Download > Versions

Three Versions of Open Rails

Three versions of Open Rails are readily available to users, as shown below:

For first-time users, we recommend the Stable Version which comes with an installer.

Updater

Whichever version you choose, Open Rails has a mechanism to notify you of new versions and to update Open Rails for you. You will find the settings for this mechanism in Menu > Options > Update

Open Rails will check for updates at most once a day. If an update is found, then you can install the update just by clicking on the link in the top, right corner:

Testing Version

If you follow the Open Rails project on the forums, then you will hear about bug-fixes and new features. These are included in the Unstable Version for developers and testers to try out. Once they have been checked and approved, they are published (on Friday) as the latest Testing Version. Any user can easily update to the current weekly Testing Version and benefit from these improvements.

For reference all the Testing Versions (executable and source) can be found in our archive.

Recent Code Changes

• T1.5.1-940-g874405e71 Merge pull request #925 from peternewell/brake_bug
  Fix brakeshoe force bug
  • 9a07b4e4 Further correction
  • 5d376eba Correct an inconsistency
  • e3b1688f Fix brakeshoe force bug
• T1.5.1-936-g6ef2a671f Merge pull request #933 from peternewell/diesel-mechanic-bug
  Fix AI DM crashing
  • a3f56f44 Fix AI DM crashing
• T1.5.1-934-g90dc329c8 Merge pull request #930 from peternewell/duplex-steam#2
  Further enhancements for duplex locoomotive
  • 42398f44 Further enhancements for duplex locoomotive
• T1.5.1-932-gde7a2ff66 Merge pull request #932 from cjakeman/fix-spelling
  Changed matrix's to matrices
  • 9bdb0745 Changed matrix's to matrices
• T1.5.1-930-g9e1a7ece3 Merge pull request #910 from twpol/feature/portability
  Allow building code using .NET 6 (Windows)
  • 97d4569b fix: Replace unsupported code with placeholder
  • e0e0d3fe refactor: Make usings compatible with .NET 5+
  • 6b34fcd2 build: Add package dependencies for .NET 5+
  • 43f22a94 build: Add dotnet build support using .NET 6 (Windows)

See more code changes

The current Testing Version can also be downloaded as a Zip archive:

19 April 2024, 92MB

• Installation Guide (English)

The documents included in the Testing Versions downloads can be found on-line at:

• Architecture Diagram V1.pdf
• Contenct checker.pdf
• How to Provide Track Profiles for Open Rails Dynamic Track.pdf
• Installation Guide En.pdf
• Localization Manual.pdf
• Manual.pdf
• ORTS Trackviewer manual.pdf
• Processor Flow Chart.pdf
• timetable-editor_de.pdf
• timetable-editor_en.pdf

Note: Multiple versions of Open Rails will not interfere if they are saved to different folders.

Unstable Version

To support development, the latest unstable version is also available, which is updated whenever a developer publishes a change. The unstable versions are more likely to contain serious bugs and are only recommended for users wishing to help with Open Rails development.

The Manual for the Unstable version is not included in the download, but is available on-line.

For reference all the Unstable Versions (executable and source) can be found in our Unstable archive.

Improvements

Improvements to Open Rails are drawn from several public sources as shown here:

We try to make sure that these changes all work and fit together by reviews as marked in orange in the diagram.