73 would-be railroad tycoons showed up to take part in the fourth Union Pacific WBC tournament; another strong showing for a one-heat event. I continue to run the event as a SE in one evening, since the majority prefer this format. The first round mainly consisted of four-player games although we had to have five five-player games due to people straggling in as I was making table assignments. I want to thank all the participants for ensuring that we had enough boards. We played 18 games in the first round with one tie for first so only advanced one runner-up into the semi-final round.

The average winning score in the first round was 120.8 for the four-player games and 105 for the five player games. The average margin of victory was 7.6 and 14.7, respectively. The lowest and highest winning scores and margins were 104 to 145 and 0 to 24 for the four-player games and 100 to 109 and 10 to 19 for the five-player games.

The table assignments for the five-player semi-final games were random. The average winning score in the round was 105 and the average margin was 13.2. The lowest and highest winning scores and margins were 88 to 115 and 3 to 23. All the winners were either first or second in UP stock, showing its importance to the finmal outcome.

The Final was tight at the first golden train with John Wetherell having a narrow lead. Two of the players captured monopolies in the small railroads, brown and blue. These were virtually unbreakable since the right card never came up until after the third pay train. Arthur managed to take a second place with only one card in the red and green trains which were being built by others. Although two red and two green cards were showing for several rounds as selectable options, the players inexplicably ignored these and drew blind cards from the deck. Arthur managed to score second in both red and green twice and had the blue monopoly. Fortunately, for him, the last pay train came just as players realized he might score those lines a third time and as a blue card finally appeared. Arthur Field took a four-point lead at the second golden train. He made a major move leading up to the third golden train jumping out to a 14-point lead. Arthur cruised from there to win by ten points. The final scores were 125, 115, 98, and 92. Arthur scored in eight railroads during the final scoring. The entire game just seemed to go Arthur's way. He certainly made no mistakes, but without the knowledge that I had looking at Arthur's hand, I don't think the other players could have guessed how to take him down.