Play Shortline Railroad Online
Lay tracks, flip switches, and panic as your coal train nearly T-bones the express—all in charmingly janky DOS pixels. That moment when your spaghetti rail system finally works? Pure relief.
Shortline Railroad came out in 1992 as part of the MS-DOS Classic Games collection, developed by Doka. It was one of those early PC titles that didn't try to dazzle with graphics, but instead offered a focused, hands-on simulation of running a small railroad. In an era when many games were about fantasy or action, this one stood out for its methodical, almost meditative approach to logistics and planning.
You control a single train operator, managing switches and signals to guide your locomotive along branching tracks. The main goal is to avoid collisions while picking up and delivering cargo on time. Key mechanics include manually toggling track switches ahead of your train and carefully timing your movements to coordinate with other rail traffic. The pace is deliberate, demanding constant attention; one wrong move can lead to a costly pileup. It feels like solving a moving puzzle where every decision carries weight.
Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".
Download Shortline Railroad ROM
You can download this ROM to play Shortline Railroad offline using an MS-DOS emulator (Top Emulators).
*This ROM is provided for backup and educational purposes only.
