rail baron [Updated October 2006]  

2006 WBC Report  

 2007 Status: pending 2007 GM commitment

Inger Henning, CT

2006 Champion

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Event History
1991    Chuck Foster        28
1992    Kevin Quirk        29
1993    Kevin Quirk        38
1994    Bill Fellin        37
1995    Heikki Thoen        63
1996    Heikki Thoen        46
1997    Kim Lemmons        94
1998    Eyal Mozes      100
1999    Heikki Thoen       58
2000    Steve Okonski       69
2001    Steve Okonski       56
2002    Ed Wrobel       75
2003    Mike Zorrer       59
2004     Doug Galullo       66
2005     William Duke       53
2006    Inger Henning      46

 Laurels

Rank  Name               From  Last  Total
  1.  Steve Okonski       MD    01    120
  2.  Doug Galullo        FL    05     80
  3.  Brian Conlon        OK    04     74
  4.  Mark McCandless     CA    01     72
  5.  Ed Wrobel           VA    02     60
  6.  Stan Buck           MD    02     60
  7.  Heikki Thoen        QC    99     60
  8.  Inger Henning       CT    06     56
  9.  Charles Davis       WV    02     54
 10.  Ron Secunda         MD    05     51
 11.  William Duke        MD    05     50
 12.  Mike Zorrer         DE    03     50
 13.  Mark Kennel         DE    06     30
 14.  Bill Crenshaw       VA    03     30
 15.  Chuck Foster        TX    01     30
 16.  Donna Balkan        ON    06     29
 17.  Larry Kratz         ID    04     24
 18.  David Weinstein     NY    02     24
 19.  Ed Rothenheber      MD    00     24
 20.  TJ Halberstadt      IN    06     20
 21.  Phil White          MD    04     18
 22.  James Wicht         NC    00     18
 23.  Harald Henning      CT    06     15
 24.  Mike Mullins        MD    05     15
 25.  Mike Brophy         NC    04     12
 26.  Mark Oldfield       CA    02     12
 27.  Paul van Bloem      MD    02     12
 28.  Eyal Mozes          NY    01     12
 29.  Dee Gehring         IN    99     12
 30.  Dave Steiner        DE    06     10
 31.  Stephane Dorais     QC    05     10
 32.  Carl Walling Jr     PA    03     10
 33.  Malcolm Robinson    NY    00      6
 34.  Roderick Lee        CA    05      5
 35.  Charles Ellsworth   NY    03      5

2006 Laurelists

Mark Kennel, DE
2nd

TJ Halberstadt, IN
3rd

Harald Henning, CT
4th

Dave Steiner, DE
5th

Donna Balkan, ON
6th


Past Winners

Chuck Foster, TX
1991

Kevin Quirk, PA
1992-1993

Bill Fellin, CT
1994

Heiki Thoen, QC
1995-1996, 1999

Kimberly Lemmons, TX
1997

Eyal Mozes, NY
1998

Steve Okonski, MD
2000-2001

Ed Wrobel, VA
2002

Mike Zorrer, DE
2003

Doug Galullo, FL
2004

William Duke, MD
2005
       

 Clockwise from left: Stan Buck, GM Ron Secunda, Harald Henning, and Paul O'Neil swap train stories from years gone by.

 The traditional Rail Baron Finalists portrait with their wood in order of finish: Inger Henning, Mark Kennel, TJ Halberstadt, Harald Henning, and Dave Steiner.

An Alternate Prevails ...

Once again, a terrific bunch of railroad enthusiasts took to the rails. What fun!
Congratulations to this year's Final champion, Inger Henning, who entered the Semi-Final as an alternate. Her win there got her into the Final, where one of her opponents was her husband, Harald. Inger's first championship allows her to join the family club since all five Hennings have now won WBC events. Regarding Inger's prize: The player who accidentally had taken it realized it upon arriving home, and it was forwarded to Inger. The prize was a package of RB Player and EB player computer versions donated by Intersystem Concepts. 
 
Thanks to Assistant GM's Paul Van Bloem and Chester Lanham, and Chester's wife and my wife for helping out. Paul once again did an outstanding job recording the Final . An account and analysis of the Final will be available at the Rail Baron Fanatics website. A condensed version will be provided here.
 
But first, some stats: 33 players started with the first heat, and another 13 joined during the two following heats. Eleven players played in all three heats, but only one, Paul Van Bloem, won all three games. Way to go, Paul! Three other players won two of their heats: Chuck Foster, yours truly, and my wife Eve. Speaking of the latter, in the two games Eve won, one was a 5-person game, and the other was a 4-person game that had, as opponents, defending champion, Bill Duke, this year's eventual champion, Inger, and this year's 6th place laurelist, Donna Balkan. What a win! In the one heat Eve lost, it was to Donna. Chester Lanham also won a 5-person heat, and in one of the heats that Paul won, the opponents included Inger and TJ (Jeff) Halberstadt, who finished third in the Final.

 The 2006 Final game:

In turn order, the players were Jeff Halberstadt, Inger Henning, Mark Kennel, Harald Henning, and Dave Steiner. Also in turn order, Home cities and first destinations were: New York/Seattle, Columbus/Phoenix, New Orleans/Indianapolis, Chicago/Atlanta, Kansas City/Chicago.

Dave finished his first trip in one round, and bought an Express.  Mark arrived in the second round, and also bought an express.  The first actual RR purchase was by Harald, who arrived in the second round and bought the SAL. Harald also bought the second RR (NYNH) on his next trip, which only took him one turn.

The fourth and fifth rounds: Inger bought the PA, and Jeff the NYC. Dave bought the B&O. Mark arrived in Seattle at the end of his second trip in Round 6, and bought a Superchief. That left the C&O for Harald to buy in Round 7. Inger bought the ATSF in Round 13; Jeff  bought a Superchief in Round 13, and the SP in Round 22. In the meantime, Harald bought the UP in Round 17. Mark was making shorter trips and buying smaller railroads: T&P in Round 12, then ACL, RF&P, CMStP&P, and lastly, in Round 21, the L&N. Dave managed to only buy the MP and the SOU.

Also in Round 21, Harald bought the GM&O to connect to his UP and SAL, but this purchase left him short of cash, and in Round 22, he auctioned off the NYNH. The railroad went to Inger for $10. Mark next bought the IC, and then the N&W.

In round 26, Harald arrived in Norfolk, and bought the CRIP.  Jeff then bought the last railroad, the GN.

A look at each player's network at the Break:

Jeff: NYC, SP, GN, and WP.

Inger: PA, CBQ, ATSF, NP, SLSF, B&M, NYNH.

Mark: ACL, L&N, RF&P, IC, N&W, T&P, CMStP&P.

Harald: C&O, SAL, GM&O, CRIP, UP.

Dave: B&O, SOU, CNW, MP, DRGW (also WP, shortly).

After the break, in Round 29, Jeff had to auction his WP (to Dave for $19k). Inger bought a Superchief in Round 31, but had been managing earlier by rolling boxcars (she and Harald never bought Expresses). Harald bought a Superchief in Round 29, and Dave in Round 44.

Inger announced $150k in Round 50. Mark was the next to announce, in Round 52.

In Round 57, Inger arrived in Baltimore, with around $190k. Mark arrived in Jacksonville, with $198.5k. Inger lucked out with her next (short) trip to Omaha that paid $13k. Mark's trip was shorter, but to unfriendly Kansas City.

In Round 58, Jeff announced that he was over $150k. However, Inger arrived without a bounce in Omaha, and was only 10 dots from her home city, Columbus, on her own tracks (CBQ to PA), with $203k. The other players maneuvered to catch her if she declared and rolled too low. Mark would just barely have $200k with his Kansas City trip, but he'd have to bounce back to his own RRs, and then be very vulnerable to a rover play. But, if Inger rolled low, he had a chance.

In Round 59, Inger declared, and rolled Fort Worth as her alternate destination. She then rolled a 14, easily reaching her home city.

The final cash and rail value totals were (in finish order):

1. Inger: $203k cash plus $141k rail value equals $344k net worth

2. Mark: 198.5 + 88 = 286.5

3. Jeff: 188.5 + 87 = 275.5

4. Harald: 148 + 115 = 263

5. Dave: 21 + 93 = 114

Thanks again to Paul for his excellent report on the Final and to all the players who make this a fun event.

FOR LANCASTER 2007: The changes for seating for the Semi-Final (last year and this year) and for the Final (this year) will be continued in 2007.

For pictures and year-round Rail Baron news see http://www.insystem.com/rbp/wbcrbn.htm

 GM      Ron Secunda  [4th Year]   NA
    secundstar@erols.com   NA

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