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 > System

Open Rails will check for updates at most once a day. When it finds one, it raises a red flag in the Notifications icon.

Use the "What's new" button to find out more about an update or the "Install" button to launch the automatic update process:

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 most Fridays) 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

• T1.6.1-394-gded433da4 Merge pull request #1228 from pzgulyas/watchdog
  • 0e6357ac Optimize the material marking for less likely to trigger the watchdog
  • 1ee21167 Added the ping to a few more places
  • 2109f685 Trigger the watchdog at load time
• T1.6.1-390-gf55085bb1 Merge pull request #1230 from cesarBLG/running-gear-sync
  Sync running gear with axle position
  • b93c05bc Sync running gear with axle position
• T1.6.1-388-gc87219cc1 Merge pull request #1229 from sweiland-openrails/mouse_scroll_wheel_behaviour
  mouse scroll wheel behaviour
  • 20824df1 changes: when mouse pointer within window (for instance the F1 help window)
• T1.6.1-386-g916be86bf Merge pull request #1232 from twpol/feature/version-info-settings-exporter
  Fix Settings Exporter description to match all other applications
  • bbeb1011 Fix Settings Exporter description to match all other applications
• T1.6.1-384-g08e23386a Merge pull request #1231 from Csantucci/duplicate-UiDs
  Log consists with duplicate UiDs
  • 0b120f26 Remove test output
  • e08a1c1e Log consists with more than one occurrence of the same UiD
• T1.6.1-381-gd569657bf Merge pull request #1206 from rwf-rr/missing-texture-color-debug
  Set missing texture color depending on shape warning option.
  • 774723f8 Alternate option for missing textures.
    Revert the previous change (which was using the DEBUG flag).
    Use magenta when the experimental option "Show shape warnings" is checked
    (enabled).
    The solution is not entirely clean, as GetInternalMissingTexture() is a
    static, but checking options requires a SharedTextureManager object.
    However, the only textures that are loaded before the Viewer is
    initialized are BMP and PNG images for the splash (loading) screen. If
    those were missing, even grey would make that obvious.
    All simulation (global, route, trains) textures are loaded
    (SharedTextureManager initialize) well after the settings are read.
  • d9b0bb94 Set missing texture color depending on build mode.
    Gray (grey) for the release (and testing) build.
    Magenta for the debug build, so that missing textures stand out.

See more code changes

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

03 July 2026, 105MB

• 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.