Frequently Asked Questions

What’s this game about?

Railroader is an operations-focused train & railroad simulator set in transition era Appalachia, North America.

Railroader is about running trains with a purpose — switching freight cars and moving passengers. There’s a lot of work to do; you can do it by yourself, or with friends in multiplayer. Best of all, the game is designed to let you decide how you want to get the work done: no scripted scenarios.

How and when will the game be released?

Railroader is now available in Early Access on Steam! It is priced at $29.99, £24.99, 28,99€.

Railroader will be released for PC only at launch. We have no definite plans for Mac/Linux/Console releases at this time but will consider those platforms after launch.

What routes will the game include? How big is the map?

Railroader’s map is set in a portion of the real life mainline of the Southern Railway’s Murphy Branch in western North Carolina, between Sylva and Andrews. The full map is 54 miles in length, plus logging branches and a branch to Alarka.

Part of what we think is great about Railroader is that you don’t need to use the whole map! When starting in Company mode the player has just under 3 miles of track. You have the option of expanding the railroad incrementally to the east and west to suit your tastes.

What locomotives does the game include? Rolling stock?

Railroader includes a variety of transition era steam locomotives, some early diesel power, and appropriate rolling stock.

What customization options will be available?

In the MoW Update (0.6, on the Experimental branch) you can customize pilots, smoke stacks, and a number of other elements on several engines, including the G-16 Prairie, L-27 Articulated, D-46 Decapod, and others. The F7 and other diesels support customizing their color schemes, including modifying the colors used in several color patterns.

You can also customize your equipment’s paint scheme, lettering, and road numbers, and choose from available whistle/horn and bell sounds. See Styles and the Whistle and Horn definitions for details.

Will there be firing? Shoveling coal?

We do not plan to support firing in the 1.0 release at this time, but plan to consider it for the future. Railroader’s focus is on the bigger picture of railroad operations.

Will there be derailments? Boiler explosions?

There are derailments, but beyond that we don’t have any current plans to support catastrophic failures.

Is multiplayer supported? Singleplayer?

Yes and yes!

What game modes will there be?

There are two modes: “Company” and “Sandbox”.

In Company mode you (and any friends, collaboratively, if in multiplayer) will run your railroad, serving the communities along its right-of-way. Money earned from delivering cars and passengers can be used to purchase new equipment: a persistent world that you grow.

In Sandbox you can add whatever equipment you like.

Is the route/track player editable?

Not as part of gameplay. You expand your railroad by completing predefined milestones rather than by laying track freely.

Separately, the MoW Update supports map modding: the in-game Editor includes a Map Editor for building a new map or modifying an existing one, distributed as a mod. That’s a content authoring tool, not a gameplay feature — see Map Modding.

Can I create my own locomotives/rolling stock/other assets?

Yes. The MoW Update officially supports mods packaged as asset packs, including new rolling stock, scenery, whistles and horns, and Relay scripts. See our modding documentation to get started, and the Asset Development Kit for building custom 3D models and sounds into a pack. We plan to support Steam Workshop distribution in a future release; see the Roadmap.

What game engine does the game use?

The current release, 2025.1.1, uses Unity 2022.3. The MoW Update (0.6) uses Unity 6.3.

What are minimum system requirements?

Please see the Steam page. Railroader is targeted to run well on mid-level gaming systems.

Does Railroader have a EULA?

Railroader is covered by the Steam Subscriber Agreement.

Can I modify or redistribute assets that ship with Railroader?

Like Railroader itself, assets (including but not exclusive to asset bundles, models, textures, animations, and audio) that ship with Railroader are protected by copyright and may not be modified and/or redistributed.

Many of the models in Railroader are owned by the modelers who created them and have been generously licensed to Giraffe Lab LLC for use in the game. We ask that you respect the contributors’ rights and refrain from modifying or redistributing their work.

You are free to modify and distribute Definition.json files as long as you do not remove the credits. Modding is officially supported as of the MoW Update — see Modding for the supported way to package and distribute your changes. Railroader is still in Early Access and formats can change between releases, though we try to keep such changes rare.

I am a modeler/artist/sound designer/developer, can I help?

We are currently looking for structure/building modelers, as well as a graphic artist. Please contact our producer, Connor, with samples of your work. Thanks!