Map Editor Basics | Railway Dispatch Simulator

🎯 Overview

The Map Editor lets you build your own station map (track layout, train schedule, departure board settings) inside the game. Finished maps can be launched from the User Maps screen on the title menu and played with the same controls as the built-in maps.

Differences from Official Maps

UGC maps you build with the editor have a few limitations compared to the bundled official maps.

Coupling and decoupling are not supported (joining or splitting train consists)
Tandem parking is not supported (having multiple trains stopped on the same platform at once)
Only basic signal aspects can be configured. Finer aspect usage such as restricted-speed or reduced-speed indications is not available
Departure buttons work on a track-number basis. The sorting-display-linked departure control used on official maps is not supported

Basic signal handling, route setting and timetabled operation can all be reproduced in UGC, so we recommend trying things out in the editor first.

The relationship between editing and saving

Save often. When you press a "Register" or "Update" button in the sidebar, the change is applied only to the editor's in-memory state. Nothing is written to the CSV files on disk until you press Save (Ctrl+S) in the top right. Make a habit of pressing Ctrl+S at every checkpoint of your work.

About this article

This is the introductory article for the Map Editor. It covers where to open the editor, what the major UI areas are, and how to save and play your map. Detailed instructions for each editing feature (wiring, routes, train list, etc.) are split into separate guides linked at the bottom under What to read next.

🚪 Opening the Editor

The Map Editor is launched from the title screen.

Start the game and reach the title screen
Click the Map Editor button at the bottom of the screen
The editor opens with no map loaded (nothing is placed yet)

Right after launch, you need to choose either New Map... or Open... to decide which map to edit. Both are accessible from the File menu in the top-left (see below).

🖥 Screen Layout

The editor screen is divided into the following areas.

① Top menu bar

Always visible at the very top of the screen.

Position	Item	Role
Far left	File ▾	Opens the menu (New Map / Open / Reload / Clear All / Return to Title, etc.)
Center	Map name display	Currently edited map (e.g. `[CustomMaps/富津駅] 富津駅/富津駅/DayTime`)
Right side	▶ Preview	Run the current map in playable form
Far right	Save (Ctrl+S)	Write the current state to CSV files

② Left sidebar (categories and edit modes)

Where you pick the editing category and the edit mode inside it. There are four categories.

Category	Edit modes	Used for
Company	Train Class / Train Type	Define train icons and class labels
Wiring	Track Circuit / Switch / Track Bulk / Station / Platform	Draw tracks and station premises
Equipment	Lever / Route / Signal / Departure Button	Place signal equipment and routes
Operation	Path Group / Train List / Diagram Row	Build the train timetable (only enabled when a scenario is selected)

About the Operation category: the Operation edit modes are only visible when a scenario is selected. A freshly created map has no scenario, so follow the "Create Scenario" prompt to create one first — that enables the category.

③ Center workspace

The main editing area where you draw track, draw station rectangles, place levers, and so on, depending on the active mode. Right-click + drag to pan, and Ctrl+wheel or +/- to zoom (same controls as the main game).

④ Status bar / save messages

A message area near the top of the screen briefly shows save results, validation errors, operation warnings, and so on, for about 5 seconds. Examples: "Saved", "Route X does not reference any track circuit", or "some operations have an empty appearanceTrackId".

📂 File Menu

Click the File ▾ button in the top left to reveal these items.

Item	Shortcut	Action
New Map...	`Ctrl`+`N`	Create a new UGC map with a single map-name field
Open...	`Ctrl`+`O`	Pick an existing UGC map from the list
Open Recent	—	One-click open of the last edited map (only shown when history exists)
Reload	`F5`	Discard unsaved changes and reload the current map from disk
Clear All (Discard)	—	Empty the current editing data (with a confirm dialog before anything is lost)
Return to Title	—	Go back to the title screen (with confirm if unsaved)

🆕 Creating a New Map

Choose New Map... from the File menu to open a simple one-field dialog.

Enter a map name (e.g. 富津駅)
Click Create
If a map with the same name already exists, the editor appends _2, _3, etc. automatically (e.g. 富津駅_2)
The editor switches to the new map and prompts "Create Scenario"
Enter a scenario name and confirm — the Operation category (train list, etc.) becomes editable

Forbidden characters: \ / : * ? " < > |, a trailing period, and relative references (..) are not allowed. Japanese map names, spaces, hyphens, and underscores are fine.

📁 Opening an Existing Map

Choose Open... from the File menu to list all UGC maps stored locally. Pick a map, then open a scenario inside it.

Adding and deleting scenarios

Enter a name in the New: scenario field in the right pane and press Create to add a new scenario to that map
Each scenario row has a Delete button that requires two clicks (the first click arms it; click again within 5 seconds to confirm)

Maps without scenarios: use the Open without scenario button to edit only the wiring and equipment. The Operation category (train list, etc.) will be disabled, but this is handy when you want to focus on wiring first.

📋 Editing Workflow

We recommend working through the sidebar categories left-to-right. Going Company → Wiring → Equipment → Operation from the top (= from the left) keeps the data dependencies in order and minimizes rework. See the linked guide for each category for the detailed steps.

Company — Prepare train types and train classes (adding from the default bank is enough). Company guide
Wiring — Place track circuits, switches, stations, and platforms. Track-number and direction masters are also maintained inside the Station editor. Wiring guide
Equipment — Place levers, routes, signals, and departure buttons. Equipment guide
Operation — Edit path groups, the train list, and diagram rows (only enabled when a scenario is selected). Operations guide
Save and check the result with Preview

Auto-validation on save: every time you press Save an integrity check runs, warning about problems such as "a route does not reference any track circuit" or "a train has no appearance TC set." Saving frequently helps you catch problems early.

💾 Save and Preview

Saving (write to CSV)

Use the Save (Ctrl+S) button in the top right, or press Ctrl+S.

Saving runs an integrity check, then writes the current editing state to the CSV files under CustomMaps/<map name>/.

Validation errors: if a fatal problem is detected the save is aborted, and the first few errors appear in the top message bar. Fix the indicated items, then try saving again.

Save with warnings: non-fatal issues (e.g. an Initial operation with an empty appearance TC) do not block the save; the save succeeds with a "saved with warnings" message that lists the affected train numbers. Check the train list before previewing.

Preview (live test)

The ▶ Preview button to the left of Save runs the map you are editing in playable form. Preview always launches in sandbox mode (no scoring).

While preview is running, an Exit Preview → Back to Editor overlay appears at the top of the screen. Click it to return to the editor — the map you were editing is reloaded automatically.

Unsaved changes are auto-saved before preview: if you press ▶ Preview with unsaved changes, the editor saves them first, then enters preview. If that save is blocked by a validation error, the preview is aborted too.

🏷 Bundle Info (Public Metadata)

Bundle info is the set of title, description, author name, and preview image that other players see when your map is published as a user map. It shows up in the title screen's User Maps list and in the editor's "Open Map" dialog. The map plays fine without it, but if you plan to share, we recommend setting at least the title, description, and preview image.

Where it's stored: bundle info is saved to <map folder>/bundle.json, and the preview image to <map folder>/preview.png. Both sit directly under the map folder along with the CSV files, so sharing the folder also shares the metadata.

Coming later: this bundle info is planned to be reused as-is for the title, description, and thumbnail of maps you post to Steam Workshop in the upcoming Workshop integration update (planned for V1.7.x and later). Filling it in now means you can publish without retyping anything once Workshop lands.

Editing bundle info

Open the dialog from the menu bar: File ▾ → Bundle Info.... You can enter the following fields.

Field	Description
Title	The large name shown in the list, independent of the folder name (e.g. "Yokohama Morning Rush"). Falls back to the folder name if empty.
Description	Introductory text for the map. Multiple lines OK. Shown below the preview image on the title screen's User Maps panel. Listing features like "double crossover / shunting / morning rush" makes maps easier to pick.
Author	Self-declared author name. Use your SNS handle or similar.
Version	Your map's version number (e.g. 1.0.0). Bumping it on every update lets recipients tell old from new.
Tags	Search keywords (comma-separated). Planned to be used for search once Steam Workshop integration ships.

Capturing the preview image

The preview image appears as a thumbnail in the list, and as a large image in the right pane when the map is selected. From the menu bar, File ▾ → Capture Preview Image... switches to a preview-play screen with no trains spawned, so you can frame the camera.

Choose File ▾ → Capture Preview Image...
You're taken to the preview-play screen (no trains spawn; a yellow banner appears at the top)
Use mouse drag / wheel to move the camera and frame a good-looking shot
Press the Capture preview.png button at the top to save preview.png directly under the map folder
To re-shoot, press the same button again to overwrite
Click the Exit Preview → Back to Editor button to return to the editor

Framing tips: the image is saved at 16:9. Keep in mind it will be shrunk to a thumbnail in the list — aim for a frame that captures the map's distinctive junctions, stations, or double crossovers. HUD windows (Diagram / Log / Departure Board) are automatically hidden during capture.

Without bundle info: a map with no bundle info appears in the list with the folder name as its title, the folder path as its subtitle, and a gray placeholder as its thumbnail. If you plan to distribute, setting at least the title and preview image makes the listing much easier to browse.

📦 Where Maps Are Stored

UGC maps are stored as CSV text in the user save area on Windows. The location is as follows (Windows).

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\DefaultCompany\RailSim260127\CustomMaps\<map name>\

Inside each map folder, Data/<company>/<map name>/ holds CSV files such as TrackCircuits.csv and Routes.csv. Scenario-specific files (TrainList.csv, etc.) live together under that Data/<company>/<map name>/<scenario>/.

Backups: because the data is plain CSV text, backups are easy. Copy the entire map folder somewhere safe and you can recover instantly from accidental damage.

Sharing: zip the entire map folder and hand it to a friend — they can extract it into the same location and play. Once Steam Workshop integration (planned for V1.7.x) ships, distribution will become much easier.

Disclaimer for sharing and distribution: The developer does not review or support the content of user-created maps (UGC). The developer accepts no responsibility whatsoever for malfunctions, data loss, or other troubles resulting from distributing your own maps or from installing maps obtained from third parties. Install maps only from sources you trust, at your own risk.

📚 What to Read Next

This article introduced the entry point of the Map Editor. For the detailed workflow of each category, see the guides below (the order matches the left sidebar menu = the recommended editing order).

① Company guide — train types and train classes
② Wiring guide — track circuits, switches, stations, platforms, track numbers, and directions
③ Equipment guide — levers, routes, signals, departure buttons
④ Operations guide — path groups, train list, diagram rows
⛳ Playing user maps — how to launch finished maps from the title screen

For the core gameplay, see the help guide. Inside Preview, the controls for running your own map are the same as the main game.