Contingent contracts and subsequent graphing could fix that. Ask for everybody along proposed "grid-maps" of territory if they would be willing to sell for a ra

Contingent contracts and subsequent graphing could fix that. Ask for everybody along proposed "grid-maps" of territory if they would be willing to sell for a railroad, and how much at an upfront price and make all pending a successful route negotiation. Then it becomes a graphing problem to find the cheapest path which fits the constraints.