The simulators consist of route and session editors called Surveyor, and a Driver module that loads a route and lets the player operate and watch the trains run in either "DCC" mode, which simulates a bare-bones Digital Command Control (DCC) system for the simple stop-and-go of a basic model railway, or "CAB" mode, which simulates real-world physics and adds working cab controls.

In the route editor, Surveyor, the user can shape the landscape, paint with ground textures, lay tracks, and place buildings and roads.

The user then operates the trains in Driver, either in free play, or according to a scenario called a Driver Session (previously called Scenarios in the early versions of Trainz, Ultimate Trainz Collection, and TRS2004) which can range in difficulty from beginner to expert.

PaintShed is a simple program for aiding and easing the process of 'reskinning' traincars, altering their livery, by recoloring and adding new heraldry to Trainz locomotives and other rolling stock.

Trainz rolling stock assets were also used in a Microsoft Train Simulator expansion pack dubbed the "Regional Add-On Pack", which allowed users to drive locomotives used in Trainz in MSTS maps, with some locomotives being unused in the former altogether, such as an ATSF Dash 9, UP DD40AX, and a Penn Central GG1.

Trainz Retail Edition was released in June 2002 aimed at the United States and other North American markets.

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 incorporated a load of technical changes and these required many bug fixes that were released as four service packs throughout 2004 and 2005.

This edition was also the first to support downloadable fan-made content, such as characters, buildings and scenery from the popular Thomas & Friends franchise, which has since seen the birth of a massive community on YouTube involving users recreating episodes of the series using Trainz or creating their own original stories.

Trainz Railway Simulator 2006 (known as Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 in the USA), or TRS2006, was a transitional release, incorporating the stable Auran JET based TRS2004 GUI modules with only some graphics improvements, but introducing the data base manager Content Manager Plus (CMP) as a new core technology.

ContentManager.exe (now called just CM) combines data base management, and secure FTP upload and download facilities and special user definable filters all in one integrated system.

In addition to these improvements, several new routes were included, such as Hawes Junction (representing a small section of the Settle and Carlisle Railway and serving as a demo for TC3), Toronto Rail Lands 1954 (representing Toronto's sprawling railyard in 1954), and Marias Pass Approach (representing the BNSF Marias Pass line between Shelby, Montana and Cut Bank, Montana and serving as a demo for the full Marias Pass payware route).

TRS2006 was published in September 2005, and the base release with its single service pack formed the core of the regional releases (most are joint ventures with 'Trainz Partners' combining payware content provider's products with the base Trainz software) over the next four years until the introduction of new technologies in TC3 and TRS2009.

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2007 (abbreviated as TRS2007) was the second release targeting a regional market distributed by Anuman Interactive for sale in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

[8] Halycon Media later distributed Trainz Railroad Simulator 2007 with German region-specific content for the British, Austrian, and Swiss market.

Demos of Modula City and the Settle-Carlisle line were included in TRS2006, along with a limited amount of content in unrefined states.

Trainz Classics 3 was re-released as an expansion pack for all subsequent games as the Settle & Carlisle Route, with extra content added from the original release (some of the Mark 1 coaches in BR Blue were also included by default in these versions due to being used in the consists of trains on the built-in East Coast Main Line routes).

[10][11] Trainz Simulator 2010, or TS2010, introduced improved graphics capabilities, Speedtree technology, an overhauled user interface, seasonal assets, and layer support in Surveyor.

The game was initially released for pre-order on 18 March 2011 as part of the limited-edition Trainz 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition.

Like most Trainz releases, the package contains only content vetted for the new technology, which in TS12 needed to be updated for compatibility with 64 bit computers.

The game features 4 locations to lay track in that are based on rooms throughout a house, such as a bedroom or kitchen.

Trainz Driver 2 leveraged the iPad updates and introduced the powerful route editing tools to the phone.

Contributors were awarded prizes ranging from desktop wallpapers, First Class Tickets for the Download Station, full copies of the game, and various additional content depending on the amount pledged.

On 11 May 2018, N3V Games announced a new version of Trainz featuring better graphics, Physically-Based Rendering, Parallax Occlusion Mapping[20] and more content than ever before.

TRS19 was primarily offered as subscription model, although a one-time purchase (but with the monthly DRM check still required) is also available via the Trainz Store and Steam.

The line is most likely based on the Swedish SJ X2000 high-speed trainset used between Copenhagen and major cities in Sweden such as Stockholm, Malmö or Göteborg.