Driving vintage diesels by hand
Diesel Railcar Simulator puts you in the cab of British Railways diesels from the 1960s. You shift gears manually, brake for stations and try to finish each run with a good score. The physics go deep: individual transmission parts are simulated, and each vehicle's suspension bounces and sways over uneven track. Sounds are largely recordings of the real trains.
You can drive fully manually with optional HUD guides, or switch on simple controls for six-key driving. Keyboard, gamepad and mouse all work, including mouse control of the interactive in-cab controls. If you would rather not drive, hand the train to the AI and watch from any viewpoint, or jump into any currently active service.
Timetables, scoring and career play
Each route carries a full daytime timetable with every service drivable. Hundreds of Inter-City, semifast, stopping, freight, rescue and empty coaching stock services are available. When a run ends, your driving style and timekeeping are judged, so repeating a service to brake more accurately or drive more economically is worth it. Signals can change between runs because AI trains run late or misjudge braking, which keeps you alert.
Career mode links individual runs together with a mix of randomisation and player choice, and achievements reward different ways of playing.
Routes, trains and modding
Three routes total over 150 miles: North Landen, a busy four-track main line; Westfords, a warm valley with two main lines and suburban branches; and Mountain Pass, a hilly double track with a single-line section and tough gradients. Trains include Classes 112, 117, 122 and 126 with manual gearboxes, Class 127 with torque converters, locomotives Classes 03, 37 and 40, plus coaches and goods wagons.
Built-in editors let you make new trains, routes and timetables, and Steam Workshop content can be shared and downloaded. Remote Play Together is supported.