German Railways originally debuted in 2008 as Preußische Ostbahn, the second game in the Historic Railroads System series. It was later reprinted in 2011 by Queen Games as German Railways, briefly made available in 2019 in Print and Play format on the now defunct Winsome Yahoo! Group page, and was most recently reprinted as Prussian Rails by Rio Grande Games. It is the third and final game in the Iron Horse Collection.

German Railways builds upon the system established in Wabash Cannonball and takes the gameplay to Germany, 1840-1870, introducing an innovative player order mechanism to the system. In addition, each railroad has a special characteristic, based upon its history:

• Preußische Ostbahn – May build up to 4 track; 20 black track; Königsberg start.
• Niederschlesische – No City Penalty; 17 brown track; Breslau start.
• Sächsische – May build up to 2 track; 11 orange track; Leipzig start.
• Bayerische – Track cost -1 per hex; 16 blue track; München start.
• Main-Weser – Double one City Income; 14 yellow track; Kassel start.
• Badische – One free rural track/build; 15 red track; Mannheim start.
• Köln-Mindener – $5 maximum expediture/build; 12 purple track; Essen start.
• Berlin-Hamburger – Must connect both to receive Dividends; 13 green track; Wittenberge start.