← Railway Rivals Up Close
Railway Rivals

Railway Rivals 1979

Design David G. Watts Art Andrew Poole , David G. Watts Publisher Fairmount Gaming Simulations Co.
6.7 /10
BGG rating
#6971
BGG rank
2.3
Weight
2–6
Players
3
Best at
90
Minutes
10
Age
Game page · 0 prints BoardGameGeek

Location

Sign in to see where your copy sits: the shelf, drawn, and how the box sits on it.

My Copy & Notes

Sign in to see your copy here: the edition, when you added it, and what you paid.

My Notes

Notes are private to their writer. Sign in to keep yours here.

My Prints for Railway Rivals

All 0 on LayerUp

Sign in to see the prints you marked Printed for this game, the insert in the box first.

Expansions & Promos

61 on record
Railway Rivals Map ND: North Germany 1995 Railway Rivals Map P: Northern Italy 1995 Railway Rivals Map AG: Argentina 1994 Railway Rivals Map CZ: Czech Republic 1994 Railway Rivals Map HK: Hokkaido 1994 Railway Rivals Map HL: Hannover and Leipzig 1994 Railway Rivals Map II: Illinois and Indiana 1994 Railway Rivals Map MU: Manchuria 1994 Railway Rivals Map MW: Mid Wales 1994 Railway Rivals Map SK: Slovakia 1994 Railway Rivals Map VS: Valley of the Severn 1994 Railway Rivals Map NO: Northern England 1993 Railway Rivals Map AL: South East Australia 1992 Railway Rivals Map BA: Bavaria 1992 Railway Rivals Map BU: Bulgaria 1992 Railway Rivals Map CN: California and Nevada 1992 Railway Rivals Map CO: Chesapeake and Ohio 1992 Railway Rivals Map CR: North and South Carolina 1992 Railway Rivals Map CS: Central Scotland 1992 Railway Rivals Map DX: "Dixieland" 1992 Railway Rivals Map EU: Eastern U.S.A. 1992 Railway Rivals Map GA: Georgia 1992 Railway Rivals Map HU: Hungary 1992 Railway Rivals Map IL: Illinois 1992 Railway Rivals Map IO: Iowa 1992 Railway Rivals Map NW: North Wales 1992 Railway Rivals Map NY: New York State 1992 Railway Rivals Map OH: Ohio 1992 Railway Rivals Map PA: Pennsylvania 1992 Railway Rivals Map PN: Pacific North West States of the U.S.A. 1992 Railway Rivals Map SL: Sicilia 1992 Railway Rivals Map TX: Texas 1992 Railway Rivals Map YC: New York and Chicago 1992 Railway Rivals Map YK: Yorkshire 1992 Railway Rivals Map BW: Baden-Württemberg 1991 Railway Rivals Map IR: Iran 1991 Railway Rivals Map KT: Kentucky and Tennessee 1991 Railway Rivals Map MX: Isle of Man 1991 Railway Rivals Map RE: European Russia 1991 Railway Rivals Map CT: Chilterns 1989 Railway Rivals Map SC: Scotland 1989 Railway Rivals Map CY: Cyprus 1988 Railway Rivals Map LW: London and Western 1988 Railway Rivals Map SD: Sardinia 1988 Railway Rivals Map SV: London & Western 1988 Railway Rivals Map BN: Belgium & Netherlands 1987 Railway Rivals Map FR: France 1987 Railway Rivals Map GW: Great Western 1987 Railway Rivals Map IN: India 1987 Railway Rivals Map IX: Iowa 1987 Railway Rivals Map JU: Yugoslavia 1987 Railway Rivals Map LD: Lake District 1987 Railway Rivals Map SV: South Sweden 1987 Railway Rivals Map TT: Tyne-Tees 1987 Railway Rivals Map: South East USA 1986 Railway Rivals Map Q: Southern Italy 1985 Railway Rivals Map SP: Spain 1985 Railway Rivals Map WB: West Berlin 1985 Railway Rivals Map E: Atlantic & Lake Erie (1980/85) 1980 Railway Rivals Map T: Middle Earth 1980 Railway Rivals Map CH: China 1973

About the Game

This is a classic simple railway racing game, perhaps the first modern railroading game, where you draw the railway lines on hex-board. This one uses the sort of colored marker pens you can wipe off with a damp cloth after the game. The game goes through phases; initially you draw tracks and earn money for linking cities. When a number of cities are joined, you start racing, the cities being chosen randomly. The races are simple dice-rollers and the 1st & 2nd place get prize money. After a couple of races, you draw some more tracks, then race some more and so on.

The railways cost more if you go over mountains etc, but this gives you shorter routes. You can run parallel to other lines at a cost, or simply link into another player's track and rent the tracks of other players when you race.

The board has a UK map on one side and a US map on the other, both giving amusing challenges, and the game has good repeat value. The designer David Watts has published a lot of stand alone Railway Rivals maps, and there is another edition of this game, Dampfross published by Laurin.

Re-implemented by:

Dampfross

Filed Under

Categories
Racing Trains
Mechanics
Line Drawing
Family
Railway Rivals
BGG ratings
417 · geek rating 5.68
BGG data
refreshed Sep 7, 2026

Matching filament