Railroader

Honestly, it ticks all the right boxes for me. I do have the "I like trains" autism, but not the "I like driving trains" kind. I just like watching them, and telling them where to go, and what to do. I like seeing trains move up and down tracks and solving logistical puzzles and shunting things where they're supposed to go.

The sounds are fantastic, very satisfying "chugga" and "choo-choo", great job. The gameplay loop is pretty mentally stimulating and fun for me, and it allows you to play at your pace and style. If you like driving the trains yourself you absolutely can, and if you just want an up close and personal, small-scale version of Transport Fever like I do, you can have that too. The Engineer AI (or auto-drive) is honestly quite intelligent and self-sufficient most of the time; it will flip switches as it needs to without your input and they have so far not crashed into each other.

The multiplayer feels stable and very fun; I tend to take the role of dispatch and look at the big picture while others man the trains and handle their own individual tasks, makes for a fun dynamic.

The visuals are nothing particularly impressive and quite lightweight which has it's advantages, and I'd like to see more models for differently loaded goods in the carriages for immersive purposes, along with a use for the caboose (which I believe is one of the next items on the list).

The world itself is also extremely dead, nothing happens in the map that does not have to do with the players. There's no vehicles or other trains going about their business, the places you deliver to make no sounds and have no people, and even the passenger lines have no visible passengers, they're just represented by numbers without any visuals. I do not know to what extent they have these things planned, but I know that before the title can be considered complete, the world needs a lot more life in it, rather than just feeling like a personal little sandbox for my company to play around in.

For an early access title it's relatively stable, I experienced a few small bugs but nothing game breaking, and a handful of crashes but the game saves pretty frequently so nothing serious was lost other than less than 5 minutes of progress.

I have high hopes for this title in the long run; it's satisfying, well-crafted and fun, I'm looking forward to more features and content!

Yes i recommend this game even though i refunded it. The game is fun, but i already own Derail Valley, and while the two games arent identical, they are similar enough for me to not find the same amount of value in this game as others do. The game is well made, and if i didnt already own Derail Valley, i'd be putting a lot of hours into this one. i'm writing this review because i want to support the devs and the work they are doing, even though the game isnt for me.

Fun game....does not hold your hand whatsoever (i still have no idea how to do jobs apart from passengers) ....switching can be annoying.....but its still a great game
(Edit: Literally the day after writing this review they updated the tutorial and it is 1000000000000000% better THANK YOU DEVS!)

after 150hrs of playing railroader here are my thoughts,

Railroader is a game with massive potential only held back by the contraints of its small but dedicated dev team. Railroader is not another train simulator, Railroader is a tycoon manager with train driving mini games in between,with the perfect backdrop of "transition era" america. Within my 150 hrs played I have never once been bored or felt I had nothing left to do, the grind is hard but extremely rewarding, there is no better feeling then spending a few sessions grinding for a new powerful locomotive then seeing it in your interchange. I am extremely excited for the future of railroader, each update gets me more excited then the last.

Railroader is not a perfect game, occasional sound glitches, visual bugs, a lack of buildings and roads in "built up" areas, but for a game that is not a triple A title, its as closer then you could ask to perfect, at least in my eyes. for every complaint I may have had, lack of locomotive options, customization, scenery, trackage etc, the community around this game has a mod to improve on this already amazing product.

Over all Railroader is a game that I foresee growing into something simply amazing in the next while, a game with passionate devs, and fans. After 150 hrs, I'm ready for the next 150.

Very good game if I do so say myself! Being that I've lived in North Carolina most of my life and having a strong connection to the Southern Railway system (no I haven't worked for them but I still like them) this game certainly fits very well into my shelf of games that I use. Being that I run a server and see many players come and go, and also playing this game makes me realize some things it lacks, lets get right into the pros and cons!
Part I: The Good
Variety of equipment: Having played over 200 hours by this time I've certainly noticed the abundance of rolling stock in game, you've got everything from before the turn of the 20th century all the way up to the diesel age! Considering that I run a server on the Murphy Branch (what this game is based off of, more on that later) set in 1968, those diesels come in handy a bit, but I'll discuss those in a moment. The steam locomotives are excellently detailed, with the cabs having all the controls that a person could need to operate a locomotive with. The outsides are greatly detailed too, every puff of smoke, every pound of coal from the coal loaders, every ounce of water from the water spout, details details and more details! The diesels though, my goodness aren't those something! Cabs detailed with the control stand, the handbrake varies depending on what locomotive you buy (steam locomotives the handbrake I've usually found on the tender? Correct me if I'm wrong on that. The diesels vary, the GP and SD have it near the rear that I've found, while the SW1 has it in the cab near the door. And on the topic of the SW1, I never knew they used a lever for activating the bell on them, very nice detail!) Now lets get on to the next topic.
Trackage Layout: Though I'm not sure what the actual historical track layout for the Murphy Branch was, I did look at the current branch as it looks with the GSMR/BRS now owning the trackage from Sylva west, and it's actually very accurate! Now of course as I've heard the developers say, the Alarka Branch and Robinson Gap were added either because players requested such or because it was close, but it's apparent those didn't exist, but it sure adds a bit more purpose to Alarka Junction when you have it! In any case, I like the Murphy Branch, I like the game, they go hand in hand, no other context needed! Now why don't we get on to the final pro of Part I.
Attention to detail: The amount of detail I find in this game from the developers is unlike any game I've played before. I used to play Railroads Online a lot and this, in my mind, surpasses the detail of it by a good deal (though I still think both games are good in their own ways, of course) Every tunnel, bridge, industry, and locomotive looks like it was made with extreme care and consideration for how it was built in real life. Now lets get on to the next of this 3 part section, the cons.
Part II: The Cons
Now sure, some of you might think about this section "Why? This game is basically the finest thing to have been brought to Steam." Well in some places, it's not, so I'd like to give some of my honest opinion!
Equipment Shortage: Okay, let me be very honest, this game has an abundance of railcars, but that doesn't mean it has all of them. Now sorry if I'm sounding like a bone picker, but in my mind the only real places the game lacks are diesels and passenger equipment. Sure, steam was still at large by when this game is set, the transition era of the 1940s and 1950s, but diesels were rapidly coming into play. To give an example, the Southern Railway (whom owned the Murphy Branch) was already beginning Dieselization fairly early, in 1941, by 1953 the last steam engine was off the Southern's roster (at least until the steam program started, but we're talking regular mainline service here) So I asked the group I play with on this game what diesels that could be possible candidates, and the top picks were the RS-1 and RS-3, RSD-12, GP18, and SD24. Now sure, there's probably mods for all of these, but we were thinking that maybe these could be added into the game someday. Passenger equipment there is a mod for, but let me go into what my group thought could be added. Parlor Cars (basically the game's observation car but with fancier chairs) Diner Cars (where passengers go to get meals onboard) Sleeping Cars (self explanatory) streamlined cars (probably uncommon on a branchline, but not impossible) And there is also a mod for the Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC) which was an aluminum branchline passenger car with a motor strapped on top of it. Again, there are mods for some of these, but we thought they could be added into the game someday.
Anyways, other than that I can't really think of any other cons. Put your thoughts as a comment to share!
Part III: Conclusion
The game was very well thought out by the developers. I'm very glad they could put this game out on Steam for all of the rail enthusiasts and locomotive engineers alike. Very good locomotives, very good rolling stock, especially good details, and although it needs a little bit of work in some areas, it's a very grand representation of Southern Railway's Murphy Branch during the Transition Era. And what is my honest opinion of owning it? I think it's a grand edition to my shelf of games. And before I end this review, be sure to check out the many different servers, as there are a lot of great people in this community that you can certainly make friends with and make some great operations with others. Thank you for reading!

If you want the experience of what it is like to be a conductor or engineer this game is for you. I was a conductor with Union Pacific for 15 years and I have to say this game is pretty realistic when it comes to the realism of switching operations and how to spot and pull customers orders. What I like about the game is that you can customize just how real you want to play or just want to casually switch depending on your preference. Many people play with mods, but the vanilla game itself is the way to go if you want the real experience of being a railroader. Remember this review is from someone who spent a decade and a half doing this job.

Developers: Keep up the great work. I will never mod this game and look forward on the progress of this game. Thank you for your dedication.

Best train sim i've played. I am so done with train sims charging insane prices for individual locomotives. Railroader has tons of locomotives IN EARLY ACCESS! Plenty of mods to choose from as well.
Not to mention the awesome company mode which is what really sets this sim apart. You can start your own railway and build it from the ground up. That's awesome.
Only negatives are the relatively plain terrain and lack of building but as I understand it, that will come eventually.