Well, today I found some free time to prensent you a favourite game of mine which is nearly half a century old. But despite its age, I still consider Waddingtons Railroader to be one of the nicest Railway-games which were ever produced.

The aim of the game is simple enough: Up to four players are trying to be the first who succeeds in building a railway between two towns in the Wild West and run a train along the tracks.

Basically, a player's turn consists of deciding whether he wants to build tracks or whether he wants to move his train. After he has made his decision, he rolls a dice to determine his allowance for the current round. Thus, he may build up to a maximum of three pieces of track or he may move his train for the rolled number of steps.

However, the decision whether to build tracks or to move the train is not always easy. So, if a player builds too much track in front of his train, other players might get in a postion to place some dynamite far ahead on the track, and this will slow down the train considerably until it has reached the obstacle. On the other hand, running the train on a short part of track is risky too, since it may derail at the end of the track, and this, too, means a loss of valuable time.

Movement of the trains may also trigger other kinds of events. Indians, Landslides, Forts and other items are already part of the events shown on the gameboard, and some special event-spaces introduce further events by the need to draw event-cards. These cards may be beneficial but also detrimental for the players - depending on their luck and position.

Railroader is a quite easy game, but this does not affect its high replay value. It is very funny to play especially if 3 or 4 players participate, and events and the use of dynamite allow good interaction between the players. However, the game is even more fascinating due to its playing components. Since the game contains plastic tracks and trains, it is really beautiful to look at. Especially at the end of the game, when all the tracks are laid, it becomes visible that Waddingtons did put much love into that game. To my mind, it is a true evergreen.

Copyright © 2006 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany