Delivery revenue varies by time, distance, demand, cargo type, economic state, station improvements and difficulty level.

The player determines what kind of cargo(es) to load and unload at each station that they add to a train's schedule.

The player also may purchase various industrial plants to earn extra money based on the amount of cargo received and delivered.

Basic industry, such as bakeries, textile mills, and tool and die factories, earns less profit than advanced factories such as canneries, steel mills and automobile plants, although the latter require multiple goods delivered to produce one final product.

Furthermore, idle industries which do not produce goods will generate a negative profit, thus increasing overall operating costs and overhead.

All locomotives begin their operational lives with a set chance of mechanical failure, with some types more prone to breakdowns than others.

In normal financial mode, the player may buy or sell any companies' stocks at various prices depending upon the economy.

The economy may fluctuate during gameplay, with five economic states possible: Booming, Prosperity, Normal, Recession and Depression.

The original game features eighteen missions, divided between North America, Europe and the rest of the world.

The final score for the whole 18-mission campaign is calculated by the difficulty level and the number of each type of medal achieved.

These pieces were not, unlike most contemporary games, midi files, but rather high-quality studio recordings; some even with vocals.

Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum is equivalent to the Gold Edition but with over 50 community-made maps, enhanced mouse-wheel support, and an electronic version of the strategy guide.

[9] Before its release, Gathering of Developers' marketing director estimated that Railroad Tycoon would sell 250,000 units during the 1998 holiday shopping season.

[13] According to Franz J. Felsl of PopTop, much of Railroad Tycoon II's success came from European markets; he explained that it "did better in Europe than it did in the US, which is not the way things usually end up.

"[14][15] By August 2000, Railroad Tycoon II had been released in 39 unique SKUs worldwide, including eight Windows versions in English alone.

PopTop's Phil Steinmeyer wrote that roughly 33% of the game's sales were derived from the Gold edition and Second Century expansion, and that the port for Macintosh "sold respectably", while the PlayStation version was unsuccessful.