How does Sid Meier's Railroads compare to Railroad Tycoon? Growing up I played Railroad Tycoon II and Monopoly Tycoon a lot, which actually gave pretty good lessons in business. Issuing bonds at 7% are annoying to pay back, understanding overhead costs, etc.
Also, for what it's worth, Railroads seems to be on Steam for $9.99. Pretty sure it'd work with more than 2 GB of RAM. There's also a bundle with Railroad Tycoon II and 3 for $14.99.
Railroad Tycoon is a more advanced game. Railroads was very easy to get into and more fun-oriented than Railroad Tycoon. I could never get into Railroad Tycoon. It's also a nicer looking game, being newer than any of the Railroad Tycoon games.
Before you fork out any money for Railroads, make sure you research the crashing [1]. This link is from 2015 with the latest update being two months ago with people still discussing crashing and (IMO) some sketchy ways to fix it. The game just flat out doesn't work well on newer systems. Being distributed by Steam doesn't mean it will actually run, my library is full of games that I've never gotten to open.
I've also seen some version of Railroad Tycoon on gog.com. They're great with older games.
But all of those are pretty complex games. Great for me, but not so much for my kids. Choo Choo Steam Trains was aimed at a younger audience; still challenging, but soon perfect for my 4 year old train nut.
Also, for what it's worth, Railroads seems to be on Steam for $9.99. Pretty sure it'd work with more than 2 GB of RAM. There's also a bundle with Railroad Tycoon II and 3 for $14.99.