It was Queen Victoria's love for the island south of the United Kingdom which triggered the building of railways on the Isle of Wight. In 1860, two British railway companies, the LSWR and the LBSC, bitter rivals at the time, connected Cowes in the north with Newport in the center of the island and Ryde with Ventor down the east coast and Freshwater in the west. An addition to the 18xx series of railway games, 1860: Isle of Wight explores the nationalization of the United Kingdom via the railroad system.