This has nothing to do with real trains.
Yesterday DH and I dug out our old board game, Eurorails. There are a bunch of these rail games for various continents, but this is our favourite (and maybe the one that takes place in a fantasy world much like Lord of the Rings, although that is more complex).
Anyway, if you haven't played, what you do is build rail lines by drawing with erasable crayon around the board (at cost, higher for the alpine regions or over rivers). Then, based on cards you draw, you have to pick up commodities and deliver them somewhere else in Europe. The farther, the higher payout. But of course you must first build your railway connecting various cities, including at least six of the main cities. For example, maybe Rome wants cork, which you can pick up in Lisbon. Or maybe Krakow wants cattle, which are in Bern or Nantes. Funnily enough, Tourists are a commodity, and only available in London and Ruhr. And even though its an older game, you still pick up Labour in Eastern Europe and deliver it to points westward. Accumulation of $250 mil is the win.
Sometimes you draw a disaster card and you might have to rebuild part of your rail road due to flood, etc.
As usual, DH won. I always build too far for too small payout. Plus he gets up to England and Scotland before me (you can't build on the exact same path as another player, although for $4 mil per turn you can ride their rails). Silly me built to Scandinavia.
Might be worth ordering online to pass the days.