Fallout 5 Concept: The Anywhere Brothers

Two eccentric brothers have spent most of their lives pursuing an impossible dream: constructing a railroad that can travel anywhere in the wasteland.

Their tracks run beneath ruined cities, across poisoned ponds, through collapsed office buildings, over settlement walls, into subway tunnels, around craters, and directly through mountains. Where normal engineers see an obstacle, the brothers see another reason to lay track.

They call their creation:

The Anywhere Line

Their motto is:

“If the world’s still there, the rails can reach it.”

The Brothers

Orson “Old Iron” Rook

Orson is the older brother and the practical engineer.

He studies prewar railway manuals, bridge diagrams, mining equipment, subway maps, and military logistics records. He is responsible for making the railroad functional, even when his brother’s plans seem completely insane.

Orson believes the railroad can reconnect civilization. In his mind, settlements will never truly recover while every town remains isolated behind walls and afraid of the road.

He is calm, stubborn, and constantly exhausted.

Personality

Methodical and serious
Distrustful of wasteland governments
Protective of workers
Obsessed with structural integrity
Keeps handwritten records of every completed mile
Secretly fears that the railroad will die with him

Orson views the player as a potential engineer, security chief, investor, or saboteur depending on their actions.

Lyle “No Detours” Rook

Lyle is the younger brother and the visionary.

He does not believe railroads should go around obstacles. He believes they should go through, under, or over them.

When confronted with a mountain, Lyle wants a tunnel. When confronted with a building, he wants to run the train through the lobby. When confronted with a lake, he begins designing floating tracks.

Lyle is charming, reckless, and possibly a genius.

Personality

Talks faster than most people can follow
Draws railway plans on walls, floors, doors, and corpses
Names every locomotive
Becomes excited during structural collapses
Sees explosions as “aggressive excavation”
Refuses to use the phrase “impossible route”

Lyle is usually responsible for the most dangerous missions in the questline.

Their Origin

The brothers were raised inside an abandoned railway maintenance station by their father, a former caravan guard who collected prewar train memorabilia.

Their father told them that trains once carried thousands of people across the country without fear of raiders, mutants, radiation storms, or broken roads. To the brothers, trains became more than machines. They became symbols of a world that had once been connected.

After their father died during a caravan ambush, the brothers came to the same conclusion:

Roads were too vulnerable.

Caravans could be surrounded. Brahmin could be killed. Trucks required fuel and clear terrain. Vertibirds were expensive and politically controlled.

But a fortified railroad could transport food, soldiers, settlers, weapons, medicine, construction materials, and entire communities.

They began with one repaired maintenance locomotive and less than three hundred feet of usable track.

Decades later, the Anywhere Line has become one of the strangest engineering projects in the wasteland.

The Railroad Network

The Anywhere Line is not a clean prewar railway. It is a massive patchwork of scavenged technology.

The brothers use:

Prewar steel rails
Monorail sections
Mining tracks
Subway lines
Roller-coaster track
Factory conveyor systems
Reinforced wooden bridges
Suspension cables
Floating platforms
Vault tunnel components
Robotic track-laying machines

Some sections are professionally constructed. Others look as though they should collapse the moment a train reaches them.

The system is constantly expanding, changing, breaking, and being repaired.

Types of Railroad Routes

1. Underground Lines

The brothers connect abandoned subway tunnels, utility corridors, mine shafts, Vault maintenance passages, sewers, and military bunkers.

Underground routes are safer from radiation storms and artillery, but they are infested with creatures and hostile factions.

Potential threats include:

Feral ghouls
Mole miners
Burrowing mutants
Cave-dwelling raiders
Flooded tunnels
Gas pockets
Collapsing ceilings
Dormant security robots

Some underground sections may contain entire forgotten stations beneath the city.

2. Pond and Marsh Tracks

Lyle develops floating railway platforms using sealed barrels, pontoon sections, boat hulls, and repurposed naval equipment.

The tracks move slightly as the train passes, creating a dangerous swaying effect.

These routes may cross:

Irradiated ponds
Flooded neighborhoods
Swamps
Reservoirs
Toxic runoff basins
Partially submerged towns

Aquatic creatures can attack the train from below. A giant mutated creature might damage support pontoons, forcing the player to defend the train while preventing sections of track from sinking.

3. Building Routes

Rather than demolishing ruined buildings, the brothers sometimes construct the railroad directly through them.

A train might enter through a broken wall, pass through a hotel lobby, cross an elevated ballroom, and exit through the opposite side.

These routes create unusual railway stations inside:

Shopping malls
Factories
Apartment towers
Museums
Sports arenas
Government buildings
Hospitals
Casinos

Settlements may eventually form around these indoor stations.

One skyscraper could contain a spiraling track that climbs several floors before crossing into another building.

4. Mountain Routes

The brothers use explosives, mining lasers, drills, construction robots, and controlled collapses to cut through mountains.

Mountain routes can contain:

Narrow ledges
Deep tunnels
Vertical rail lifts
Switchback tracks
Rope-supported bridges
Hidden prewar facilities
Raider-controlled mines
Underground mutant nests

Lyle may propose detonating a prewar warhead to create a tunnel, while Orson desperately tries to design a safer solution.

The player can decide which method is used.

5. Settlement Routes

The Anywhere Line does not always stop outside a settlement. Sometimes the track goes directly through it.

Residents may build homes, markets, clinics, bars, and workshops around the station.

Larger settlements can gain:

Passenger platforms
Freight depots
Guard towers
Repair garages
Water-loading stations
Trackside markets
Railroad hotels
Brahmin transfer yards
Emergency shelters

The railroad’s arrival can transform a minor settlement into a major trade center.

However, some settlements may reject the project because the proposed route passes through homes, farms, burial grounds, or defensive walls.

Main Base: Rook Junction

Rook Junction is the headquarters of the Anywhere Line.

It is constructed around a massive prewar railway roundhouse and maintenance yard. The settlement is filled with engines, cranes, scrap piles, worker housing, repair shops, and half-completed rail experiments.

At its center is an enormous rotating locomotive platform.

Important Areas

The Roundhouse

The main repair facility where locomotives are restored and modified.

The Map Hall

A large chamber covered with interconnected maps. Colored strings, nails, chalk markings, and miniature tracks show proposed routes across the region.

Lyle constantly changes the map without informing anyone.

The Iron Foundry

Workers melt scrap metal into rails, spikes, wheels, armor plating, and bridge components.

The Switching Tower

The operational center of the network. From here, trained dispatchers control rail switches and track traffic.

The Lost Property Vault

A storage room containing items recovered from trains, stations, tunnels, and dead passengers. Some objects may begin hidden quests.

The Grave Track

A short, unfinished section of rail dedicated to workers who died constructing the Anywhere Line.

Every fallen worker has a railroad spike engraved with their name.

The Anywhere Locomotives

The brothers do not operate one standard train. They create specialized locomotives for different environments.

Old Reliable

A heavily rebuilt steam locomotive and the brothers’ first operational train.

It is slow, powerful, and extremely difficult to destroy.

The Tunnel Rat

A low-profile armored engine designed for underground routes.

It includes reinforced front plating, floodlights, drilling equipment, and flamethrowers for clearing tunnel creatures.

The Pond Skipper

A lightweight locomotive designed for floating tracks.

It can redistribute its weight to avoid breaking unstable rail sections.

The Wallbreaker

An armored construction engine with a reinforced ram.

It can break through debris, barricades, weak walls, and abandoned vehicles.

The Needle

A fast passenger train built from a prewar experimental railcar.

It is lightly armored but capable of outrunning many attacks.

The Undertaker

A black armored train used to recover bodies, evacuate settlements, and travel through highly dangerous territory.

Some wastelanders believe seeing it means that a settlement is about to die.

The Rail Leviathan

The brothers’ ultimate project: a massive mobile fortress assembled from several locomotives and dozens of connected cars.

It can function as:

A settlement
A command center
A mobile trading post
A troop transport
A workshop
A medical facility
A long-range artillery platform

The player’s decisions determine whether the Leviathan becomes a symbol of reconstruction or conquest.

Main Questline: Anywhere, Eventually

Act One: The Broken Mile

The player discovers a locomotive trapped inside a ruined building after a track section collapses.

Orson wants the train recovered carefully. Lyle wants the player to blast a new exit through the building.

This opening mission introduces the brothers’ conflicting philosophies.

The player can:

Repair the original route
Demolish part of the building
Construct a temporary bypass
Abandon the locomotive and salvage it
Rescue trapped workers before recovering the train

The result affects how the brothers initially judge the player.

Act Two: No Natural Barriers

The brothers reveal their plan to connect several isolated regions through one continuous line.

Each proposed route presents a different problem:

A mountain controlled by miners
A flooded district occupied by aquatic mutants
A city block claimed by settlers
A subway tunnel occupied by a hidden faction
A military bridge controlled by robots

The player can negotiate, fight, redesign the route, purchase access, or forcibly remove anyone standing in the way.

Act Three: The Price of Progress

As the railroad grows, powerful factions begin taking interest.

Some want to control it. Others want to destroy it.

Possible factions may demand:

Exclusive transportation rights
Military control of stations
Taxes on freight
Access to locomotive technology
Restrictions on passenger movement
The right to search every train
Control over the network’s dispatch system

The brothers disagree over whether accepting faction support is necessary.

Orson believes compromise may keep the railroad alive.

Lyle believes no government should own the rails.

Act Four: The Great Divide

The brothers’ relationship begins to collapse.

Orson wants to stop expansion temporarily and strengthen existing routes. Too many workers have died, too many bridges are unstable, and too many factions now depend on the line.

Lyle wants to begin their most ambitious project: a direct route through the region’s largest mountain and into unexplored territory.

The player may support either brother or force them to compromise.

Support Orson

The network becomes smaller, safer, and more reliable.

Support Lyle

The network expands rapidly but experiences more disasters, attacks, and breakdowns.

Force Cooperation

The player must secure better technology, recruit engineers, and create a professional railway authority.

Take Control

The player can remove both brothers and seize the entire Anywhere Line.

Final Act: The Last Spike

The final route would connect every major portion of the map.

Completing it requires a massive operation involving workers, security teams, construction robots, explosives, and several locomotives.

Every faction affected by the railroad may appear during the finale.

Some come to help.

Some come to demand payment.

Some attempt to seize the train.

Others launch a full assault to prevent the line from being completed.

The player drives or defends the first train as it travels across the completed route.

Its journey may include:

Departing Rook Junction
Crossing a floating lake bridge
Passing through a settlement market
Entering a ruined skyscraper
Descending into a subway tunnel
Surviving an underground ambush
Climbing a mountain switchback
Entering the newly completed tunnel
Breaking through the final barricade
Arriving at the last station

At the destination, the player drives the final railroad spike into the track.

Who controls that spike determines the future of the region.

Railroad Construction Gameplay

The Anywhere Line could become a major Fallout 5 gameplay system rather than a static questline.

Route Planning

The player selects potential routes through an overhead regional planning interface.

Each route has consequences involving:

Construction cost
Travel time
Structural stability
Radiation exposure
Creature activity
Faction territory
Worker casualties
Maintenance requirements
Settlement access
Strategic value

A route around a mountain may be safer but longer. A tunnel may be faster but awaken something buried beneath it.

Track Construction

The player can personally help build sections or assign crews and machinery.

Required materials might include:

Steel
Wood
Concrete
Copper
Gears
Screws
Nuclear material
Ceramic
Rubber
Circuitry

Special materials could improve track durability, speed, stealth, or resistance to environmental hazards.

Construction Crews

Workers have skills, fears, loyalties, and survival rates.

Crew types include:

Engineers
Welders
Miners
Explosives specialists
Robot technicians
Track layers
Bridge builders
Security guards
Scouts
Medical workers

Experienced crews work faster and make fewer mistakes. Poor leadership can lead to collapses, strikes, sabotage, and deaths.

Track-Laying Robots

The brothers possess several improvised construction robots called Spikers.

These machines can:

Clear debris
Place railroad ties
Hammer spikes
Weld track sections
Detect structural weakness
Carry supplies
Defend workers

Some Spikers may malfunction and continue laying tracks in completely irrational directions.

One rogue machine could create a track through homes, caves, faction bases, and restricted military zones because it interprets its final command as:

“Do not stop until the line is finished.”

Dynamic Train Travel

Once a route is completed, the player can ride the train rather than simply fast-travel.

During journeys, events may occur dynamically:

Raiders attack from motorcycles or improvised rail vehicles
Mutants climb onto the train
A bridge begins collapsing
Passengers start fighting
Someone is murdered inside a passenger car
A hidden explosive is discovered
The locomotive overheats
A settlement sends an emergency signal
A creature blocks the track
A faction attempts an inspection
The train reaches an incorrect destination because of sabotage
A passenger gives birth during the journey
A mysterious person boards at an abandoned station

The player can walk between cars, speak with passengers, operate weapons, perform repairs, and climb onto the roof.

Railroad Cars

The player can customize the train by attaching different cars.

Passenger Car

Transports settlers, merchants, companions, and travelers.

Freight Car

Moves settlement resources, weapons, food, and construction materials.

Medical Car

Functions as a mobile clinic and evacuation unit.

Workshop Car

Allows weapon, armor, robot, and equipment crafting.

Prison Car

Transports captured raiders, criminals, or political prisoners.

Livestock Car

Carries brahmin and other domesticated creatures.

Artillery Car

Provides long-range fire support but makes the train a major military target.

Greenhouse Car

Produces food during long journeys.

Power Car

Contains generators, fusion systems, and electrical storage.

Luxury Car

Attracts wealthy passengers, diplomats, gamblers, and faction leaders.

Mortuary Car

Transports bodies and contains evidence connected to unsolved deaths.

Settlement Car

A converted railcar where residents permanently live. Multiple settlement cars can turn the train into a mobile town.

Enemies of the Anywhere Line

The Railjackers

A faction of train raiders who use motorized carts, armored handcars, stolen locomotives, and trackside ambushes.

They do not merely rob trains. They steal entire sections of track and relocate them.

The Roadkeepers

A caravan faction that believes the railroad will destroy traditional wasteland trade.

They sabotage tracks, spread rumors, and hire mercenaries to attack stations.

The Buried

An underground community that considers the subway tunnels sacred territory.

They believe the brothers’ drilling has disturbed something ancient beneath the region.

The Tollmen

A militant group that occupies bridges and tunnels. They demand payment for every person, animal, robot, and pound of cargo passing through their territory.

The Final Station

A mysterious faction that believes the Anywhere Line must never reach a particular location.

They assassinate engineers, falsify maps, and leave warnings nailed to the tracks:

“Somewhere should remain unreachable.”

Companion Possibility: Lyle Rook

If the player supports the railroad but removes Lyle from leadership, he can become a companion.

His personal weapon is a modified railway rifle called No Detours.

The weapon can fire:

Standard railway spikes
Electrified spikes
Explosive track bolts
Cable-linked harpoons
Marker spikes that guide train artillery

Lyle gains affinity when the player chooses bold, inventive, or reckless solutions.

He dislikes bureaucracy, surrendering territory, and abandoning large construction projects.

His companion perk could be:

Through, Not Around

The player deals additional damage to environmental obstructions, robots, power armor, and heavily armored enemies. Explosives also clear certain blocked pathways without requiring the normal skill check.

Possible Endings

The People’s Railway

The line remains independent and serves every settlement equally.

Trade improves, isolated communities grow, and wasteland travel becomes safer.

The Iron Government

The railroad becomes the foundation of a new centralized government.

Stations become administrative centers, and whoever controls the tracks controls the region.

The War Train

A military faction converts the network into a rapid-deployment system.

Armored trains patrol the wasteland, and opposition settlements are cut off from food and medicine.

The Merchant Line

The network becomes privately controlled.

Trade flourishes, but poorer settlements cannot afford access.

The Broken Dream

The player destroys the main switching system or allows the brothers’ feud to ruin the project.

The abandoned tracks become hideouts, markets, graveyards, and raider highways.

The Endless Line

Lyle’s vision wins completely.

The railroad continues beyond the known map. Years later, wastelanders still hear distant train whistles coming from mountains, underground tunnels, and places where no track should exist.

No one knows where the final train is going.

Only that it has never stopped.

Fallout 5: The Anywhere Brothers’ Weaponized Railroad Systems

The Anywhere Line was originally supposed to reconnect settlements, transport food, and make wasteland travel safer. The brothers quickly learned that a railroad stretching through hostile territory could not survive as a civilian transportation network alone.

Raiders stole supplies. Mutants attacked construction crews. Rival factions tore up tracks. Settlements refused to cooperate unless the brothers could guarantee protection.

Their solution was to turn portions of the railroad into a mobile defense network, siege system, supply chain, and mechanized army.

Orson insists the weapons exist to protect the railway.

Lyle insists the railway itself should be a weapon.

That philosophical disagreement shapes nearly every upgrade the player can install.

The Railroad Combat Philosophy

The brothers divide railway warfare into five operational principles:

1. The Train Must Keep Moving

A stopped train is vulnerable. Most systems are designed to fire, repair damage, clear obstacles, and deploy troops without forcing the locomotive to halt.

2. Every Car Must Serve Multiple Purposes

A freight car may conceal missile tubes. A passenger car may contain retractable armor. A maintenance car may deploy combat robots.

Enemies should never know which section of the train is dangerous until it opens fire.

3. The Track Is Part of the Weapon

The Anywhere Line does not merely transport weapons. The rails, switches, bridges, tunnels, stations, and signals can all be weaponized.

4. The Train Controls the Battlefield

The railroad can bring artillery, troops, power armor, medical support, ammunition, and reinforcements into a region faster than most wasteland armies.

5. No Route Should Be Defenseless

Every major stretch of track can be equipped with traps, surveillance systems, fallback positions, armored checkpoints, and emergency countermeasures.

Weaponized Locomotive Systems

The Iron Maw

The Iron Maw is a massive reinforced plow mounted on the front of a locomotive.

It can smash through:

Wooden barricades
Raider roadblocks
Abandoned vehicles
Weak settlement walls
Creature nests
Light defensive structures
Rubble blocking tunnels
Enemy handcars and rail vehicles

Different Iron Maw variants can be installed.

Wedge Plow

Pushes obstacles away from the tracks rather than crushing them.

Grinder Plow

Uses rotating industrial teeth to shred debris, armor, and creatures.

Shock Plow

Electrifies the front assembly, stunning creatures and damaging robots on impact.

Incinerator Plow

Sprays flame ahead of the train to clear infestations and defensive positions.

Mine-Sweeper Plow

Uses articulated arms, rollers, and magnetic sensors to detonate or remove explosives before the locomotive reaches them.

Breaching Maw

A siege variant fitted with explosive charges and a hydraulic ram. It allows the train to enter warehouses, factories, fortifications, and certain ruined buildings.

Locomotive-Mounted Weapons

Boiler Cannons

Improvised cannons powered by steam pressure.

They launch:

Scrap shells
Railway spikes
Incendiary canisters
Shrapnel containers
Smoke rounds
Chemical payloads
Concrete-breaking slugs

Boiler Cannons are cheap to operate but dangerous. Excessive firing increases pressure inside the locomotive and can cause pipe ruptures or a boiler explosion.

Cowcatcher Flamethrowers

Flamethrowers mounted near the front plow.

They are particularly useful against:

Feral ghoul swarms
Insect nests
Mirelurk eggs
Wooden barricades
Raiders attacking from the front
Vegetation blocking overgrown tracks

The player can install fuel mixtures that change the weapon’s behavior.

Napalm-like fuel creates lasting fire. Irradiated fuel causes radiation damage. Cryogenic coolant briefly freezes enemies but risks damaging the engine.

Side-Mounted Machine-Gun Nests

Armored firing positions placed along the locomotive and selected train cars.

Possible weapons include:

Heavy machine guns
Miniguns
Laser repeaters
Plasma casters
Automatic railway rifles
Junk launchers
Repeating harpoon guns
Rotating shotgun arrays

These stations can be operated by the player, companions, settlers, robots, or assigned crew members.

Crew accuracy depends on their training, morale, injuries, weapon familiarity, and the train’s movement.

Roof Turrets

Automated or manually controlled turrets mounted above the train.

Anti-Personnel Turret

Tracks raiders, mutants, and creatures near the rails.

Anti-Air Turret

Designed to target vertibirds, drones, flying creatures, and elevated attackers.

Tunnel Turret

A compact weapon that retracts before the train enters narrow underground passages.

Searchlight Turret

Combines a bright searchlight, targeting laser, and medium machine gun.

Tesla Turret

Sends electrical arcs between enemies standing near the train.

Railway Barrage Turret

Fires large spikes that can pin enemies to walls, railcars, and environmental surfaces.

The Weaponized Train Cars

1. The Broadside Car

The Broadside Car is a heavily armored artillery platform fitted with weapons on both sides.

When the train moves beside an enemy position, armored panels drop and an entire row of guns opens fire.

Possible loadouts include:

Black-powder cannons
Heavy machine guns
Laser batteries
Missile racks
Plasma projectors
Auto-grenade launchers
Scrap mortars

The player can command a full broadside, firing every weapon simultaneously.

A full broadside is devastating but consumes enormous ammunition and may destabilize the car if fired while traveling around a sharp curve.

2. The Siege Car

A mobile artillery piece designed to attack fortified settlements, military bunkers, super mutant strongholds, and heavily defended faction bases.

Weapons can include:

Long-Range Howitzer

Fires explosive shells across large sections of the map.

Bunker-Buster Mortar

Launches heavy rounds designed to collapse roofs and underground entrances.

Nuclear Catapult

Throws limited-yield nuclear charges. It is extremely powerful but may permanently irradiate the target area.

Seismic Cannon

Uses modified mining technology to destabilize foundations, tunnels, bridges, and underground structures.

Salvaged Naval Gun

A massive cannon mounted on a reinforced rail platform. It requires the train to stop and deploy stabilizing legs before firing.

The player must acquire targeting coordinates through scouts, signal towers, reconnaissance drones, or direct observation.

3. The Missile Car

A freight car concealing retractable missile launchers.

Payloads may include:

High-explosive missiles
Incendiary rockets
Cluster rockets
EMP missiles
Flare rockets
Cryogenic warheads
Smoke-screen missiles
Marker rockets
Mini-nuclear warheads

The car can fire vertically while hiding inside a station, tunnel opening, factory, or ruined building.

A faction controlling the Missile Car can threaten settlements far beyond the immediate rail line.

4. The Flak Car

The Flak Car protects the railroad against flying threats.

It includes:

Rapid-fire cannons
Proximity-fused shells
Tracking radar
Searchlights
Missile warning systems
Electromagnetic countermeasures
Drone interception systems

It is especially valuable if enemy factions possess vertibirds or prewar aircraft.

The player may also use the Flak Car against cliffside ambushes, elevated snipers, and large flying mutants.

5. The Tesla Car

A power-generation and area-defense car.

When activated, Tesla coils rise from the roof and discharge electricity into nearby enemies.

The system can:

Electrify adjacent tracks
Shock creatures climbing aboard
Disable hostile robots
Overload powered armor
Destroy incoming drones
Charge friendly energy weapons
Restore certain train systems
Create an electrical barrier around a stationary train

During rainstorms, the Tesla Car becomes more powerful but significantly less predictable.

6. The Firestorm Car

A close-range defensive car designed for swarm attacks.

It contains rotating flame projectors that can create a ring of fire around the train.

Alternate ammunition allows it to spray:

Fire
Acid
Irradiated waste
Freezing coolant
Oil slicks
Adhesive foam
Hallucinogenic gas
Insect-repelling chemicals

The Firestorm Car is dangerous near settlements, forests, fuel depots, or enclosed tunnels.

A careless crew can cause environmental devastation.

7. The Mortar Car

A lighter and more mobile alternative to the Siege Car.

It can continuously launch shells while the train is moving.

Mortar ammunition includes:

Fragmentation rounds
Concussion rounds
Illumination flares
Smoke shells
Gas rounds
EMP rounds
Sound-disruption shells
Radioactive dirt bombs
Signal jammers
Deployable mine canisters

The player can mark targets manually or allow spotters to call in fire.

8. The Robot Deployment Car

A mobile mechanized barracks containing racks of robots.

It can deploy:

Protectrons
Sentry bots
Assaultrons
Eyebots
Track-repair robots
Mine-clearing robots
Medical robots
Small combat drones
Cargo robots
Modified construction machines

The car has side doors, roof hatches, and a rear deployment ramp.

Robots may leap from the train while it is moving, descend by cable, or emerge from underground service tunnels ahead of the locomotive.

9. The Power Armor Car

A mobile deployment station for power-armored soldiers.

The interior contains:

Power armor racks
Repair stations
Fusion core storage
Ammunition lockers
Medical equipment
Hydraulic deployment clamps
Magnetic boarding platforms

Power armor troops can deploy directly from the train during battles.

A late-game upgrade allows soldiers to jump from the train using reinforced leg systems and impact-dampening equipment.

10. The Infantry Car

An armored troop-transport car with firing ports and retractable cover.

Possible occupants include:

Railroad guards
Settlement militia
Mercenaries
Faction troops
Snipers
Heavy gunners
Medics
Engineers
Power armor infantry

Troops can exit through side doors, roof hatches, or deployable ramps.

The player can choose the formation used when the infantry disembarks.

11. The Sniper Car

A concealed observation and precision-fire platform.

It contains:

Stabilized sniper nests
Range-finding equipment
Spotter scopes
Silenced weapon mounts
Reconnaissance drones
Weather sensors
Thermal imaging
Long-distance laser designators

The exterior resembles a normal freight car until the roof and side panels open.

A skilled sniper crew can eliminate threats before the train enters an ambush zone.

12. The Boarding Car

Designed specifically to capture enemy trains, armored vehicles, and fortified platforms.

It deploys:

Grappling hooks
Magnetic clamps
Harpoon cables
Boarding bridges
Cutting torches
Breaching charges
Robotic boarding units

The player may fight across two moving trains while the Boarding Car holds them together.

13. The Prisoner Car

An armored detention car for captured enemies.

It includes:

Individual cells
Shock restraints
Interrogation room
Evidence lockers
Guard stations
Emergency lockdown doors
Sedation gas systems

Prisoners may attempt escapes, sabotage the train, bribe guards, or organize a revolt.

The player can recruit, ransom, interrogate, release, or execute selected prisoners.

14. The Decoy Car

A car designed to attract enemy fire and mislead attackers.

It may imitate:

A command center
A nuclear weapon car
A valuable freight car
A power generator
A prisoner transport
A faction leader’s personal car

Some variants contain hidden explosives and are intentionally detached near enemy forces.

15. The Arsenal Car

A mobile armory that stores and distributes weapons throughout the train.

It contains:

Ammunition fabrication systems
Weapon repair benches
Explosives storage
Energy-cell chargers
Spare turret components
Specialized ammunition lockers

If the Arsenal Car is destroyed, the resulting explosion can tear the train apart.

The player must decide whether to protect it in the center of the train or keep it near the rear for faster resupply.

The Rail Leviathan

The Rail Leviathan is the ultimate expression of Lyle’s philosophy: not merely an armored train, but a moving military installation.

It is so large that it requires several locomotives working together.

Major Sections

Command Engine

The heavily armored lead locomotive containing navigation, communications, and battle-control systems.

Forward Breacher

A massive front car fitted with rams, drills, mine-clearing equipment, and demolition charges.

Artillery Spine

A line of cannons, missile batteries, and mortars capable of bombarding targets across the region.

Troop Quarter

Living space for soldiers, engineers, mechanics, medics, and specialists.

Mobile Foundry

Produces ammunition, replacement armor, railway components, and simple weapons while the train is moving.

Power Core

Contains fusion generators and backup reactors.

Medical Ward

Treats wounded crew, soldiers, civilians, and prisoners.

Flight Deck

A reinforced flatbed capable of launching drones, improvised aircraft, or small vertibirds.

Rearguard Fortress

Protects the back of the train with turrets, mines, and deployable barricades.

Leviathan Combat Modes

Fortress Mode

The train stops and deploys stabilizers, armor walls, observation towers, and perimeter defenses.

Nearby train cars unfold into a temporary fortified settlement.

Breakthrough Mode

All power is redirected toward speed, forward armor, and breaching weapons.

The Leviathan attempts to smash through enemy lines.

Siege Mode

The train anchors itself and begins long-range bombardment.

The player must defend it while artillery crews calculate firing solutions.

Evacuation Mode

Weapons retract to make room for civilians, medical supplies, food, and emergency equipment.

Blackout Mode

Lights and external systems shut down. The train moves slowly using silent electric motors and limited active sensors.

Last Rail Mode

Every available weapon is activated, safety systems are disabled, and the train pushes beyond its normal mechanical limits.

This can win an otherwise impossible battle but may permanently destroy sections of the train.

Track-Based Weapons

The Anywhere Brothers eventually realize they do not have to place every weapon on the train. The railroad infrastructure can attack enemies independently.

Electrified Rails

Special generators send electrical current through selected sections of track.

This can:

Kill creatures crossing the line
Disable enemy rail vehicles
Damage robots
Create defensive boundaries
Power emergency station defenses

The system must be deactivated before friendly workers approach the track.

Explosive Rail Segments

Certain sections contain hidden explosive charges.

They can be detonated remotely to:

Destroy pursuing trains
Collapse bridges
Seal tunnels
Eliminate enemy patrols
Prevent a faction from capturing a route

Destroying one of the player’s own rail segments may save the network but cut settlements off from essential supplies.

Retractable Track Spikes

Large metal spikes rise from the track and puncture enemy locomotives or vehicles.

They can also be used against large creatures.

The spikes may be:

Mechanical
Hydraulic
Explosive
Electrified
Poisoned
Barbed

Switchyard Traps

The player can reroute hostile trains onto:

Dead-end tracks
Collapsed bridges
Minefields
Ambush positions
Repair pits
Electrified rails
Decoy stations
Monster nests

A skilled dispatcher can defeat an enemy force without directly firing a weapon.

Derailment Gates

Heavy mechanisms deliberately knock enemy rail vehicles from the track.

The wreck can then be salvaged or used as a barricade.

Rail Mines

Explosives designed to recognize the weight, speed, or identification signal of a train.

Friendly locomotives transmit coded signals that prevent detonation.

Enemies may steal these codes, forcing the player to change the entire network’s identification system.

Tunnel Collapse Charges

Installed inside vulnerable tunnels.

They can be used to trap an enemy train, seal creatures underground, or stop an invading faction.

However, collapsed tunnels may bury civilians, destroy valuable ruins, and require extensive reconstruction.

Fuel-Ignition Tracks

Pipes beneath the railway release fuel or gas before igniting it.

The resulting fire corridor can surround the train or block pursuers.

In underground areas, the blast may consume oxygen and endanger everyone nearby.

Adhesive Foam Emitters

Nozzles along the track spray industrial adhesive onto enemy vehicles and infantry.

The foam can:

Jam wheels
Immobilize power armor
Block tunnel entrances
Seal small breaches
Slow creatures
Extinguish fires

Enemies trapped in the foam can be captured rather than killed.

Magnetic Rail Locks

Powerful electromagnets seize the metal wheels or undercarriages of unauthorized vehicles.

They can also pull weapons from lightly equipped attackers.

Weaponized Stations

Stations can be turned into military installations rather than simple travel hubs.

Fortress Stations

Built with:

Reinforced walls
Watchtowers
Searchlights
Turrets
Minefields
Guard barracks
Emergency bunkers
Medical rooms
Ammunition depots

Artillery Stations

Contain long-range weapons linked to the railway’s observation network.

Hidden Stations

Disguised inside:

Ruined factories
Caves
Shopping malls
Subway tunnels
Warehouses
Collapsed buildings
Flooded districts

Kill-Box Stations

Designed to appear abandoned. Once enemies enter, gates close and concealed defenses activate.

Recovery Stations

Contain cranes, repair pits, salvage teams, replacement rails, and rescue equipment.

Civilian Shield Stations

A morally questionable faction may place military assets inside heavily populated stations, knowing enemies will hesitate to attack.

The player can expose, relocate, support, or exploit this tactic.

Station Defense Systems

Rotating Platform Guns

The locomotive turntable can be converted into a rotating artillery base.

Retractable Wall Turrets

Weapons remain hidden until an attack begins.

Cargo-Crane Weapons

Construction cranes can lift bombs, throw wreckage, or drop heavy objects onto enemies.

Railcar Barricades

Empty armored cars can be moved into position to seal station entrances.

Emergency Train Launch

A reserve armored train automatically deploys when the station is attacked.

Underground Escape Rail

A small maintenance line allows civilians, leadership, or supplies to evacuate.

Signal-Tower Snipers

Tall switching towers become observation posts and sniper positions.

Platform Shock Grid

Metal station platforms can be electrified to stop boarders.

Weaponized Bridges

The Anywhere Line’s bridges can become massive defensive structures.

Drawbridge Rail

A section of the bridge retracts, leaving pursuers unable to cross.

Trap Bridge

The bridge appears intact but collapses when a coded signal is sent.

Gun-Deck Bridge

Turrets and artillery are mounted beneath and beside the railway.

Fire Bridge

Fuel lines produce a curtain of flame along the bridge.

Floodgate Bridge

A railway crossing integrated into a dam can release water onto enemies below.

Magnetic Suspension Bridge

Uses prewar magnetic technology to temporarily detach or reposition sections of rail.

Bridge Prison

Enemies can be trapped between two raised or destroyed sections of track.

Weaponized Tunnels

Tunnels are perfect defensive corridors but can also become death traps for the train.

Tunnel Flamers

Hidden nozzles burn creatures or attackers entering behind the train.

Pressure Doors

Massive bulkheads seal sections of the tunnel.

Gas Defense

The tunnel can be filled with smoke, sleeping gas, poison, or hallucinogens.

Sound Cannon

Industrial speakers generate painful frequencies that disorient humans and repel certain creatures.

Light Barrage

High-powered lights blind attackers and weaken nocturnal creatures.

Automated Drills

Mining drills emerge from walls and crush unauthorized vehicles.

Tunnel Flooding

A controlled reservoir can flood occupied sections.

False Tunnel

A deceptive rail switch sends enemies into a sealed excavation chamber.

Rail-Launched Traps

The train can deploy traps behind or ahead of itself while moving.

Spike Droppers

Scatter sharpened railway spikes along roads or parallel tracks.

Mine Dispensers

Deploy anti-personnel, anti-vehicle, or EMP mines.

Caltrop Cars

Release large metal obstacles behind the train.

Oil Sprayers

Coat the rail and surrounding ground with slippery or flammable oil.

Smoke Generators

Create a long smoke screen that hides the train’s movement.

Chaff Launchers

Confuse missile guidance and electronic tracking systems.

Decoy Signal Beacons

Create false train signatures elsewhere on the network.

Noise Makers

Attract nearby creatures toward pursuing enemies.

Radiation Canisters

Leave temporary irradiated zones behind the train.

Specialized Ammunition

The Anywhere Brothers manufacture ammunition specifically for railway combat.

Spikeburst Shell

Explodes into dozens of railway spikes.

Track-Cutter Round

Designed to destroy enemy rails and switches.

Boiler-Buster Shell

Penetrates locomotive armor and ruptures steam systems.

Coupler Breaker

Targets the connection between train cars.

Wheel-Lock Harpoon

Wraps cables around wheels and undercarriages.

Conductor Round

Electrifies the target and nearby metal surfaces.

Tunnel Dust Shell

Fills enclosed areas with choking dust and debris.

Screamer Round

Produces a high-frequency sound that disorients enemies and attracts creatures.

Anchor Shell

Embeds a cable into an enemy train, allowing it to be pulled, boarded, or derailed.

Magnet Bomb

Clamps onto metal vehicles and structures before detonating.

Signal Scrambler

Disables communications, automated switches, and remote weapons.

Defensive Armor Systems

Layered Scrap Armor

Cheap and easy to repair, but heavy.

Ceramic Composite Panels

Lighter armor made from salvaged prewar materials.

Reactive Armor

Explodes outward when struck by heavy projectiles.

Spaced Armor

Uses external panels to reduce damage from explosives.

Energy-Resistant Plating

Protects against lasers and plasma.

Ablative Heat Shields

Protects the train from fire, molten debris, and energy attacks.

Rubber Insulation

Reduces damage from electricity and EMP weapons.

Radiation Shielding

Allows the train to cross highly contaminated regions.

Retractable Armor Shutters

Cover windows, firing ports, and vulnerable machinery during combat.

Anti-Boarding Systems

Enemy boarding parties are one of the greatest threats to an armored train.

Electrified Roof

Shocks anyone climbing onto the top of the train.

Steam Vents

Release bursts of superheated steam between cars.

Retractable Blades

Deploy along the sides of railcars to knock enemies away.

Rotating Scraper Arms

Sweep the roof and sides of the train.

Boarding Alarm Grid

Identifies exactly which car is being breached.

Interior Lockdown

Seals each car independently.

Counter-Boarding Robots

Small machines patrol the roof, undercarriage, and ventilation spaces.

Magnetic Boots

Allow friendly soldiers to fight on the train without being thrown off.

Decompression Car

A sealed car can release high-pressure air through side vents, forcing boarders away.

False Access Door

An apparent entrance leads attackers into a reinforced trap chamber.

Under-Train Defense Systems

Enemies may crawl beneath the cars to place explosives or damage brakes.

The brothers counter this with:

Downward-facing turrets
Heat sensors
Rotating chains
Undercarriage blades
Electrified plates
Steam discharge pipes
Small security robots
Automatic explosive detection
Reinforced fuel lines
Armored brake assemblies

The player may occasionally need to climb underneath a moving train to disarm a bomb while avoiding these same defense systems.

Drone Systems

Track Scout

Flies ahead and searches for damage, mines, or ambushes.

Repair Drone

Performs emergency welding and mechanical work while the train is moving.

Gun Drone

Provides close-range fire support.

Bombardment Spotter

Marks targets for artillery.

Signal Relay Drone

Extends communication range through mountains and tunnels.

Decoy Drone

Projects a false locomotive signal or engine sound.

Cargo Drone

Transports ammunition or medicine between moving cars.

Pursuit Drone

Chases fleeing enemies along the rail corridor.

Tunnel Crawler

A small wall- and ceiling-climbing robot that scouts enclosed passages.

The Railwalker System

Lyle develops detachable mechanical legs that allow a specialized locomotive to briefly leave the track.

The Railwalker can move over:

Broken track
Small ravines
Debris fields
Collapsed streets
Shallow water
Destroyed bridges
Uneven industrial floors

The system is slow and unstable, but it allows the train to continue when enemies believe they have permanently cut the route.

A weaponized Railwalker resembles a massive mechanical insect carrying an artillery platform on its back.

Orson despises it because it violates everything he considers a railroad.

Lyle calls it “a train that refuses to accept geography.”

The Burrow Engine

A heavily modified locomotive equipped with an enormous drilling head.

It can create emergency tunnels through soft earth, damaged concrete, and selected rock formations.

Combat Applications

Tunnel beneath fortifications
Enter underground bunkers
Collapse enemy foundations
Create surprise station entrances
Escape a siege
Ambush enemies from below
Build hidden rail routes

The Burrow Engine can also uncover forgotten Vaults, military installations, underground towns, or creatures that were better left buried.

The Pond-Crossing Battle Train

For water and swamp routes, the brothers construct amphibious rail platforms.

Weapons

Harpoon launchers
Depth charges
Electrified pontoons
Water cannons
Torpedo tubes
Aquatic mine dispensers
Flamethrowers for surface creatures
Sonar-guided weapons

The train may need to defend itself from creatures attacking the tracks from below.

If enough pontoons are destroyed, sections of the train begin sinking or tilting.

The Skyscraper Rail Fortress

Where tracks run through tall buildings, the brothers transform the structures into vertical defenses.

Systems

Elevating train platforms
Drop-down barricades
Suspended rail bridges
Sniper floors
Elevator-mounted turrets
Rooftop missile batteries
Counterweight traps
Falling debris weapons
Interior kill corridors

An enemy force might attack the train floor by floor while it slowly climbs through a spiraling railway inside the building.

Remote Railroad Command

The player can eventually gain access to the Rook Dispatch Network, a strategic command system that controls the railway from a regional map.

The player can order:

Train movements
Civilian evacuations
Troop deployments
Artillery strikes
Ammunition deliveries
Medical trains
Repair crews
Track sabotage
Bridge demolition
Emergency route changes
Interception of hostile trains
Reinforcement of settlements

Commands are not instantaneous.

Trains require time, fuel, functioning tracks, available crews, and clear routes.

A poorly defended supply line can be intercepted before it reaches its destination.

Railway Territory Control

Every completed route changes the map.

Benefits

Faster settlement reinforcement
Reduced caravan losses
Increased trade
Shared resources
Emergency evacuation
Access to distant artillery
More frequent merchants
Faster construction
Improved faction influence

Risks

Enemy factions can use captured tracks
Stations become major strategic targets
Settlements may become dependent on the railway
A single destroyed bridge can cause widespread shortages
Militarized trains may frighten independent communities
The brothers may become more powerful than local governments

Train Crew Combat Roles

Engineer

Controls speed, braking, boiler pressure, and emergency maneuvers.

Conductor

Manages the crew, passengers, and communication between cars.

Gunner

Operates mounted weapons.

Spotter

Identifies targets and directs artillery.

Dispatcher

Controls switches and route selection.

Mechanic

Repairs damaged systems during combat.

Rail Marine

Defends the interior and boards hostile trains.

Demolition Specialist

Clears obstacles and destroys enemy tracks.

Medic

Treats wounded crew and passengers.

Robot Controller

Directs combat and repair machines.

Signal Officer

Prevents jamming, hacking, and false-route commands.

Rear Guard

Protects the train from pursuit.

The player can assign named settlers or companions to these positions. Their attributes, traits, equipment, relationships, and morale affect performance.

Locomotive Combat Maneuvers

Emergency Brake

Causes pursuing enemies to overshoot or collide with the train.

Reverse Ram

The train suddenly reverses into enemies behind it.

Switchback Ambush

The train changes direction through a hidden switch and attacks from another line.

Car Detachment

A damaged or explosive car is released before it destroys the rest of the train.

Momentum Strike

The engineer accelerates toward an obstacle or enemy train for a devastating collision.

Tunnel Scrape

The train passes close to a wall or tunnel entrance to knock boarders off.

Smoke Run

The locomotive releases dense smoke to conceal its position.

Dead Engine Drift

Power is cut so the train approaches silently using momentum.

Split Formation

The train divides into two sections that take different tracks and surround the enemy.

Hammer and Anvil

One train forces the enemy toward a second armored train waiting ahead.

Enemy Railroad Weapons

The Anywhere Line’s enemies eventually develop their own railway warfare systems.

Raider Skull Trains

Fast, lightly armored locomotives covered in spikes, cages, and improvised guns.

Super Mutant Ram Train

A crude armored locomotive built to collide directly with enemy trains.

Ghoul Night Line

A silent train operated by ghouls that travels through irradiated tunnels.

Merchant Enforcement Train

A polished armored train used to collect debts, seize cargo, and enforce trade monopolies.

Military Rail Carrier

A disciplined faction’s mobile base containing troops, artillery, and command staff.

The Ghost Train

An automated prewar military locomotive that still follows orders issued before the war.

The Parasite Train

A train composed of stolen cars from multiple factions. Its crew captures enemy railcars rather than destroying them.

Train-to-Train Combat

Battles between moving trains could become major Fallout 5 set pieces.

The player may:

Leap between cars
Use grappling lines
Break couplings
Destroy enemy wheels
Hijack the locomotive
Rescue prisoners
Disable turrets
Plant explosives
Redirect enemy trains
Fight on roofs
Crawl beneath cars
Use switches to split enemy formations
Fire artillery at parallel tracks

Weather, curves, tunnels, bridges, speed, and damaged rails all affect the battle.

A player could win without killing everyone by seizing the enemy engine or forcing the hostile train onto a dead track.

Unique Railroad Weapons

No Detours

Lyle’s modified automatic railway rifle.

Spikes can ricochet from metal surfaces and continue into a second target.

The Timetable

A scoped railway rifle that deals increased damage to enemies marked by the dispatch network.

Last Stop

A heavy shotgun built from train brake components. Its blast heavily staggers enemies and may knock them from moving vehicles.

Conductor’s Authority

An electrified baton that deals bonus damage aboard trains and inside stations.

The Coupler

A harpoon weapon that pulls enemies toward the player or links them to environmental objects.

Tracklayer

A heavy automatic weapon that fires short lengths of sharpened rail.

Full Steam

A pressure-powered flamethrower that becomes more powerful as the user’s action points fall.

The Fare Collector

A unique revolver that increases loot recovered from marked targets.

Deadhead

A silent pneumatic spike launcher designed for tunnel combat.

Platform Nine

A shoulder-mounted launcher that fires explosive miniature railcars.

Moral Choices Around Weaponization

The weaponized systems should not be treated as simple upgrades without consequences.

The player must decide what the Anywhere Line is becoming.

Civilian Railway

Weapons are limited to defense. Stations remain open and trusted.

Armed Neutrality

The line protects itself but refuses to participate in faction wars.

Regional Peacekeeper

The train intervenes when settlements are attacked, but its leaders determine who receives protection.

Private Army

The railroad charges settlements for defense and transportation.

Faction War Machine

A major faction takes control and uses the line to project military power.

Player-Controlled Empire

The player becomes the ultimate authority over transportation, trade, military movement, and regional supply.

Demilitarized Network

The player removes heavy weapons and places the railway under a civilian council.

This improves public trust but makes the network more vulnerable to organized attacks.

Orson and Lyle’s Final Conflict

As the arsenal expands, the brothers’ relationship reaches a breaking point.

Orson believes the train has become exactly what their father feared: a machine that allows powerful people to control everyone else.

Lyle argues that a railroad incapable of defending itself will belong to whichever army captures it first.

Their argument can divide the entire railway workforce.

Orson’s Proposal

Remove nuclear weapons
Limit artillery range
Establish civilian oversight
Make stations independent
Restrict military passengers
Place defensive systems under local control
Require approval before bombarding targets

Lyle’s Proposal

Complete the Rail Leviathan
Build hidden weapon depots
Establish rapid-response war trains
Control every regional switchyard
Eliminate factions threatening the line
Extend the railway beyond the known region
Create a railroad that no government can challenge

The player can support one brother, reconcile them, replace them, or seize control of the network.

Endgame Weaponized Railroad Events

The Battle of Rook Junction

Multiple factions attack the railroad headquarters simultaneously.

The player must operate station defenses, deploy trains, protect civilians, and decide which sections of the yard to sacrifice.

The Three-Train War

Three armored trains fight across parallel routes while the player moves between them.

The Mountain Gun

The brothers construct a rail cannon inside a mountain tunnel. The player chooses whether to fire it, destroy it, or surrender it to a faction.

The Burning Line

An enemy releases a weaponized fuel train toward a populated station. The player must catch it, board it, reroute it, or destroy the track.

The Last Crossing

The Rail Leviathan must cross a damaged bridge while under artillery and aerial attack.

The player can detach heavy cars to reduce weight, sacrificing valuable weapons and crew sections to save the rest.

The Endless Siege

A settlement surrounded by enemies can only survive if the player keeps the railway open and continuously sends ammunition, food, troops, and medical support.

Anywhere Means Anywhere

Lyle activates an unfinished experimental route that sends the Leviathan through a mountain, across a flooded city, inside a skyscraper, and beneath an enemy fortress during one uninterrupted assault.

The Ultimate Upgrade: The Railroad That Builds Itself

Late in the questline, the brothers recover a prewar automated rail-construction system.

It consists of:

Track-laying robots
Mobile foundries
Survey drones
Excavation machines
Automated bridges
Portable fusion generators
Self-correcting switch systems
Armed construction vehicles

Once activated, the system can extend the railway without direct human labor.

However, its central intelligence interprets every obstacle as something that must be removed.

That includes:

Buildings
Settlements
Wildlife
Faction territory
Ancient ruins
Mountains
People refusing relocation

The player must decide whether to limit the system, reprogram it, destroy it, or allow the Anywhere Line to expand without restraint.

In the most extreme ending, the player sees tracks continuing beyond the horizon while automated war trains patrol them.

The brothers finally achieve their dream.

The railroad can go anywhere.

The question is whether anyone else will be allowed to stand in its way.