After devestating storms brought down 290,000 metres of trees in Bavaria in 1919, a specially-constructed narrow-gauge railway was built to enable the removal of the timber from the area. The wood itself was used in the construction of the line, as well as the construction of brake mountains, which used the weight of loaded wagons to pull empty wagons back up the hill.

This is the hardest scenario about which to provide information, as the railway only ran for three years and what's left of the line is a historic and walking route.

This is one of the only scenarios in Snowdonia where the player gets a building - to make the best use of all the wood they will remove, players get a lumber mill to burn the wood and convert it into coal.

Designed by Sebastian Bleasdale, this is the first Snowdonia scenario to be designed by someone other than Tony Boydell - the only other, at the time of writing, is The Trans-Australian Railway. The rules can be found on BGG here.


Click to view route map

Track layout

Stations in detail

Fischhausen Neuhaus

An undeniably attractive little station which today find itself on the northern fringes of Schliersee, a small town in Bavaria. Just six weeks (insert a joke about Teutonic efficiency here) after the storm itself, Holzwerbung Spitzing GmbH was founded to create the Neuhauser Bockerlbahn and start clearing away the lumber.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces :
Surveyor pts :

Stockeralm

From Fischhausen Neuhaus the railway ran south, stopping first at a station built on the Stockeralm, an Alpine pasture, at the point at which there stands a small unmanaged hut in what is today a region popular for hiking (in the summer) and skiing (in the winter).

Player count :
Build spaces : 6
Surveyor pts :

3 lumber (excavation) - 3 points
3 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
3 stone - 6 points
1 stone - 3 points
4 wood - 6 points
2 wood - 4 points

Bremsberg

Rather than being a place, Bremsberg was one of the locations on the track where it was necessary to overcome sections with a particularly high gradient by installing a series of three brake hills - Bremsberg I, II and III. The operation of the hills was such that loaded wagons going downhill would pull unloaded wagons uphill using just the weight difference, and a rope which ran over a braking device in the middle of the track. One of these brake hills was installed between Neuhaus and Spitzing and at this location a station was built during the operation of the line.

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

2 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
3 stone - 6 points
2 stone - 4 points
1 steel bar - 6 points

Spitzing

Nestled on the shores of the Schliersee, today Spitzing, or Spitzingsee is a small village with a few hundred inhabitants. The Neuhauser Bockerlbahn would have wended its way along the eastern shore of the lake.

Player count :
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts :

4 lumber (excavation) - 3 points
3 stone - 5 points
2 stone - 4 points
3 wood - 5 points
1 steel bar - 5 points

Wurzhütte

From Spitzing the railway would have gone over the attractively named "Bridge in the moss" and the slightly less-attractively named "Bridge over the shitty moss" before reaching this point, at the southern end of the Spitzingsee lake. The Wurzhütte is a traditional hotel that is open to this day, and the location at which a temporary railway station would have been located whilst the line was in use.

Player count :
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts :

3 lumber (excavation) - 3 points
2 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
4 wood - 7 points
3 wood - 5 points
1 steel bar - 6 points

Bleckstein

Further south still at Bleckstein there was sited another station when the line was in operation, near the location of the Blecksteinhaus, which is still in operation to this day. East of this station was a large marshalling point to which lot of the wood was brought whilst awaiting onward transport.

Player count :
Build spaces : 6
Surveyor pts :

6 lumber (excavation) - 6 points
4 stone - 9 points
3 stone - 7 points
3 wood - 6 points
1 steel bar - 5 points

Spitzkehre

Not a place, a Spitzkehre is a "switchback" in railway parlance - a way to climb steep gradients without having to tunnel or put in place a lot of earthworking.

Player count :
Build spaces : 4
Surveyor pts :

4 lumber (excavation) - 3 points
4 wood - 7 points
1 steel bar - 7 points
1 steel bar - 5 points

Aufzug Bleckstein

Near where the Blecksteinhaus stands today was another piece of engineering magnificence - a train elevator. Unlike the Bremsbergs, in this instance heavy trucks loaded with wood had to be pulled up and over a steep ridge (around 30%) - to achieve this, a stationery elevator driven by a steam engine (called a "locomobile") was put in place.

Player count :
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts :

5 lumber (excavation) - 5 points
4 stone - 9 points
2 stone - 5 points
5 wood - 8 points
1 steel bar - 5 points

Waitzingeralm

The southern-most point of the railway, and yet another point at which today there exists a hiking hut, this is where the majority of the wood was loaded on to trains to start their journey to the northern end of the Neuhauser Bockerlbahn, some 11 km away.

Player count :
Build spaces : 6
Surveyor pts :

3 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
4 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
5 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
6 lumber (excavation) - 2 points
3 stone - 7 points
2 steel bars - 12 points

Scenario trains

Trains in detail

No. 24a Bockerlbahn Loco

The owner may pay one Coal to gain their third or fourth Labourer, but may instead use the weight of the wood to do this. Using their train in this way moves wood from their supply to their Lumber Mill and gives them an extra Labourer. They must move exactly the amount of wood (2) shown to do this - they cannot move more or less.

No. 24b Bockerlbahn Loco

In phase F, after all other 'take contract' actions have been resolved, the owner of this train may pay one Coal to discard a Contract and replace it with one of the remaining (face up) Contracts on display. For the avoidance of doubt, the effect of the Contract you get this way is considered unused, even the Contract given up has had its effect used. The owner may pay one Coal to gain their third or fourth Labourer, but may instead use the weight of the wood to do this. Using their train in this way moves wood from their supply to their Lumber Mill and gives them an extra Labourer. They must move exactly the amount of wood (3) shown to do this - they cannot move more or less.

No. 24c Bockerlbahn Loco

Dunno - gets one extra wood when chopping down trees? The owner may pay one Coal to gain their third or fourth Labourer, but may instead use the weight of the wood to do this. Using their train in this way moves wood from their supply to their Lumber Mill and gives them an extra Labourer. They must move exactly the amount of wood (4) shown to do this - they cannot move more or less.

No. 24d Bockerlbahn Loco

The owner of this train scores 5 points at the end of the game. The owner may pay one Coal to gain their third or fourth Labourer, but may instead use the weight of the wood to do this. Using their train in this way moves wood from their supply to their Lumber Mill and gives them an extra Labourer. They must move exactly the amount of wood (3) shown to do this - they cannot move more or less.

Scenario action spaces