Railroader

As a game, Railroader has a lot going for it, and, as you can see from the number of hours I have invested in playing it, I have had a great time with it in its current pre-release form.
The game's basic scenario is that you are rebuilding a mid-19th century railroad that has suffered the loss of most of its network due to catastrophic flooding. Your job as the player is to rebuild the network. This path is clearly marked for you by a succession of milestone achievements, the completion of which gradually expands the map, enhances the number of industries and destinations you can serve and grows the railroad.
Although the game includes constraints imposed by the cost of equipment, the need for water and coal (and later diesel fuel), and maintenance of equipment, this really is not a game like Railroad Tycoon or Transport Fever. The financial obstacles, while real, are not especially difficult to deal with and the goal of the game is not to create a coast-to-coast empire.
Instead, what Railroader excels at is making you plan for the efficient distribution and collection of your rolling stock. Each day begins with several dozen new cars arriving at the interchange point, the zone that the game defines as where your local railroad interacts with the rest of the game universe. Those arriving cars have to be moved to locations all around the map, while at the same time cars that are already in place and ready to be moved out have to be brought back to the interchange zone.
It's an amazingly simple idea but also a compelling one, because the fun of the game consists of finding efficient ways to handle the various yard operations that are required to get the rolling stock where it needs to be. You also can run passenger lines, and plans are in the works to add mail into the mix. At the same time, you need to keep an eye on the levels of coal and water in your steam engines, because running out of either one at the wrong time can lead to a annoyingly long trip by another engine to pick up the stranded engine and drag it back to where it can be serviced.
Still, it IS an early release game, and some of that shows in how it plays. The artwork is not completed, for example, so you sometimes find yourself dropping off cars at a non-existent "chemical plant" or mining operation. The function of signals and automatic routing in the game is also quite buggy at present. (It's all stuff that you can devise workarounds for, so no real worries there.) I have also become a little discouraged at the pace of movement toward the 1.0 release. Instead of cleaning up what is already there, the small development team has chosen to implement a new system of track maintenance. It's a great idea, to be sure, but is that what is most needed now? I have to wonder.
Even so, please DO NOT let any of my quibbles and reservations deter you from buying this game and enjoying it. Take a look once more at the number of hours I have played it. Any game that I have played for more than 600 hours, whatever its little flaws and blemishes, is a game that I have more than recovered the purchase price from. And I will be back whenever the developers have polished it sufficiently for its 1.0 version.

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.

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!

Nice every 10 years a game manages to get it right; some perfect blend.. where something simple turns addictive.. this game manages to do that; like a work of art. Game Design for connaisseurs. I love every detail of this one… you start to live in this valley, know every bend, hate certain sections, forgetting a handbrake in a copper mine in Alarka… waiting for updates is excruciating because you know it will be a good. This game is an expensive wine in some small cellar somewhere shred by wine lovers. I sing the highest praise for this designer. I bow to thee… take your time. Go slow. And make this better. I will wait… even in Long Access

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.

I think it's safe to say that I like trains.
This is about to become my most played Steam game by hour count, which has taken me by surprise. It's early access so it's not because it has some kind of magic sauce.. although it's an awesome game already. The gameplay loop involves some company management, train management, making deliveries and earning money to handle more and tougher contracts. I love the freedom of opting in and out of contracts because some of them are frustrating to micromanage with having multiple spots on the same track to have different drop offs, forcing you to play musical railcars to get them in the right order.. so I just cancel those ones and pick the ones I like.
This is also a great game when you're doing remote work, watching videos, or anything where you occasionally take your attention off the trains. The AI system is smart enough to prevent most collisions, so depending on how many contracts you take and how you choose to run your trains (manual/auto), you can customize your playstyle and intensity. This game has lots of options for that and I love having options!
I haven't played much multiplayer but I can see it having tons of potential to give a sim feeling, where people dispatch the trains and players make their deliveries. I plan to join in a server that does this soon. But it's also great solo which is what I've done mostly.
The game itself runs really smooth, have yet to have a technical issue. I'm not sure if it will stay in full release (hopefully it does) but they have console command cheats which is something I miss having in games overall. Also if you don't like the pace of the campaign, there is sandbox mode.
The devs seem really chill and their discord is a good place to be. Lots of good people and you can contribute genuine quality feedback, find modders for more trains or post nice screenshots etc.
I highly recommend this game.