The game is in two stages; in the first part players draw tracks on the card using washable finetip pens (allowing the board to be cleaned for reuse).

In redesigns of some early maps, valleys were widened, to make it easier for more than one player to have a route along them.

The building cost of going into or out of a hill was also reduced, again increasing competition for previously secure groups of towns.

This led to games taking longer to complete; this appears to have been unpopular with the market, as from 1992 on new map designs in general went back to having 36 towns + special runs and using smaller hex sheets.

Watts also sold many individual laminated paper maps covering specific areas of England, Scotland, and India, together with brief instructions and the special dice required.

The German games company Bütehorn published a German-language edition in 1979 titled Dampfross (Steam Steed), and it was given a "Recommended" citation at Spiel des Jahres 1980.

Schmidt Spiele acquired the German-language license and Knut-Michael Wolf completely revised the rules.

Where the two coincide there is a certain satisfaction in 'being right' and where they do not discussion can arise of value in the developing of the players' grasp of this aspect of Geography.

[5] In 1984, Brian Cresse reviewed the postal version of Railway Rivals for Imagine magazine, and stated that "Railway Rivals is, deservedly, one of the most popular postal games around, but has failed to gain an equivalent hold on the 'mass' of the games-playing public.

Héretour and Nevado concluded on a positive note, writing, "Railway Rivals is a clear game (only four pages of rules), tactically very rich with twists and turns, with some hints of diplomacy.