TrainStation 2 and TrainStation 3: Journey of Steel bring back Save the Rails with a piece of American history
This time, buying a virtual locomotive helps preserve a very real one
- Save the Rails returns with the American Freedom Train No. 1
- Charity Pack proceeds support the B&O Railroad Museum
- The historic locomotive joins both TrainStation games
America turns two hundred and fifty this July, and somewhere between the fireworks and the bunting, Pixel Federation's decided a mobile train sim is a reasonable place to mark it. TrainStation 2 and TrainStation 3: Journey of Steel are bringing back Save the Rails, and the locomotive at the centre of it has a history that's more tied to American identity than anything you'd expect to find in a game.
TrainStation 3: Journey of Steel and its predecessor, TrainStation 2, are both getting a Charity Pack centred on the American Freedom Train No. 1, a locomotive that did the rounds of the United States during the Bicentennial celebrations before settling into retirement at the B&O Railroad Museum in Maryland.
Buy the pack, and you get a recreation of it for your own collection. The museum gets the money, all of it, going straight toward restoration and education work rather than sitting in some vague corporate pledge.
Save the Rails has done this before, raising funds for the Zierny Hron Railway in Slovakia and the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in the UK, so there's a track record here beyond good intentions. This one's just got a bigger flag attached to it.
TrainStation 3 has the window from July 5th to July 7th, while TrainStation 2 runs a longer stretch from July 1st through to the 7th. Once it closes, that's it, the Freedom Train won't be sold again, though anyone who picks it up keeps it for good.
If you happen to be near Maryland over the holiday, the museum's also running its own celebrations and letting people see the real AFT#1 in person, which feels like the better excuse for a day trip than most.
Heading into TrainStation 2 for the wider window? Make sure you grab the latest TrainStation 2 codes before you go all in.
