Other changes include: each carload of mail, passengers and troops now has a destination; car setup can be automated, so that trains always pick up the cars that yield the most revenue; warehouse buildings also appear in the game, completing the commodity market the same way as ports do; trains can pass each other on a single track (as in the original Railroad Tycoon on the lowest difficulty level); no need for signal towers, as well as station improvements (post offices, restaurants etc.

[3] In 2002, Phil Steinmeyer had expressed his dislike of 3D graphics in strategy games, and felt that his company's next project after Tropico "would probably look better in straight pre-rendered 2D".

[4] To manage the popping inherent to level of detail systems in 3D graphics, the team created as many as six variants for the game's vehicles, buildings and other objects.

[8] Johnny L. Wilson of Computer Gaming World praised Railroad Tycoon 3's visuals, as well as the detail of its "marvelous" economics simulation.

[9] Writing for X-Play, John Duggan called Railroad Tycoon 3 "a serious time suck and highly addictive."

While he criticized its changes to the ledger interface from Railroad Tycoon II, he noted the sequel's "more sophisticated economic model", and summarized it as a "rewarding" experience.

They wrote that "PopTop Software has done an amazing job updating this venerable series", but found Railroad Tycoon 3 too lacking in innovation to win the award.

Loco Commotion involves solving routes and shunting puzzles by moving trains at precise times over increasingly difficult environments throughout the multiple levels.