” New South Wales: In 1849, the Sydney Railway Company started building the first railway track in New South Wales between Sydney and Parramatta—a distance of 22 km. The project ran into financial difficulty and was taken over by the New South Wales colonial government. The line opened on 26 September 1855. “
https://infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/history.aspx
So for an 1820s each set Australian game, prototypes by your crazy science types are very likely..