary face-down deck cards are drawn from. 52 cards. | §2.6, §12.1 |
| **Hopper** | Coal rolling stock (brown = loaded, white = empty). | §2.2 |
| **Inbound box** | A red box holding all just-unloaded freight/passengers of the designated type. | §2.5 |
| **Junction stub** | The diverging connection printed above and below every Office card's track, allowing Secondary Track to branch from the opening Stage. A plain connection — §A.1's turnout directionality does not apply. | §11.3 |
| **Laborer** | A blue man-icon; works cargo. Usable once each per Stage. Four Laborer-actions complete one load. | §2.5, §9.1, §9.3 |
| **Limits** | The sign east and west of your Office that denotes the limit of your control area. Moves outwards as your Running Track expands. | §2.1, §11.2 |
| **Loading Dock** | Modifier card: +1 green Outbound capacity at a Freight Facility. | §12.5 |
| **Mainline Card** | Tarot-sized cards representing roughly the hundred miles of track between train offices. Each has two regions. | §2.1 |
| **MEN \| AT \| WORK** | A blue three-box turn track tracking how quickly freight cars are loaded/unloaded. Only one Load per box. While any load sits on it, the industry's track loses Operational Rail status. | §2.5, §9.3 |
| **Modifier Facility** | A card placed adjacent to a Facility (any of the nine nearby spots) that increases its capacities or workers. If adjacent to two Facilities, it may only be used on one per Stage. | §2.5, §9, §12.5 |
| **Move** | A Crew Tray moving from one Operational Rail card to another, regardless of distance, without changing direction. | §2.4, §A |
| **Number board** | Small tiles numbered 1-12 recording which Stage (hour) a train departs. | §2.3 |
| **Office** | The location the Station Master sits at. A Whistle Post, Depot, Station or Terminal. All four share identical track geometry. | §2.1, §11.1, §11.3 |
| **Operational Rail** | Any track (Running or Secondary) on which a train may sit, change direction, and drop or pick up cars. Marked with a wheel icon. | §2.1 |
| **Outbound box** | A green box holding all to-be-loaded freight/passengers of the indicated type. | §2.5 |
| **Passenger Facility** | Depots, Stations and Terminals — any Office above Whistle Post. Always allow both loading and unloading. | §9, §11.1 |
| **Phase** | An operational component of a Stage. | §2.4 |
| **Porter** | A black man-icon; assists passengers. Usable once each per Stage. One Porter-action earns one Revenue. | §2.5, §9.1, §9.2 |
| **Reefer** | Refrigerated rolling stock for field produce (brown = loaded, white = empty). | §2.2 |
| **Revenue** | Points gained and lost to determine victory. +1 per load/unload operation, −5 per collision. | §2.4, §10 |
| **Rolling stock** | The non-engine pieces representing rail cars, either in a Crew Tray or sitting on an Operational Rail card. A colored car is loaded; a white car is empty. | §2.2 |
| **Running Track** | The "Mainline" running horizontally between your Limits, including your Office — the horizontal row of cards, Limit-to-Limit. | §2.1 |
| **Salvage Yard** | Where used cards are placed, face up, so no card that shouldn't be discarded is. | §2.6 |
| **Secondary Track** | All track inside your Limits that is not the Running Track. | §2.1 |
| **Section Gang** | Modifier card: +1 Laborer or +1 Porter. The only worker-adding Modifier. | §12.5 |
| **Stage** | A two-hour section of time. Twelve make a Day. Each player gets one Local Operations action per Stage. | §2.4, §6 |
| **Storage Shed** | Modifier card: +1 red Inbound capacity at a Freight Facility. | §12.5 |
| **Subdivision** | The Mainline track between the Limits of opposing Control Points. Whistle Posts are not Control Points and sit inside a Subdivision like ordinary Mainline. | §2.1 |
| **Superintendent** | The Dispatcher's right-hand-man, managing the division. The role passes player to player; a shift is six hours (three Stages). Marked by the Fedora piece. Rules on following-train clearances. | §2.6, §8.1 |
| **Tank car** | Oil rolling stock (brown = loaded, white = empty). | §2.2 |
| **Team Track** | Modifier card: +1 car on a Freight Facility's industry track. | §12.5 |
| **Timetabled Train** | A train scheduled to run every day at the same time, marked by a Number Board on the turn chart. Numbered 1-12; odd westbound, even eastbound. Lower numbers hold greater seniority, and all outrank Extras. | §2.3, §8 |
| **Turnout** | A drawn track card where a train entering from "A" may proceed to B or C, but one entering from B or C may only proceed to A. Not Operational Rail, so no stopping. Distinct from the Office card's junction stubs, which carry no directional restriction. | §A.1, §11.3 |
| **West** | The player's left. | §2.4 |
| **Whistle Post** | The most basic Office — "a shack in the middle of nowhere". Not a Control Point and not a Passenger Facility, so a Whistle Post player has no passenger business. | §2.1, §11.1 |