Age of Steam Expansion: 1830’s Pennsylvania / Northern California

About this expansion

Age of Steam Expansion: 1830’s Pennsylvania / Northern California is a board game expansion for 3–6 players, with a playing time of approximately 120 minutes. Released in 2006, it introduces two maps shaped by distinctive regional industries, cities, and delivery challenges.

In 1830’s Pennsylvania, the industrial revolution is beginning and demand for coal is rising. Railroads are driven by the abundant coal supplies of Western Pennsylvania, while Southeastern Pennsylvania features heavily urbanized cities. Coal-producing towns and cities create a distinctive strategic landscape.

• Coal deliveries: Black-cube coal may be delivered twice as far as your locomotive, or its delivery can provide double income.
• Regional contrast: Western Pennsylvania focuses on coal production, while Southeastern Pennsylvania features dense urbanization.

The Northern California map focuses on San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Santa Cruz, and Sacramento, alongside the struggle to move goods across the San Francisco Bay Area. Two bridges cross the bay, and the port city of Santa Cruz has goods waiting for delivery.

San Jose occupies three tiles and has double goods growth, while Sacramento has an ever-changing destination: the goods it wants are determined by the flow of goods into Santa Cruz. This map redesigns the popular Age of Steam: Bay Area map from the limited 2005 Essen edition, with modified cities and towns and a slightly changed size to fit a standard Age of Steam board.

Compared with the original Bay Area map, the Northern California design is slightly more forgiving. Created by Ted Alspach, Age of Steam Expansion: 1830’s Pennsylvania / Northern California offers two contrasting settings for building rail connections and managing deliveries.