Railroader
by Giraffe Lab LLC · 7 Dec, 2023
268 downloads
About the Game
Railroader is an operations-focused railroad simulator set in transition era Appalachia. Manage and run your railroad to your desire while using period steam and diesel locomotives and rolling stock.
Trains with Purpose in a Player Driven World
Your railroad is the lifeblood of the communities it serves: delivering freight cars to customers and moving passengers along the steel arteries that wind along the rivers and up steep mountain passes. You'll receive cars at the interchange yard and it's up to you to get them safely to their destinations, whether it's boxcar loads of machine parts, or bulkhead flats of pulpwood. Every car delivered will get you closer to your goals, whatever they may be: buying powerful locomotives or handsome passenger cars, expanding your mainline, or upgrading your railroad. It's your railroad!A Scenic Mountain Railroad
On the ground or in the cab, the tree-covered mountain vistas – inspired by the Southern Railway's Murphy Branch – will serve as backdrop to your rumbling mainline, night and day. Climb aboard and watch the miles go by in this picturesque environment.Run Solo or with Friends
Railroader is made to scale with your playing style. Shape your railroading experience by accepting contracts with the customers you want to serve, at the level your railroad can handle. Want to run a sleepy mixed train daily? Perhaps a bustling multiplayer server with formal jobs and organized crews? So do we – that's why we made this game! AI Engineers can help you fill in the gaps of your operations, too.What's this about AI Engineers?
AI Engineers can run a manifest freight between yards, or, when you're switching, let you focus on the moves while the AI focuses on the controls. Railroader's AI Engineers can help you be in multiple places at once.Make Your Railroad the Model of Efficiency
ABS and CTC signaling systems not only enable you to run your railroad safely and efficiently, they also give you another way to play: as Dispatcher! Railroader's lovingly recreated US&S Centralized Traffic Control machine will give you a dazzling array of lamps and satisfyingly tactile knobs to throw in command of your mainline.Chimes, Colors & Characters
It wouldn't be your railroad without the ability to make it look and sound the way you envision it. Customize the lettering on tenders and coaches, choose paint colors, and swap whistles to your heart's content!Screenshots
9 imagesVersion Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
Now available on the Experimental branch:
Log camps, pulpwood spurs and maintenance of way yards now load and unload cars faster. Logs about 2.5X, pulpwood about 11X, MoW supplies 3-10X.
Crops are now laid out in fields.
Added a separate grass distance preference to allow for more distant… grass.
Fixed “unloader” industries not ordering cars on their first day: Alarka Fuel, Andrews Coal & Oil, Bryson Lumber Coal & Supply Co, Dillsboro Fuel, Ela Farm Supply, Hollifield Heating Oil, L. Smith Machining, MG Chemical, Nantahala Power & Light, Standard Oil, Sylva Building Supply, Sylva Coal & Lumber, Tatham Grain & Seed Co. This includes migration code to adjust it for existing saves.
Extended Whittier Saw Mill C2 and adjusted SO1/SO2.
Adjusted the track query tooltip to be more clear; more refinement needed.
Fixed switch point alignment not visible from a distance. (RR-944)
Fixed case which could cause auto engineer to miss its waypoint or derail while fast forwarding. (RR-959)
Fixed scroll wheel and other input getting lost when running at high frame rates.
Fixed F7 missing lettering color customization.
Fixed saves sometimes failing on Windows when another program has the file open.
Added check to ensure -homedir isn’t inside the install folder.
Modding: Removed error for steam locomotive components parented inside a wheelset transform.
Modding: Added validation issue indicator for identifier fields in map and definition editors.
Map Editor: Changed internals around interchanges to no longer require an InterchangedIndustryLoader to get equipment purchases to work.
Thank you for your continued bug reports and feedback! More fixes to come.
This bugfix release includes:
Start setup changed: T-17 is on the tracks, G-16 is in the ditch. Changed due to in-cab control differences and tutorial.
Adjusted system that builds seams between terrain tiles in the hopes that it will address some players’ issues with broken terrain seams. Please let us know if you previously experienced this issue and this build resolves it!
Tutorial: Changed to suggest Shift-/ for track condition query, rather than ?.
Tutorial: Fixed blank tutorial window after closing. (RR-937)
Fixed absent Dillsboro station agent. (RR-928)
Fixed unable to effectively oil G-16, T-17. (RR-929)
Fixed SD7 end walkway hard to navigate.
Fixed parametric whistle/horn editor not correctly applying the selected model. Models will need to be reselected before they appear. (RR-924)
Fixed railroad fuel service/repair parts deliveries paying terminal fee. (RR-935)
Fixed missing builder photo for USRA Wood Caboose (RR-931) and AAR 1937 boxcar (RR-934).
Removed errant Wilmot crossing pad.
Fixed issues that prevented “high country” terrain maps from appearing/being navigable. (RR-933)
/mode sandbox now advises using /debug on instead.
Map Editor: New RepairTrack and Interchange components now default to car type filter *.
Thank you for your bug reports! More fixes to come.
Meanwhile, work continues on the MoW update!
- Tutorial bug/typo fixes.
- Fix for broken Crews panel in the Company window.
- Adjusted Auto Engineer to make hard couples less likely. (RR-750)
- Adjusted Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode to take current train direction into account when planning its route. (RR-763)
- Fixed Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode slowing in advance of CTC switches when there was a non-CTC controlled switch beyond it, even when that switch was lined for its route. (RR-764)
- Waypoint selection is now cancelled when selecting another engine or changing the control mode. Fixed clicking on window setting the waypoint 'through' the window. (RR-595)
- Changed locomotive and tender brake cylinder pressure for a train brake application to match the 2.5X factor of standard cars. Additionally, locomotive brake cylinders will hold pressure applied via train brake until train brake is released. (RR-762)
- Overhead ("2") camera now restores its orientation after moving to stay above ground, such as when following a train through a tunnel.
- Added "Jump to Waypoint" item to gear menu in HUD controls. "Simplified Controls" toggle now only appears for engines in Manual control mode.
- Made waypoint overlay arrows gently emissive (more visible at night).
- Fixed waypoint overlay showing incorrect final waypoint arrow in some cases.
- Fixed leaks from audio clips from engines; would occur when engines are unloaded and then reloaded.
- Fixed unstable Sort by Destination order in switch list panel; added Sort by Location. (RR-676)
- Added timetable symbol dropdown to car inspector Operations tab.
- Timetable symbol dropdown now shows next departure time, or last arrival time if the next departure is too distant.
- Fixed Auto Dest on timetable passenger cars incorrectly checking passed stops. Note that it will check stops which are not reachable otherwise, such as a local passenger vs express passenger. (RR-732)
- Fixed Timetable editor showing large negative estimates between stops that span midnight. (RR-739)
- Fixed Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode setting switch behind lined CTC switch causing signal to drop. (RR-638, RR-742)
- Fixed Auto Engineer running 25mph max speed just west of Wesser. (RR-748)
- Fixed flat top handbrake only clickable from very close on some equipment. (RR-735)
- Fixed longstanding issue where brake line is incorrectly restored to 0 PSI when loading a save with an engine that had been bailed off.
- Fixed weight of liquids calculation. (RR-744)
- Improved waypoint picker consistency on switches. (RR-743)
- Moved Switch List window buttons into gear dropdown menu. (RR-396)
- Model refinements for C-40, C-55, S-23, P-43, P-48, SD7.
- Fixed steam engine trucks drifting forward/back, our of sync with engine. (RR-701)
- Fixed delivered cars not recognized at Bryson Lumber Coal & Supply D1, Nantahala Talc & Limestone T3. (RR-700)
- Fixed timetable passenger trains stopping at stations that are not on their timetable schedule. (RR-704)
- Fixed issue that caused derailments and equipment damage during regular movement, first seen in 2024.6.6.
- Fixed "Edit Timetable" button missing for clients in multiplayer.
- Fixed Auto Engineer Waypoint failing to operate when signals were not unlocked.
- Fixed missing Nantahala Power & Light building.
- Fixed pavement at Dillsboro grade crossing.
- Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode: Fixed AE balking at taking diverging route at CTC switches. (RR-662)
- Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode: Fixed AE not throwing switch and instead oscillating across it, particularly at west end of Sylva station siding. Fixed AE not throwing switch when a signal was just past it in some cases (east Dillsboro). (RR-655)
- Auto Engineer Waypoint Mode: Fixed notice not cleared after arriving at a waypoint and switching to a different AE mode. (RR-659)
- Auto Engineer: Removed end of track padding to allow AE to get right up to the bumper. (RR-651)
- Timetables: Fixed timetables not horizontally scrollable. (RR-643)
- Timetables: Fixed parse error caused by meet containing dash character. (RR-649)
- Timetables known issue: Passengers will board coaches for unchecked destinations if they can transfer at a later station. Essentially they want to get on the train as soon as possible. And who can blame them? (RR-656 can)
Happy Holidays from the Railroader team!
- Auto Engineer (AE) now only shows notices for handbrakes and air lines when it is attempting to move.
- AE now fixes problematic MU and Cut Out settings on its engine when attempting to move: disables MU always and disables Cut-Out if it is the only power in the train. (RR-565)
- Added Shift-click on waypoint select button to recalculate the route.
- Adjusted AE behavior when approaching (but not coupling to) another train for greater consistency.
- Fixed AE Waypoint leaving last switch un-restored when reaching waypoint. (RR-588)
- Fixed AE Waypoint set being ignored if it is the same waypoint that had been set and then cleared.
- Fixed remaining uses of "AI". Added engine number to switch audit. (RR-587)
- Fixed selling/deleting K-28T causing removal of car behind it. (RR-589)
- Fixed large curve radius engines refusing to move through small curve radius track. They will now move at 5mph in such cases. (RR-566)
- Fixed engines with multiple of the same gauge only updating one. (RR-560)
- Fixed click-through when closing windows. (RR-593)
- Fixed lengthy car numbers in switch list wrapping. (RR-554)
- Internal: Model.OpsNew types have been moved to Model.Ops namespace.
- Internal: IsPassengerCar extension method is now used to determine passenger-worthiness. Expanded acceptable archetypes to include locomotives, baggage, and caboose.
Current Release
Build 20238526
Uploaded May 11, 2026
System Requirements
How to Install
Railroader.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
Download
Direct link available
Needed when extracting (WinRAR / 7-Zip) — not a site login.
58FD57C0
9df15397e77d66a1adaa8d2474c2ea86ff32af72f9f93cace547073e857f4d4a
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View AllDownload Railroader for PC with a direct link or via torrent. Get the full version of Railroader for free. Railroader is a Simulation released by Giraffe Lab LLC.