Rails West! was the creation of Martin Campion, a history professor at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, to help his students understand the business of historical railroads. (A topic, it should be added, that is of particular concern to history of the American West.)
The game was picked up by SSI and released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and, the version I played as a youngster, the Commodore 64. SSI called it “educational entertainment,” but, really, it was a strategy game before the term was popular. In the game, the player acts as an investor, buying railroad stocks and bonds. If you own enough stock, you may take control of the railroad and build new lines (along strict paths; line creation is strictly automated). You may merge railroads and start your own lines as well. The goal is to have the greatest net worth and, more importantly, to build the first transcontinental railroad.
Turns are in years and the game runs from 1870 to 1900, although shorter scenarios are also included. The game may be played versus the computer or in hot-seat mode around the computer.
In many ways, Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon took this game to the next logical level, although Railroad Tycoon doesn’t have the same robust financial simulation, it does have a pretty entertaining stock market section.
Campion would later release Medieval Lords through SSI which never had quite the same zest, probably because it was released for the C-64 and PC at the end of the C-64’s life but still before the PC had taken over the world.
Scans of the instructions, advertisements, and a download of the Atari 8-bit version:
http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-rails-west_4276.html
Play the Apple II version online: