The Daffodil Line (or the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway, to give it its more formal name) was a railway line which ran between Ledbury, in Herefordshire, and Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, between 1885 and 1964.

The majority of the line was built over the southern section of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire canal, which had opened in 1798 - it struggled, and was leased to the Great Western Railway who started converting it into a railway in 1881.

The railway was built by the Newent Railway and the Ross and Ledbury Railway, and opened on 27th July 1885 - it took passenger traffic until 1959, and goods traffic (on the Dymock to Gloucester section) until its closure in 1964.

The Snowdonia scenario takes its inspiration from the daffodils which the area was famous for, and livens up proceedings by requiring players to fill in the route of the canal prior to building track, and adding in daffodil collection and stone breaking to the mix of proceedings.

This scenario (the rules for which can be found here) is limited to four players at most as the yellow player's cubes are used to represent the daffodils.

Track layout

Stations in detail

Ledbury

Still in use today as a station on the Worcester to Hereford line, the Daffodil Line was a branch line which opened 24 years after the main station.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts : 0

2 rubble (excavation) - 3 points
2 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
3 stone - 7 points
2 stone - 4 points
2 steel bar - 9 points

Skew Bridge

A skew bridge is an arch bridge which crosses an obstacle at some other angle than a right angle - in this instance, the Skew Bridge in question carried the Daffodil Line across the Hereford Road in Ledbury, and remains in use today as part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 4
Surveyor pts : 1

3 rubble (excavation) - 4 points
5 stone - 12 points
4 stone - 9 points
1 steel bar - 7 points

Dymock

Opening in 1885, this station served the small village of the same name until its closure (for passengers) in 1959, and final closure in 1964.

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

4 rubble (excavation) - 1 daffodil
4 stone - 1 daffodil
3 stone - 1 daffodil
1 steel bar - 1 daffodil
1 steel bar - 1 daffodil

Newent

Opening in 1885, the station served the town of Newent and closed, as with the other stations on the line, to passengers in 1959 and freight in 1964.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 5
Surveyor pts : 4

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

Malswick Halt

This was a tiny request stop on the Daffodil Line which closed in 1959 when the line closed to passengers.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 3
Surveyor pts : 7

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

Barbers Bridge

A station just east of Tibberton village, this closed in 1959 for passengers, and 1964 for freight.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 3
Surveyor pts : 11

3 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
3 stone - 7 points
1 steel bar - 8 points

Over Junction

This is the point at which the line joined the main Great Western Railway line.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 4
Surveyor pts : 1 daffodil

2 rubble (excavation) - 4 points
2 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
1 steel bar - 1 track laying credit
1 steel bar - 1 track laying credit

Gloucester

Serving the city of the same name, on the Great Western Railway, Gloucester served as the terminus of the Daffodil Line - from Over Junction to Gloucester trains ran along the Great Western Railway itself.

Player count : ALL
Build spaces : 6
Surveyor pts : 16

2 rubble (excavation) - 4 points
2 rubble (excavation) - 2 points
2 stone - 6 points
2 stone - 4 points
3 daffodils - 24 points
3 daffodils - 20 points

Scenario train

Train in detail

The Utility Loco

Before resolving action A and before any other actions or abilities resolve, the owner may choose any other Train controlled by a player - the Utility Loco is a copy of that Train for the rest of the Round.

This card has a faint outline of a train as, at Spiel 2013 (when the Daffodil Line scenario was released) Tony was encouraging people to draw their own trains - if any are out there, feel free to submit them for inclusion on the site!

Scenario action spaces