At the heart of a 1825 is a simple system.  In an operating round, each game company earns an income from running trains.  The value of this income is always a multiple of 10.  The company also has 10 shares, which the players buy during the course of the game.  The company's income is distributed among the players in accordance with the number of shares that they hold.

As a result, a fair amount of time is spent distributing money among the players.  This can slow down the play of the game.  The spreadsheet automates this process, thus speeding up the game.

What it does not do

This spreadsheet only automates the payment of dividends during operating rounds.  It does not handle share dealing rounds.  Nor does it keep track of players' total wealth.  I haven't had time to extend the spreadsheet with these extra features.

How to use it

To run the spreadsheet, you may have to change your Excel settings to enable macros.  When you then run the spreadsheet, Excel will ask you whether you want to run it in read-only mode - click "yes".  You will then see the set up sheet.  If you click on "New game", Excel will ask you for a filename in which to save the new game.

The flexibility of 1825 means that each game may have a different number of players and companies.  Therefore Excel next asks you to enter these numbers.  You then enter the names of the players and companies by hand.  To complete the set up phase, click the "Start game" button.  The spreadsheet will then create the worksheet for managing the operating rounds.

A Help page gives more information about the spreadsheet.  Do let me know how you get on.