3D Ultra Lionel Traintown
3D Ultra Lionel Traintown is a 3rd person railroading game by Sierra Entertainment. It consists of train layouts, some of which you can edit. Some of the locomotives include: Union Pacific EMD SW1500 switcher, an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway F3A diesel locomotive (usually used to pull passenger trains), a generic 2-8-4 Berkshire steam locomotive, and a 1950s passenger railcar.
Gameplay
There are six job bins, starting with tutorials, followed by Caboose Washer (easy), Hobo Bouncer (average), Grease Monkey (hard), Fire Stoker (very hard), and Whistle Blower (intense).
Each job bin contains 12 jobs. The last one is a special unlockable job that can only be done if all 11 prior jobs are completed. The exception is the Tutorials bin, where all jobs are available at any time. The unlockable jobs are themed somewhat festively, and usually have an animated cutscene at the end of some sort (e.g., a circus, the Colosseum).
Most jobs involve the basic concept of picking up and delivering loads via different freight and passenger cars. However, some are completely different. The "School Daze" series involve moving numbered freight cars to make valid addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division equations at 6 difficulty levels (kindergarten through 5th grade). The "Sister's" jobs involve sorting freight cars coming down the track into the right siding at 6 different levels. Three different jobs are like a game of concentration, in which you try to match the loads in the cars as quickly and in the fewest guesses as possible. The job "Dung Wars" is like a game of pick-up sticks, "The Gallows" like hangman, and the challenging "Tower of Power" like the Tower of Hanoi game. In "Sort of Tricky", you have to unscramble seven anagrams before time runs out, even though bonus time is given for each completed word.
In the Tutorials bin, there are five guided jobs which teach you different steps in the road to becoming a successful engineer. The next four jobs are free-play train parks with unlimited time and loads. The last three in the Tutorials bin are build parks, where you can lay out track however you want, with a few limits, and then play on it like a free-play level.
Also, there are seven different base areas for layouts to be set up in. They are: Oak Valley, a generic wooded plain; Cactus Valley, a sprawling desert; North Pole, a wintery world filled with holiday decoration; Living Room; Backyard; Planet X, a rarely used layout on a moon-like surface; and one on a piece of yellow notebook paper, used for the School Daze missions.
Jobs
If the job has a time limit, it will have a number of minutes in parentheses at the end. For example, (5 min).
Tutorial
Tutorial: The Basics
- Just as it sounds, a guided tutorial explaining how to drive a locomotive, switch tracks, and couple cars together.
Tutorial: Loads and Deliveries
- A second walkthrough mission, detailing how to refuel, pick up loads, and deliver loads.
Tutorial: Signals
- The third guided mission, which teaches you how to change signal lights and place flags to stop or reverse trains without touching them.
Tutorial: Special Track
- This fourth walkthrough tutorial teaches the player how to use a turntable, Bascule bridge, and a rotary dumper.
Tutorial: How To Fix Hazards
- The last actual tutorial teaches you how to fix natural hazards, such as plowing avalanches, fixing broken switches with a handcar, and moving animals that are in the way via the whistle. This tutorial has a time limit (5 minutes)
Train Park: Cactus Valley
- A free play park based in the desert.
Train Park: Backyard
- A large free play park based in a backyard.
Train Park: Living Room
- A free play park based in a living room.
Train Park: Oak Valley
- An elaborate practice park, complete with twin Bascule bridges and a coal pier, the latter of which does not appear anywhere else.
Build Park: Cactus Valley
- A custom-build park based in the desert.
Build Park: North Pole
- A custom-build park in the snowy Arctic Circle.
Build Park: Oak Valley
- A custom-build park in the green Oak Valley.
Caboose Washer
Burger Time
- A simple first job, in which you load a refrigerator car with hamburgers and deliver it to the furniture factory.
Santa's Helper
- A slight bit more complicated, but quite straightforward still, involving delivering reindeer and Santa's sleigh to Santa's workshop.
Fish to Fry
- Less simple than the past two, this job has you utilize a turntable to load up with fish and heating oil to deliver to the angler's club for a fish fry.
Think, Think, Think
- The first job not to involve train driving at all, it is a simple matching game.
Tee Time
- Your objective is to deliver golf balls to the mini golf course prior to a visit by the queen, but an underfueled locomotive and a drawbridge create obstacles.
What a Mess
- In a small but somewhat complex layout, you need to deliver RC cars and toy elephants back to the toybox from the living room floor.
Sister's Picking on Me
- Possibly as payback for staying up later than her, your little sister has taken all your trains and is sending freight cars down the line toward a three-way switch under your control. Your job is to sort the cars down the right line. If one is put in the wrong siding, it's immediately game over for that job, and you must start the mission over.
Spaced Out Invaders
- Aliens are beginning their attack on Planet X, shooting lasers at the track. You must bring the Queen of X to her secret fortress down the line, repairing track destroyed by UFOs to get there.
School Daze: Kindergarten
- Adding to the educational element of the game, this job has you devise an addition equation using three numbers.
The Mayor's Bad Day
- Mayor Phatt has broken his chair, and it's up to you to bring him a new one, as well as his favorite lunch (cookies).
Dodge Ball
- The schoolkids need you to get some new dodgeballs for them since theirs went flat. However, getting there is dodgeball in itself: commuter trains come at you from each side of the screen on the rail lines between the starting point and the destination.
A Day at the Circus
- This job is only accessible if you completed all 11 jobs prior. Simply deliver all the pre-loaded goods to the circus, then get some passengers there, and you get to watch a cutscene of a circus.
Hobo Bouncer
Sister's Little Game
- Same rules as the previous Sister's mission, but with more sidings.
Cool Summer Evenings
- Deliver the pool balls from the ball factory and the sweaters from the depot up to Bill's pool hall. This job is the first non-tutorial to be timed (5 minutes).
School Daze: 1st Grade
- Another math-related job, this time using more numbers to make the equation.
Strange Sightings
- UFOs have reportedly been witnessed in the area, destroying track. Use the repair crane to repair the track and let the passenger liner through to the station, but be careful of the alien lasers. (5 min)
Mind Over Matter
- Another matching game, but with more cars to match (5 min).
Batch-o-Cookies
- Mama wants to bake some delicious cookies, and needs your help. Load up grain and milk and run it over to the flour mill, then take the cookies through the tunnel. Navigating onto the sidings is the challenge here (8 min).
Mouse in a Maze
- Crazy Uncle Tim has built a maze-like layout for you to navigate. Get the milk to the end before it curdles (5 min).
Sister's Little Tantrum
- The sidings are in a more complex formation for a longer and more difficult sorting game than before.
The Gallows
- A simple game of hangman with only six guesses to spell out a word related to the game itself (5 min).
A Questionable Bar-B-Que
- A straightforward task of delivering steaks and manure turns difficult because of a strange layout (5 min).
Rush Hour
- A trainload of elves can't make it to the station due to a broken switch. Unfortunately, the repair handcar is on the other side of many tracks that have trains driving on them. Your objective is to get the handcar across all of the lines without crashing (5 min).
Ms. Liberty
- In this unlockable job, your assignment is to build a model of the Statue of Liberty. Given $215, you must be frugal, since each load costs a little money. The price of the load varies, so you must study price trends and load up when the price is right. Deliver all the sets of loads without going bankrupt, and enjoy the celebratory animation.
Grease Monkey
School Daze: 2nd Grade
- Another math-related job, now including subtraction as well as addition. Use all the numbers to make two valid equations to pass.
Recycle Mania
- A cleanup crew has collected oil from a spill on the lake. Recycle the oil, and all the other trash lying around, to make steel and keep Oak Valley green (15 minutes).
Where's the Cargo?
- An extensive matching game, with 72 cars to match and a short time limit (4 minutes, 5 minutes in Deluxe edition).
Sister's At It Again
- Little Sister's layout is more difficult now, so keep on your toes and sort correctly.
Unfinished Connections
- A layout has yet to be finished, so it's up to you to use the least possible track to get the rural industries running (6 minutes in Deluxe edition).
Codename: Sema4
- As a secret agent for TrainTown, you have been assigned to control the semaphores a busy intersection. Survive for a minute, then go for the high score. The mission is infinite, though, and is stated as impossible. As long as you go for a minute without a crash, you pass.
#1: Ground Breaking
- The number 1 signifying that it is part one in a series of six jobs, this job kicks off Mayor Phatt's plan to put a tourist attraction at the east end of Oak Valley. Clear and fix the track, then maneuver the loads to the stations where they are needed.
#2: A Bridge Too Far
- The construction site of the tourist project is going smoothly, but they need your assistance to deliver loads. You need to deliver all the loads, and construct a bridge over the lake while you're at it.
#3: Striking Miners
- The limestone quarry workers are on strike, and won't work until they get ice cream. Deliver the loads around the valley, including ice cream to the workers, to get the construction project back up to schedule.
#4: Logistic Hair Raiser
- Overnight, some hoodlums scattered the freight cars hither and yon. You need to round them up yourself if you plan to get all the loads to where they need to be on time.
#5: Uncivil Engineers
- The construction project is almost done, and you need to get all the loads to their delivery sites. However, there's a couple little issues: there's a plethora of one-way track placed by the civil engineers, and the cars are scattered across the layout again, both problems making for a lengthy job.
#6: Opening Day
- Now that the tourist attraction (a life-size replica of the Roman Colosseum) is finished, you simply need to deliver all the loads to it for the grand opening. Get all the food, supplies, and passengers to the Colosseum, and enjoy the celebration.
Fire Stoker
School Daze: 3rd Grade
- In this quiz, multiplication and division are added to the mix. However, you don't have to use all the numbers this time. Just do one of each type of problem to make the grade.
Tunnel Vision
- The new engineer doesn't know the track, so is just speeding on through the difficult tunnels. The tunnels don't match up on parallel tracks, so you need to direct the newbie through the tunnels to the station (5 min).
Dung Wars!
- The farmer and his cows wish to play a game like pick-up-sticks with you. Starting with a line of 22 manure cars, you can uncouple 1, 2, or 3 cars at a time. Whoever takes the last one gets homemade ice cream.
Urban Sprawl
- The west end of Oak Valley is expanding quickly, but the rail line isn't placed yet. Build your own layout to connect all the businesses together, and then deliver all the loads from place to place.
Sister's Last Stand
- Sister promises that this sorting job will be the last (her word means nothing), but it's difficult. Now, the cars are sorted by letter, with a slightly different type of layout. Try to outsmart your sister once and for all!
School Daze: 4th Grade
- This quiz requires you to use all the numbers and all four of the equations to pass. It's timed, so keep busy. Completing an equation gives you a bonus time of 5 minutes, but you'll need it (7 min).
- Most of the time, thanks to odd arrangements of numbers, this mission is almost impossible. This is likely the reason the job was taken out of the Deluxe version, and the previous "5th Grade" job now labeled "4th Grade".
Explosive Connections
- In this job, your objective is to sort the explosive loads (oil, diesel fuel, dynamite, and nitro) onto the right sidings without getting into the sidings yourself. Uncouple the needed freight car on the hill and it will automatically roll quickly to whichever siding you're switched to. Don't get a car in the wrong siding, and don't hit a car too fast! The results could be devastating (5 min).
An Engineer's Dream
- Your dream: you are on a handcar in a darkened area. The only way to uncloud the area is to drive along the tracks into the undiscovered territory. Get to the highlighted zone at the end before the time runs out to complete the job (11 min).
SwitchMaster 5000
- Time for you to test the newest train technology, the Switchy5000. This state-of-the-art system prevents you from controlling the switches; rather, it switches track whenever a train drives over the switch. Outsmart this computerized system by navigating two trains to their respective load drop-off points (5 min).
After a Winter Storm
- A destructive blizzard recently rolled through the North Pole, and some track has been destroyed. Repair what's missing, and then deliver all the needed loads to save Christmas yet again (12 minutes).
Runaway Train
- A runaway train carrying presents is going to run through Santa's village, and you need to stop it. Get it to the hill without crashing into another train to win here.
Monkey Business
- In this special unlockable job, Santa has commissioned you to build a model of the Eiffel Tower at the Pole. This job is similar to the Statue of Liberty job in that it has several stages of construction, but you don't have to pay for loads. Get limestone to the cement plant to make cement, and unload iron ore into the rotary dumper to get steel. Deliver all the loads to the construction site and watch the show (22 min).
Whistle Blower
Pesky Termites
- Termites have ravaged the railroad ties, destroying track and making train travel difficult. The only way to stop this is to get old Rheinfelder's lumber mill running again. The track will be destroyed randomly in random places, and it's irreparable, so be careful (7 minutes).
Lunchtime
- It's lunch break at the freight yard, and the food is sitting on a nearby line. Problem is, the line to get there's a long and difficult one, and it's blocked and broken in many places. Repair the line to the freight house and get lunch to where it needs to be (20 min).
Tower of Power
- This job is a real puzzle. You must move the numbered train from the top rail to the bottom rail, without changing the order of the cars. You can only place smaller numbers next to larger ones, and you can only move one car at a time. Figure out this ancient Eastern puzzle to clear the job.
The Night Before Christmas
- December 24, Christmas Eve: Santa isn't quite ready yet for his voyage! You need to help deliver all the loads in the confusing layout, and avoid getting hit by the passenger liner that comes periodically. Use your train wits to the best and save Christmas (20 min).
Nightmare on Oak Street
- The track in Oak Valley needs maintenance badly, but several high-priority deliveries of limestone need to be made. Fix broken track and clear natural hazards when you can to get all loads delivered on time (18 min).
Sister's Revenge
- As you may have expected, your sister has broke her promise and returned to give you trouble. This sorting job is an expansion of the last job like it, where cars must be sorted by letter. A combination of skill and luck will get you through your sister's final challenge.
More Switchy5000
- You get to face off against the Switchy5000 yet again. It makes your deliveries difficult by switching the track automatically when you drive over it. Get all three loads to their needed delivery points as quickly as possible to complete the objective (10 min).
School Daze: 5th Grade
- Time for a final exam! Use all numbers in all equations, as usual, but watch out for the number trains that could cut you off (15 min).
Ice Cream Social
- Cactus Valley is suffering a record heat wave, and ice cream seems to be the way to cure the citizens' displeasure. Make ice cream by delivering all the required loads, but you need to be quick so the ice cream doesn't melt (8 min).
Expensive Christmas Trees
- If you've ever wondered why Christmas trees are so high-priced, this job gives you a firsthand experience as to why this is. This job is on a huge layout at the North Pole, and all of the switches are controlled by Switchy5000. Utilize the switcher diesels if you want, and get that load of trees into the tunnel at the end of the maze (20 min).
Sort of Tricky
- This job lives up to its name. Your objective is to unscramble seven game-related anagrams. You will get bonus time each time you complete a puzzle. Hurry to get these words spelled (8 min)!
A Festival of Knights
- This is the final job. Fittingly enough for a final job, it is epic in length. At Cook's Castle down the line, the knights are ready for a great battle. It's your job to get them the loads they need to win (and party afterward).
There are seven parts to this job, each based on a previous job. They are listed below, along with the previous job they are taken from.
- Roll the explosive loads into their respective sidings and send the Cook's Castle loads to the locomotive at the bottom (Explosive Connections).
- Create 2 math equations using all the given numbers (School Daze).
- Solve the 3 word scrambles (Sort of Tricky).
- Navigate through the hidden track maze (An Engineer's Dream).
- Get the handcar across the heavy traffic to fix the broken switch (Rush Hour).
- Match all the loads in the boxcars in the required amount of guesses (Mind Over Matter, et al.)
- Rearrange the nine Cook's castle loads (dodgeballs, logs, sheep, grain, heating oil, Easter Island statues, toy elephants, cookies, and steaks) to deliver them when needed (most other jobs).
Finish all these tasks, and the game is complete.
Sequel
3D Ultra Lionel Traintown Deluxe is the successor of 3D Ultra Lionel Traintown. It includes seven job bins, one more than its prequel. This new job bin, Layout Tinkerer, allows you to make train sets, add places, and add your own trains (locomotives and train cars). It also includes a new Phantom Engine, a space-age-themed diesel engine that runs at about the speed as a passenger liner, and three toy steam engines, based on the Little Lionel line. The three engines are black, red, and blue, and, surprisingly, work and sound exactly the same as the standard steam engine, though they move a little slower. A new "Toy Car" freight wagon is introduced, along the themes of the toy engines, which can hold any load. Another new wagon, the "Short Flatcar," was also introduced and is used only for the purpose of carrying letters and numbers, replacing the refrigerator cars in the School Daze jobs. The large curves found in jobs like "Recycle Mania" are placeable in Layout Tinkerer, allowing for more realistic layouts.
Several new backgrounds were introduced here, too. These include a kitchen, a basement workshop, and a New York City-esque urban area. Some locations were added as well, such as office buildings and a UFO crash site.
New Jobs
To accommodate the new features, some new jobs were added to each bin. Other previously existing jobs were moved, deleted, or modified. For example, the job "Runaway Train", previously in Fire Stoker, was changed to Whistle Blower. The new jobs are as follows:
Tutorial
Train Park: North Pole
- A massive free-play level at the North Pole.
Train Park: Kitchen
- A free-play level in the kitchen. Contains several trains, tunnels, and some cows blocking the track.
Train Park: Basement
- A free-play level in the basement workshop, utilizing toy trains instead of realistic ones.
Train Park: Big City
- A free-play level in the big city.
Train Park: Purple Moon
- A free play level on a distant moon, utilizing the phantom diesel as the engine.
Caboose Washer
Cows from Udder Space
- In this unique job, space-helmeted cows are falling from the sky onto the lunar surface. Use the stock cars to catch as many of them as you can before time runs out (5 minutes).
Show Time
- The Big City Theater is opening today, but the concessions haven't arrived. Deliver the popcorn and soda pop to the back of the theater, then bring the people to the front entrance to enjoy the show.
Hobo Bouncer
Fill 'Er Up
- Your snide older brother took all the fuel from your locomotives (except for one switcher), and now you have to deliver all the food to the right location to help Mom with lunchtime. Use the diesel to fuel up the trains and run them through to the right loading zone.
Clock Watcher
- To pass the time at the railyard, engineers are having a contest to bring the right letter to the correct loading zone quickest. Just sort the cars as quickly as you can.
Grease Monkey
UFO Rescue
- A UFO has crashed in the center of town. Some of the track has been destroyed, and so has the spaceship. We can't understand alien language, so your job is to deliver random loads to the crash site in hopes of getting something the aliens need. If they don't like it, they will send buddies to shoot another piece of track. Bring all the loads they like so they can take off again and leave the city be.
Locomotion Commotion
- Possibly invented as practice for "Sort of Tricky", this job has you unscramble one word with no time limit. There are several different layouts and words to try, so it's a job to do again and again. Another unique thing about this job is that the music changes depending on the layout.
Fire Stoker
Dummy Delivery
- Some loads of crash test dummies have been recalled to their factories. Unfortunately, these are on the other side of the line. Use the hump to roll the dummies across the busy traffic without getting hit. Get all nine into three different loading zones to succeed (5 min).
Short Order Cook
- Your mom is hosting dinner for guests, and needs your help. You need to load up on raw meats and buns, then drive them through the tunnel and get them turned into delicious hamburgers and hot dogs. Then, bring the milk, ice cream, and strawberries to the blender to get some milkshake. Finally, serve all of the needed food at the table.
Shuttle Shuffle
- The ski resort shuttles have gone haywire and won't stop unless they hit a red signal. Thus, you have been put in charge of managing the intersection so the shuttles don't crash. Like "CodeName: Sema4" before it, you must survive for one minute to pass. However, it is now a 3-by-2 intersection, which is more difficult.
Rocky Road
- There have been very many rockslides at the North Pole. Use your plow to clear them. If it sounds easy, there's a catch: dynamite cars are running loose throughout the layout. If they hit some rocks, you get a time penalty, and if you get hit by one, you lose. Avoiding the cars is easy, but keeping them out of the way of rocks is the challenge.
Whistle Blower
Pet Sitter
- Pico the Tyrannosaurus Rex is hungry, and he'll eat anything. However, some things aren't good for him, and won't make him grow. Feed him his favorite foods and he'll grow to be a big, nice pet. If he doesn't like it, he'll shrink. Get him to be as big as you can, and watch him go (20 minutes)!
Day Trader
- The circus needs some interesting loads that you don't have. Run the three different loads through three different tunnels. Each time you do this, the load will get traded for something else. Figure out a pattern to get the three loads you need to win.
Critical reception
3D Ultra Lionel Traintown Deluxe won the 2000 Family Game of the Year award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.