The Railroad is one of the major factions players can join and do quests for in Fallout 4. Their sole mission is to free sentient synths from the Institute. Due to this, they are a little different from other factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, Minutemen, and the Institute because their whole organization stands as a reaction to another. They have no pre-war history and rose in response to the actions of the Institute.
The faction started off much later than the others, beginning in the 2220s when Institute scientists first began to create their third generation of synths. These synths were so much like humans, people brought into question whether synths should have rights or not. This was this moral question that the Railroad rose out of, answering it with a resounding, "Yes, synths deserve to be free."
Early Records Of The Railroad
The earliest known leader of the Railroad was a man named Agamemnon. All that is known about him is that he led the faction sometime before 2066, and his headquarters was raided by the Institute. The next leader was a man named Wyatt, and he served the role from 2266 to 2273. According to Desdemona, Wyatt was the one to make the earliest records they have of the Railroad. Wyatt had to basically rebuild the Railroad from the ground up after the Institute raided their old HQ.
Wyatt was not alone though, as the sole survivor of the Institute raid, John D., helped rebuild the organization. Due to how they were attacked, they made the choices for the Railroad's location to always be kept a secret. They also developed the dead drop system and pyramid structure of the organization to make sure information went to the right and most trusted people with no slip-ups. This is how the Railroad became the organization it is by Fallout 4.
From Wyatt To Pinky
In 2267, under the leadership of Wyatt, the Railroad got their first synth out of the Commonwealth. John D. worked as a scouter, hiring tourists that he found trustworthy for their cause. Wyatt developed the Railroad hierarchy with sympathizers and tourists at the bottom, and HQ members at the top, with runners and field agents in the middle.
However, the security did not last forever. Wyatt was ultimately killed by the Institute coursers in an ambush of their headquarters. No one knows what happened to John D., though Desdemona believes John D. then went by Deacon, because it is around this time that Deacon starts working for the Railroad.
The next leader was Pinky Thompson, who trusted Deacon greatly, since it was Deacon that got an escape route together that saved the lives of many agents. It was under Pinky's leadership that HQ security tightened and synths like Harkness were able to escape and get as far as the Capital Wasteland. Pinky's leadership did not last long, however. The Railroad was stressed out from their losses, and Pinky had too many failures as he tried to keep their mission alive. He lost synths to raiders and butted heads with Dr. Carrington, Desdemona, and later even Deacon. Eventually, Pinky decided to step down from leadership.
Under Desdemona's Leadership
In an election between Desdemona and Dr. Carrington, Desdemona won and Carrington became her right-hand man. Under her leadership, the organization had a renaissance of success. In 2279, Tinker Tom joined up and helped the Railroad greatly in terms of technology. Adding to their already successful dead drop system, Desdemona's leadership also saw to creating the rail sign system to help allies find caches, dead drops, and safehouses. In 2280, Glory joined the Railroad, opting out of memory wiping and contributing greatly to the organization. Her skills quickly got her promoted to a heavy.
Eventually, though, their HQ got raided by coursers. This happened in 2281, and the survivors of the group moved into a place called The Switchboard for their next base of operations. It was there that they discovered a Predictive Analytic Machine, which they would later name PAM, which became one of their assets.
The Switchboard did not last long, and also got raided by Institute synths. Most of the organization was then wiped out, but the leadership remained intact. They moved to the crypts of Old North Church to reorganize. It was th Railroad's story where Fallout 4 starts, and the player can meet with the organization.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
