At first glance, Railroad Pioneer seems to be a simple transport simulation. However, its ingenious research and upgrades system offers a far more individual gaming experience. By means of an expanding industry, the player can improve their vehicle pool as well as the economy and infrastructure specifically and individually. Depending on the type of player, therefore, the game offers a large variety of possibilities and game strategies. Now we'd like to give you a SMALL insight into the numerous possibilities offered by Railroad Pioneer:

It's the era of the impressive steam locomotives. Thanks to a continuous stream of new models and the technical development of existing model series, records in speed and tractive power are continuously being surpassed by new records at "record speed". The innovation cycles of the time were in themselves a record.
For engineers, this new ground in technology held an enormous potential for ingenious innovation. Popular models, the latest thing to be had in the market only yesterday, were speedily exchanged for ever more functional and powerful engines today.


The engineers' quarters in Railroad Pioneer offer you the opportunity to witness this technological revolution.

Research into new types of locomotives can only be done in connected towns that possess an engineers' quarter. In campaign mode, the various locomotive types are available for research at specific moments in time. In (single player & multiplayer) free-play mode, however, the technological progress depends solely on the player's research activities.
The various models differ greatly in terms of their basic characteristics - maximum speed, tractive power and operating costs. Thanks to the tech tree, most of the new models can be accessed only by researching the models preceding them.

As soon as you have developed a new model, it is available for production in your factory quarters. However, the technological development does not end here. Intensive use of locomotives of a particular type enables the engineers to gather more and more information about that type of locomotive. That way, more research can be done on locomotives currently in use, which can then be constantly upgraded. This facilitates not only, e.g,. the automation of cost-intensive servicing jobs, but also their execution in a highly efficient and economical way.

The research and upgrades system enables the player to put together a much more individual vehicle pool according to their wishes. Don't underestimate supposedly weak opponents: upgraded locomotives can be superior to modern but as yet unfamiliar successor models.
As a special reward, players who are doing exceptionally well in the campaign are given the opportunity to put together a vehicle pool across all missions, so that there's no need for them to scrap locomotives they have grown fond of at the end of a mission.

Another area that the player can build up and expand according to their wishes is the economy and infrastructure in a mission:

Trade field upgrade:
The economy in new regions flourishes as soon as the railroad is introduced. Resource fields and production sites benefit from the sale of their own goods and the supply of the raw materials they need. Working quarters receive trade points for each type of good the player hauls. The contribution of the player to the economy as a whole can also be assessed with the help of the trade points they obtain by hauling goods. The player can use their trade points to gradually upgrade buildings and improve the companies' economic performance. This results in a faster production or improved movement of goods.
Town upgrade
As detailed in the TRADING section, the player influences the development of a town with their actions. Depending on the goods they supply, new industries will arise on building sites, and as a result, the towns in the missions can develop in a highly individual way.

Moreover, players can invest in the quarters of a town, such as the engineers' quarter or the factory quarter. Depending on the investments they decide to make, they can benefit greatly from the expandable functions of the quarters as the game proceeds.