I recently downloaded the rules for the public-locking variant for Empire Builder ( http://spotlightongames.com/variant/crayon-locking.html ) and I can't wait to try them. One point is confusing though. The variant rules state:

"You must always lock a card before you can deliver its load. More than one player can be working on the same locked demand at the same time. (Interesting races may develop.) The first player to deliver a load gets the payoff and the locked card is discarded as usual."

I don't get it. If you must lock a card before delivering, how can more than one player compete for that delivery? Does it mean that the load must simply be locked by someone, before anyone can deliver it? Or do you truly have to lock a load yourself before you can deliver it?

My assumption is that the only thing locked here is the specific load (of the three) on the given demand card. It does not block other people from also locking that same delivery. Thus you could have more than one player trying to make the same delivery.

Thanks. Based on your response and re-reading the rules a few times, I think I understand it now. "Locking" means eliminating all but one possible delivery on that card (the other demands on the card are no longer available to any player). However, anyone can still make that delivery that's locked-in. The purpose of locking is to avoid the chaos of players picking up loads and getting halfway to their delivery, only to find that someone delivered another demand on that card and took the card away. Locking allows some strategic planning, although others can still beat you to delivering that particular load to that city. That makes sense.