rail baron 

Updated 11/30/2008

2008 WBC Report  

 2009 Status: pending 2009 GM commitment

Eve Secunda, MD

2008 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
2007    Tom Dunning       40
2008    Eve Secunda       49
 Laurels

Rank  Name               From  Last  Total
  1.  Steve Okonski       MD    01    120
  2.  Ron Secunda         MD    08    101
  3.  Doug Galullo        FL    05     80
  4.  Brian Conlon        OK    04     74
  5.  Mark McCandless     CA    01     72
  6.  Chuck Foster        TX    08     60
  7.  Ed Wrobel           VA    02     60
  8.  Stan Buck           MD    02     60
  9.  Heikki Thoen        QC    99     60
 10.  Inger Henning       CT    06     56
 11.  William Duke        MD    07     55
 12.  Charles Davis       WV    02     54
 13.  Eve Secunda         MD    08     50
 14.  Tom Dunning         NY    07     50
 15.  Mike Zorrer         DE    03     50
 16.  Mark Kennel         DE    07     40
 17.  Donna Balkan        ON    08     34
 18.  Bill Crenshaw       VA    03     30
 19.  Chester Lanham      MD    08     25
 20.  Larry Kratz         ID    04     24
 21.  David Weinstein     NY    02     24
 22.  Ed Rothenheber      MD    00     24
 23.  Norm Newton         ON    07     20
 24.  TJ Halberstadt      IN    06     20
 25.  Phil White          MD    04     18
 26.  James Wicht         NC    00     18
 27.  Gary Chamblee       GA    08     15
 28.  Harald Henning      CT    06     15
 29.  Mike Mullins        MD    05     15
 30.  Mike Brophy         NC    04     12
 31.  Mark Oldfield       CA    02     12
 32.  Paul van Bloem      MD    02     12
 33.  Eyal Mozes          NY    01     12
 34.  Dee Gehring         IN    99     12
 35.  Dave Steiner        DE    06     10
 36.  Stephane Dorais     QC    05     10
 37.  Carl Walling Jr     PA    03     10
 38.  Malcolm Robinson    NY    00      6
 39.  Roderick Lee        CA    05      5
 40.  Charles Ellsworth   NY    03      5

2008 Laurelists                                            Repeating Laurelists:

Chuck Foster, ID
2nd

Ron Secunda, MD
3rd

Gary Chamblee, GA
4th

Chester Lanham, MD
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

Inger Henning, CT
2006

Tom Dunning, NY
2007

Eve Secunda, MD
2008
 

We were glad to see 1991 champ Chuck Foster back from faraway Idaho this year.

Assistant GM Paul Van Bloem keeps an eye on the ladies. The event abandoned its A rating and welcomed several new players this year.

The Alternate Better Half Prevails ...

Our first 1st-round-heat was held in Host A. It was crowded, hot, and noisy and had to have been the reason six of nine games couldn't be finished in time, and they had to be adjudicated - the first time I ever had to adjudicate. I apologize if you were close to victory, but didn't win. Most everyone was good-natured about it.

In our second 1st-round-heat in that same room, the temperature was even worse. Fortunately, we were able to change location, and, in spite of the delay in getting started, only one game went a few minutes over and did not need to be adjudicated. We still are faced with the dilemma that some RBN games need almost the full four hours that are scheduled. Therefore, next year, if I am still Gamemaster, I intend to schedule the games for a five-hour time slot instead of four.

After experiencing a steady decline in the number of RBN players, I am pleased to report we had nine more players this year. A very nice group of new people attended the demo, and many played in the tournament. One was Gary Chamblee, who entered the semi-finals as the third alternate and won a seat at the Final.

Speaking of the Final, history repeated itself this year. In 2006, a husband and wife (Inger and Harald Henning) both were seated at the Final, and, Inger won. This year, it was my wife Eve and I. Well, congratulations to my better half! In another twist of fate, my wife was first alternate to get into the semi-final, and I was second, and we replaced two no-show players - and we both won our semi-final games!  

Congratulations also to Chuck Foster, who won all three 1st-round games and his semi-final, Ass't GM Chester Lanham, who won two 1st-round-heats and his semi-final, and Donna Balkan, who also won two 1st-round-heats.

Some other interesting observations:

The Casey Jones award: I couldn't decide whether it should go to the person who had the most hostile destinations (Mike Brophy, who in Heat 3 had 12 hostile out of 21 destinations) or to the highest rate of hostile destinations (Mark Kennel, who in the Semi had 10 hostile out of 15 destinations). Then there's Eyal Mozes, who in Heat 2 had 21 destinations, none of which were hostile.

Winning RR's: It should come as no surprise that the PA was the top NE RR - being held by 12 winners out of 29 (the rest split among the remaining three RRs). (In the Final, Eve got the PA also). Of the next "big four," winners held the ATSF most of the time (15), followed by the SP (7), the UP (4), and the CRIP (4). The RR getting the least respect was the IC: It was held by only two winners, followed by the T & P, which was held by only three winners. One last surprise: In the SE, the SAL was held by 8 winners, but the L & N was held by 12! The ACL - 8, and the SOU - 7.

The Final: One other note: There were five different auctions, which made for a very interesting game, but no one bankrupted out of the game. The Final will be discussed in detail at http://www.railgamefans.com/rbp

Thanks again to my assistant GM's, Paul Van Bloem and Chester Lanham for their assistance.

Donna Balkan stands to get a better view. She won two preliminary games but finished sixth when she lost her semi-final.

The finalists go for the wood as As't GM Paul Van Bloem, in the background, records the game for posterity.
 GM      Ron Secunda  [6th Year]   NA
    ron@secundaland.com   NA

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