Railway Rivals - The Game of Steam power
In the mid-1980s, my friends and I discovered “Railway Rivals” and became big fans of the game. It was a regular feature both at games clubs and at home, frequently as something quite simple and relatively quick which could be played to finish off a day after the serious AD&D was over and a few beers had been consumed. We started with the original David Watts version produced on what looks like a home printer, and “progressed” to the slicker but less endearing Games Workshop version. You can read about Railway Rivals on its very own Wikipedia Page here - Railway Rivals Wikipedia
I don’t know if it was just our group – but when we played, it was almost obligatory to make a loud “Choo, Choo” noise and pretend to be pulling a steam whistle while rolling the dice. In fact when I was playing, although I liked the British map the best, I always imagined myself in a Casey Jones style hat.
Time like a mighty river rolls on and we didn’t play for many years. I stopped being a scruffy student and became respectable and middle-aged. Then last year we were moving house, and amongst the million other games, I found the intact Games Workshop version of the game.
Tucked inside it were the original rule book and some of the original maps. Note the price on the game in 1973 - well worth the cost!
So we played it again and it was as much of a blast now as it was then – complete with Choo Choo noises. I decided to see what had happened to it, if it was still going buy a modern version (because the board on ours is sadly looking a bit worn), and if it was not, find out who owned the copyright and buy it off them so I could produce a version under the original name. I tried and I failed. David Watts, the original creator, is deceased and his company Rostherne Games was sold to someone called Theo Clarke nearly thirty years ago. There the trail goes cold. Rostherne Games is not registered with Companies House, and all we can find out about Theo Clarke is a vague rumour that they did not wish to publish it themselves.
So much as I would love to officially revive “Railway Rivals” under its original name – I don’t want to get myself into trouble – so I have called it “Rail Victoria” and as much as possible made the rules identical. As far as the games materials are concerned I will flatter myself by saying that they are nicer than the originals, although you will have to print them for yourselves.
I have started with the “London to Liverpool” map from the Games Workshop game but I plan to add extra maps as time permits – Scotland in particular as that is where I am from.
If you are the copyright holder for Railway Rivals, please note that this is being done as a labour of love by me as an individual for non-commercial purposes. You are more than welcome to contact me to discuss the game and a possible purchase of the “Railway Rivals” name.