Routes, activities and timetables
All your routes with their picture and description, search and favourites. Activities, Free driving mode and timetables in tabs.
For Open Rails · Windows 10 and 11
Choose, preview and drive.
All from a single menu.
SelectOR is a more modern and more complete menu and launcher for Open Rails. See your routes and trains in 3D and start the simulation in one click. While you drive you get a HUD, a live mini-map with the other users on your route, a cab panel and station announcements. And if you like, you can share a railway company with other drivers.
Features
Everything you need to drive in Open Rails
It does not modify Open Rails: it reuses the components you already have installed and starts its simulator with your content.
Trains in 3D and 2D
A rotatable 3D view of the locomotive and the full 2D consist, car by car, before you set off. On trains that include them, you choose the destination sign.
Time, season and weather
In Free driving mode you choose the path, time of day, season and weather. The track map shows the start and the destination.
HUD and live map
On top of the simulator: track, stations and your train on the map, plus the other users driving on your route. Timer, distance, passengers, a large map and your company chat.
Cab panel with controls
Air gauges, brake cylinder and a speedometer with braking curve and speed-limit signs. The icons work doors, pantograph, lights, sander and horns.
Station announcements
Announcements recorded by your company that play as you approach each stop, per line, triggered by distance or by seconds.
Railway companies
Create or join a company with other drivers. It has a fleet, a bank, recorded services, ranks, badges, rankings, a chat, a points licence and instant notifications.
Consist editor
Create and edit trains (.con): add, remove, reorder and flip cars. Check length, mass, power and seats.
Signed updates
SelectOR updates itself when it opens, on the splash screen. It only installs packages carrying the author's digital signature.
In 11 languages
Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. By default, Open Rails' or Windows' language.
Market and board
Companies buy, sell and rent trains from each other at a price SelectOR sets, publish ads and job offers, introduce themselves in the showcase and compare their monthly figures in the transparency portal.
Multiplayer room
A shared CGL room that is always open, with timetabled AI trains, a control centre for dispatchers, and a room chat and radio: hold a key to talk and it sounds like a real radio.
Before you set off
Choose with everything in view
- Search routes and trains, and double-click to mark your favourites.
- Choose the path with Starting at and Heading to, and check the route map.
- If the train belongs to your company's fleet, SelectOR tells you whether it is available.
- Press DRIVE and Open Rails starts with your selection.
While you drive
A cab panel that responds
- A smooth needle, a scale matched to each train and a digital readout.
- A diamond shows the current limit. When it is time to brake, a circle announces the next limit.
- The yellow triangle marks the cruise control target speed.
- The controls use the same keys you have set up in Open Rails.
Live map
You never drive alone
- On the mini-map and the large map you see the other SelectOR users driving on your same route.
- The route in detail: platforms on their side of the track, named sidings, diamond crossings, pickup points and mileposts. On the large map you save your itineraries to load them another day.
- Each one has their own colour, with their name, train, speed and the company they are on duty for.
- A click on a name in the legend centres the map on that train.
- Rather go unnoticed? Untick «Share my position on the map» in My profile.
Online mode (optional)
Your own railway company
- Every service is recorded automatically: distance measured live, real time, passengers and accounts.
- You get a bank with income and costs, a fleet of complete trains with an automatic workshop and number plates, and train purchase and rental.
- You rank up with the kilometres you drive and earn badges for your achievements.
- Each company has its own chat, also in a HUD while you drive.
- The administrator authorises the routes for company services: drivers propose them and the manager requests them, with the plan of each route.
- From «My Company», on the website, you view your company, your notifications and the chat, also on your phone.
- The manager and supervisors schedule service shifts; when a driver completes theirs, the company earns a bonus.
- In Board → Transparency you see how every company is doing this month, with the same indicators for all and no driver names.
- A points licence penalises speeding, and an anti-cheat system discards impossible trips.
Multiplayer
A shared room, always open
- On the CGL_V22N_RE route, Free driving puts you in a room with an always-on dispatcher: nobody needs to host the game.
- With the room's time, weather and season; if you leave or get disconnected, when you come back you carry on with your train where you left it.
- You set signal-to-signal routes from the big HUD map (shunting switches with no signal ahead can still be thrown by hand); dispatchers run their stations from the control centre, and the room card shows who is on duty; and you talk to the others in the room chat and on the room radio.
- You can also host your own game or join the public Open Rails servers, always with your SelectOR name.
New in 1.2.90
Buy, sell and rent trains between companies
- Put a train from your fleet on sale: SelectOR sets its price from its km and condition, and your company gets that price minus a small fee.
- Or rent it out to another company for 7, 14 or 30 days: for every service it runs, they pay you the rent SelectOR sets, cheaper than SelectOR's own. When the term ends it comes back to your fleet.
- In Board → Train market each card tells you whether you already have all its rolling stock in your folder, or what is missing.
- Don't want it? Scrap it straight away for much less.
- The Board also has the showcase, ads with images, job offers and the transparency portal.
In your language
SelectOR speaks 11 languages
- Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, Brazilian and European Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.
- By default it uses Open Rails' or Windows' language; change it in Settings → Language and display.
- Dates and numbers follow your language's format, and Japanese and Chinese use their own font.
Screenshots
What SelectOR looks like
Click an image to see it full size. In the Companies screenshots, the company data are examples.
Requirements
Before you install
Open Rails web server active on port 2150
- In SelectOR press OR Options, or open the Open Rails Options.
- Go to the System tab.
- Set Web server port to 2150 and press OK.
Without it, the driving tools (HUD, mini-map, cab panel, passengers and station announcements) do not appear. SelectOR connects to 127.0.0.1:2150, only inside your own computer.
| System | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. |
|---|---|
| .NET | .NET Desktop Runtime 8 (x64) or later. |
| Open Rails | Installed and working, with your content folders set up. The official release, Testing, the New Year versions and CYZYRails all work. |
| Location | SelectOR goes inside the Open Rails folder, next to OpenRails.exe. |
| OR display | Windowed or borderless full screen, so the HUD and the cab panel are visible. |
| Internet | For Companies, the shared room, the live map, updates, the multiplayer server list and the first download of the platform people (about 37 MB) and weather images. Everything else works offline. |
| Language | 11 languages; by default Open Rails' or Windows' language (Settings → Language and display). |
Installation
In five steps
Download
Get the SelectOR 1.3.0 ZIP and unzip it.
Find Open Rails
Locate the folder that contains
OpenRails.exeandRunActivity.exe.Copy
Copy the contents of «Folder Open Rails» into that folder. Nothing of Open Rails is overwritten.
Port 2150
Check that Web server port is 2150 in the Open Rails Options.
Let's drive!
Open SelectOR.exe. Later versions install themselves when you open SelectOR.
Companies
Three roles, one company
It is optional and needs an internet connection. You sign up with a username and a password in the Companies tab itself.
Drives services with the fleet's trains, checks services, the bank, rankings and their profile, and writes in the company chat.
Does the same as a driver. On top of that, buys, sells and rents trains (also to other companies), looks after the fleet, schedules services, admits members, posts on the Board and records the station announcements.
Creates the company. Can do everything a supervisor does and also assigns the roles, including manager, and decides who can write in the chat.
Service rules:
- Trips shorter than 3 km or than 5 minutes are not recorded.
- Trips averaging more than 350 km/h, with a position jump, driven with accelerated time or with the Open Rails autopilot are not recorded either, and they cost licence points.
- Exceeding the speed limit for 30 seconds also costs points.
- Each unit of a fleet train can only be used by one driver at a time.
What's new
Version 1.3.0
- Block direction. In the shared room every section between stations has a block direction: two trains can no longer enter the same track head-on. Without a dispatcher the first train to enter sets it; with one, the dispatcher changes it from the control centre, where it shows as an arrow on each track.
- Signals as in free driving. In the room, signals behave as when you drive alone: the ones behind your train only clear if you reverse, a cleared signal no longer drops when you can't stop in time, and flags and diverging-route aspects follow the switches.
- Signal orders. In the room signals are no longer forced to approach or clear: they clear by themselves. Call-on is given by the dispatcher of that station or the administrator, and at a dispatcher's stations their orders no longer expire on their own.
- Renewed control centre. A schematic of the whole route station by station, grouped into control areas, with kilometre posts, level crossings with their kilometre, tunnels, named sidings and the Parque Grande triangle. Signals no longer overlap and, where many are together, they hang from a gantry.
- Signal boxes and trains in the control centre. The Signal boxes column folds away and each station carries its line sections. On the right, the trains in view with their number, type, destination, stops and 2D consist: click to locate one, double-click to follow it.
- Your train in the room. Before joining you pick on a map the service type, the destination and your intermediate stops (stations, freight sites or sidings), and you get your train number. You see it in the HUD, the dispatcher sees it in the control centre, and you change it while driving by clicking your number.
- Radio by control area. While driving you hear the radio of your control area; dispatchers have their own channel and the administrator can talk to all of them at once. You can choose the microphone and the sound output.
- Station dispatcher. At some stations a station dispatcher gives the departure from the platform: stop, pass or «train may depart», with a flag by day, a green or red lamp by night, and a whistle. The dispatcher changes the indication from the control centre.
- Smoother AI trains. AI trains in the room no longer jam each other, passenger trains go before freight on single track, and they can stop at freight terminals and sidings. The consists you choose for them also apply to the ones already running when you join.
- Incident alerts. The control centre warns of incidents in the room with their own sound and marks them on the map.
- A new look for Companies. Companies as a line map: figures on tickets, service cards with their status signal, bonuses and photo, and each member's certificates.
- Company requirements. Companies can require a minimum of km or minutes per service and being on their Discord; a service that doesn't meet them is cancelled automatically, and you can appeal.
- Night bonus. Passenger services driven at night earn a bonus for each night kilometre.
- Service time, season and weather. Each service card keeps the simulator time you left at, the season and the weather.
- The room route first. If you have the shared room route installed (CGL_V22N_RE), it is pinned at the top of Routes with a golden frame.
- Freight on the maps. Freight terminals and sidings show with their name on every map.
Recent earlier versions
1.2.92
- Driver and dispatcher certificates. In My profile → Certificates you take the exam and level up (B, A and A+) with your services. To take command as a dispatcher you need to pass its exam. Certified players carry their badge in the room, the chat and the radio, and companies can ask for a certificate in their Board job offers.
- Tips on the Board. A new section with tips to earn more on every trip: fares, passengers by time of day and weather, and more, with current figures.
- Faster routes. In the control centre, click the signal and click the destination: the route is drawn straight away. Right-click for more options, and «Replay» sets the last ones again.
- Only your signal boxes. The «Only mine» button in the control centre shows only the signal boxes you run, and it's remembered.
- Disconnect from the control centre. Dispatchers can disconnect a player or remove loose wagons within their signal boxes, always with a reason that the player sees.
- Applicant profile. Managers can see the profile of whoever asks to join their company before accepting them.
- Every passenger counts in the league. The league and your service log count every passenger you carry, even though fares have their limit.
- More compatible controllers. Settings → Controllers: throttle + train brake lever, a combined lever that adapts to each train (with its rest point, automatic or manual) and buttons that stay on until the next press.
- Snappier set speed. In Stable, Testing and CYZYRails the cruise control set speed moves as quickly as in New Year.
- Lights on Breclav - Praha. With CYZYRails, the stations on the Breclav - Praha route light up in yellow.
- Steadier room trains. Your Open Rails no longer stalls with other players' trains that leave their path, and an AI train no longer couples to yours.
- No Ctrl+9 in the room. In the shared room the Ctrl+9 window no longer opens with any Open Rails version.
1.2.91
- Rewards in the shared room. If you run a service in the shared room from start to finish, your company earns 15 % more of the profit, 5 % more if a dispatcher is in charge, and €1,000 when you reach 5 services in a week. My profile shows your services in the room, your streak and their badges.
- More people by the track. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics and security guards can appear in the shared room: working, helping someone, on the phone or waving at the train.
- Absolute stop sign. CGL's absolute stop sign can appear in the middle of the track in the shared room.
- You choose how you see AI trains. In the shared room, «AI trains» → «How I see the AI trains»: pick which train from your folder you see for each service, with its 2D consist. It only changes in your Open Rails.
- Control centre with layers. The «🗺 Layers» button shows each signal box's section, the route's mileposts and the room's objects; click a band to open that signal box.
- Dispatchers on the big map. Each dispatcher appears with their badge above their station.
- Centred indicator boards. Indicator board text is always centred, whether short or long.
- Clearer room panel. «Control centre», «AI trains» and «Weather» are buttons with an icon and text, and the Route tab's list of connected players shows up straight away.
- Everything on the big map. In the shared room the Ctrl+9 window no longer opens: switches, signals and trains are on the HUD's big map.
1.2.90
- Rent trains to other companies. In Fleet → «Sell, rent out or scrap…» you offer a train for 7, 14 or 30 days; the other company pays you rent for every service and it comes back to your fleet at the end.
- The market checks your folder. Every train on the market says whether you already have all its rolling stock or what is missing.
- Transparency portal. Board → Transparency shows how each company is doing this month and what counts in the League, with «How is it calculated?».
- New rates. Passengers depend on demand, not train size; fares and costs go up; and buying trains is much cheaper (59 % less).
- Room radio. In the shared room you hold a key (Right Ctrl by default) or a controller button to talk, and it sounds like a real radio.
- Dispatcher in view. The room card and the big map show who is running each station.
- Signals on their side. In the control centre signals appear on the side of the track where they really are.
- Board refreshed. Departure-board header, tabs with icons and colour emojis.
- Lit tunnels. With CYZYRails, the double-track tunnels on CGL have lights on their walls, like the route's other tunnels.
Frequently asked questions
Any problems?
The HUD, mini-map and cab panel do not appear when I drive
Check that the Open Rails Web server port is 2150 and that no other program is using that port. Run Open Rails windowed or in borderless full screen. The tools appear once the scenario has loaded.
SelectOR says .NET is missing
Install the .NET Desktop Runtime 8: choose «Desktop Runtime», x64.
It says «SelectOR · wrong folder» and does not open
SelectOR has to be inside the Open Rails folder, next to OpenRails.exe. Copy all the contents of «Folder Open Rails» there.
I cannot see my routes or trains
Add your content folders in the Open Rails Options and choose the right set under «Content». Press F5 to read the content again.
My company trip was not recorded
Trips shorter than 3 km or than 5 minutes are not recorded, nor are those with a position jump or driven with accelerated time or with the autopilot. If there was a connection error, press «Register service» in Companies.
No passengers board at stations
Stop with some car inside the platform and open the doors on the platform side: if you open the other side, the HUD warns you. If you close them too early, boarding carries on when you open them again.
The station announcements do not play
Check the following:
- the train has passenger seats;
- your company has announcements enabled and audio for that route;
- the HUD speaker is not crossed out;
- you have picked a line (or the base voice) in the list.
How do I uninstall it?
Delete the SelectOR.* and shape.mgfx files from the Open Rails folder, and the desktop shortcut. Nothing else of Open Rails is touched. To also remove your preferences and caches (including the platform people), delete the %AppData%\Open Rails\SelectOR folder.
Download SelectOR 1.3.0
Free and open source. After that, SelectOR updates itself.
ZIP SHA-256
a1bf87bbc2fe9ee1873c9cbc9401ce7767ef7a91abeb45081211303d217a8142
Check the hash in PowerShell with Get-FileHash SelectOR_V1.3.0.zip.
Community
Join our Discord
- Be the first to hear about what is new in SelectOR.
- Sign up for community events.
- Talk to other drivers and community members.
Contact
Bugs and suggestions
Found a bug or have an idea to improve SelectOR? Tell me here. If you would like an answer, leave your email.