Sid Meier's Railroads! on track

By Ellie Gibson Published 17 March, 2006

For a release this autumn.

Sid Meier is at it again - this time with a new PC game that will allow you to build your very own rail network, laying tracks, deciding routes and even designing trains.

The game, which is titled Sid Meier's Railroads!, uses a simple click-and-drag system to make track laying easy - with bridges, tunnels, stations and switches automatically popping up as needed.

As your rail network grows, so will the cities and industries around it, so you'll need to organise cargo transport and provide passenger routes for commuters. You'll also need to keep an eye on the business side of things, watching out for market booms and busts and rival rail tycoons.

The game will feature more than 30 trains, from the classic 0-4-0 Planet and the powerful 4-6-6-4 Challenger, if those mean anything to you, to super fast bullet trains. You can also design your own steam engine, customising everything from colour schemes to logos.

Plus you can design your own maps and scenarios, and construct your dream layout in train table mode. You can also challenge historical figures such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan in single player scenarios. The multiplayer mode will offer LAN or online play, both competitive and co-operative.

"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this game back home," said Sid Meier himself.

"Railroads is near and dear to our hearts and we're looking forward to delivering the endlessly fun gameplay experience fans of our games have come to expect."

Sid Meier's Railroads! is down for an October release - see how it's shaping up so far by taking a look at these screenshots.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • c.lo #1 6 years ago

    "...customising everything from colour schemes to logos."

    So thats the colours and a logo that you can change. Blimey. Is there no build a fantasy train type thingy? Ahh, Maybe im the only one who would do this...

  • Darkedge #2 6 years ago

    railroad tycoon : the next generation...

  • The_Aardvark #3 6 years ago

    Sounds dull but it's Sid so I'm keeping an open mind.

  • smoison #4 6 years ago

    They need to remake Transport Tycoon. That had railroad, buses, helicopters, airplanes, boats. It was AWESOME.

    Just trains is not enough....

  • cartman #5 6 years ago

    "this time with a new PC game"??????? What? this is the third or fourth in the Railroad Tycoon series!

  • Fozzie_bear #6 6 years ago

    They need to remake Transport Tycoon. That had railroad, buses, helicopters, airplanes, boats. It was AWESOME.

    Just imagine how good it would have been if it'd had /\/\0t... no. I can't do it.

  • neuroniky #7 6 years ago

    @Smoison: it has been remade. Game's called Chris Sawyer's Locomotion, which received very bad reviews from almost everybody but still it is a game I managed to love so much...

  • Daikon #8 6 years ago

    Hey, Railroad Tycoon was fun! Ugly as hell, but fun.

  • smelly #9 6 years ago

    I *Think* he no longer is allowed to use the railroad tycoon name, but i might be wrong.

    All I hope is that the track building didnt suck as much as the last one, stopped me playing way longer than i normally wouldve done.

  • erp #10 6 years ago

    They need to remake Transport Tycoon. That had railroad, buses, helicopters, airplanes, boats. It was AWESOME.
    if you already own the original transport tycoon deluxe you very well might want to check out this: http://www.openttd.org/.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/06 @ 08:27

  • Merefield #11 6 years ago

    Railroad Tycoon 3 was awesome, easily the best railway/economy game to date.

    Lots of fun watching old steam trains struggle up 2 in 1's.

    The only thing it misses from TTD was the proper routing of trains and signalling in the latter, rather than having trains miraculously become ghosts just before the point of impact so trains can share the same track.

    Half the fun of TTD was setting up the track to optimise the flow of traffic within a limited space.

    Many years on and still no proper replacement for TTD (Locomotion wasn't sufficiently updated to justify consideration)
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/06 @ 11:53

  • nakke #12 6 years ago

    I hope this or Rail Simulation (which wins the duller title -competition with a few points) will be a very good game. The other is strategy and the other simulation, I know, but I want some cool rail game with "next-gen" graphics and stuff. Railways are awesome.
    Edited by 1 at 25/08/06 @ 22:29