In Vintage Steam, players are managing a heritage railway. They will need to try to make it as appealing as possible, with a long track, plenty of locomotives and interesting scenery. Because at some point they will have to show the railway inspector just how good their railway is. Every round players draft one card for every player. They can either play this card for it's effect or discard it for £2. Played cards are either added to a players tableau or just used for some special effect like visitors to the railway. The tableau is made up of track cards and complimentary cards tucked behind those cards. Players aim to be the first to have at least 5 track cards and a tucked locomotive so that they can play an inspector card to end the game. Every body adds up the victory points on their tableau to discover who has the best heritage railway.