Getting Started
RailOps 2 is a persistent railroad operations and construction game. Build a company, establish territory, operate real equipment and move freight through a connected industrial network.
Your first login
Create or sign into your account from the main menu, then open Subdivisions. You may load and explore any published subdivision, but it becomes part of your company only after you place a Headquarters.
Allow a little time after loading for nearby terrain, tracks, industries and equipment to appear. Progress saves automatically, with recovery saves retained in case the latest session contains an unusable position.
Camera and general controls
These are the default bindings. Most controls can be changed under Options → Controls.
Your railroad company
Your company owns its money, locomotives, railcars, facilities, construction materials and claimed subdivisions. Place a Headquarters and designate its Home Track before expecting starter equipment and normal company operations.
Company money pays for construction, contractor work, MOW supplies, equipment, repairs and facilities. Completing assigned waybills earns money for the company.
Operating a locomotive
Open Engineer mode and select a company locomotive. Confirm the reverser, brakes and route before applying power.
Coupling and autopilot
Approach standing equipment slowly; approximately 3 mph is recommended. Point at a coupler and press Ctrl+C to open, close, couple or uncouple it. The couplers must be close, aligned and on connected track.
Press P and select a valid track location to set an autopilot waypoint. Autopilot aligns switches and controls the locomotive, but it will stop when the route is blocked, disconnected, occupied or unable to clear a switch safely.
Building track
- Open Trackwork and survey the desired alignment.
- Adjust its nodes, curves and elevation.
- Confirm the alignment.
- Supply the required MOW materials.
- Use Standard Build or hire Quick Build.
- Designate the finished track for its operating purpose.
Standard Build consumes company rail, ties, fasteners and ballast. Quick Build consumes no stored material, but charges three times the delivered value of the required materials. Removing completed track refunds only the normal material value; the contractor premium is not refunded.
MOW materials and overlays
Open Operations → M.O.W. → Materials to view inventory, compare approved suppliers and delivered prices, place orders and review delivery status. Ordered materials become available for Standard Build after delivery.
Track overlays
- MOW overlay: shows the combined condition of rail, ties and ballast.
- Gradient overlay: green indicates gentle grade, yellow approximately 2 percent, and red approximately 5 percent or greater.
Industries and waybills
Industries produce, consume and store materials. Freight presentation and railcar compatibility matter: liquids use tank cars, grain commonly uses covered hoppers, lumber may use bulkhead or centerbeam flats, and packaged freight typically uses boxcars.
A waybill identifies the car, load, origin, destination and assignment status. Leave the entire car within the designated industry or interchange track. Successful deliveries pay a transport reward to the operating player’s company.
Yards and automated switching
Yard tracks may be designated for Running, Receiving, Storage, Industry, Interchange, Maintenance or Unsorted service. Assign a locomotive as switcher and enable Yard Automation to have it sort manageable cuts toward their designated tracks.
The complete switcher consist must fit within the Running designation before another move is planned. Turn Yard Automation off before taking manual control of the assigned switcher.
If something goes wrong
Press F7 for diagnostics. For routing trouble, check switch alignment, track connectivity, route occupancy, whether the complete consist cleared the last switch, and whether the waypoint is on the intended track.
If equipment loads in an impossible position, avoid overwriting the last good recovery point. Return to the main menu and load an earlier recovery save when available.