Spinning off a branch
A spin-off turns part of your railroad into a new railroad. You pick some stations, the lines between them, and the trains that work them. A new company is chartered to buy them from you, and you are paid.
The button is Spin off a branch, on your railroad's page. It shows once you own three stations, because a spin-off has to leave you a railroad.
What you choose
- A name for the new railroad. It cannot be the name of one already on the board.
- Stations. The towns that go with the branch. You must keep at least one station, and the new railroad needs at least one.
- Corridors. A line with both ends in the branch goes with it, always. A railroad cannot be sold with a hole in the middle. A line with one end in the branch and one end you keep is your call: keep it, or send it too.
- Trains. A train goes with its orders as they are, the same route, the same holds and the same load limits.
- How much you keep. You may hold on to part of the new railroad, up to 49%. The rest is sold, and the money comes to you.
What you are paid
The dialog adds up what the stations, the track and the engines would cost to build or buy today. That is their book value. The new railroad pays you a share of it, 80% on the standard boards. If you keep part of the new railroad, you are paid for the rest only: keeping 40% means you are paid for 60% of the branch, and you hold the other 40% as shares instead of cash.
The dialog shows every figure before you commit, and the button names what you will be paid. From the moment of the sale you stop paying upkeep on the stations you sold.
What happens next
The new railroad runs itself from the day it is chartered. It sets its own prices and buys its own engines, and it may change the routes and orders of the trains you sold it. It is a railroad like any other.
A train that goes with the branch keeps calling at the stations in its orders, including any you kept. The new railroad then pays the owner of each station its posted station-use fee, which is you for a station you kept, and the posted trackage rate for the owner's track, the same as any railroad would. This is how a branch stays connected to your main line. The dialog warns you about each train this affects.
The new railroad opens with a working stake of its own, shown in the dialog as The new railroad's money, so it can run from the first day.
What a spin-off does not undo
You cannot take a spin-off back. The stations, track and trains are the new railroad's, and it decides what to do with them.
You can still deal with it. It is a rival like any other, so you can buy its shares, and a majority lets you take control of it. See shares and the two kinds of money. A stake you kept earns its share of the new railroad's dividends.
A spin-off is refused while your railroad is in receivership.