Let's take a look at those finances. Start with $1000. Buy 3 2-Trains - that's $760 left. Bridge two rivers and buy a token to give yourself the routes to run three trains - $460 left.

The strategy does work well if the other companies are going to buy the first 3-train; this will depend on which companies they are, and on whether the last company to start wants to buy the 3-train in order to buy a private. (In the computer version, this almost always happens.) Now you only need to bridge one river (Washington, south of Baltimore), and you can upgrade Washington in the second OR, running for $170 and buying a 3-train.

You'll now have $440, which becomes $340 after you place your second station (probably Harrisburg for its access to New York, or Pittsburgh if the PA interferes and forces you to go to Chicago instead. One withhold with the 3-train will get you a 5-train, and in a long game, the withhold may not even cost you stock value because the B&O often reaches the top of the market.

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