Could the tile number orientation be modified to match the printed copies of the game? Thus, tile orientations would read the same in Rails and other systems (e.g. 14NW would mean tile 14 oriented northwest and the orientation would be the same in Rails and the published game).
That can only work if the base tile orientations (i.e. with the tile number at the bottom) in all games would be identical, but that is not the case.
I could consider a configuration option that would set the *printed* orientation equal to what it would be with the printed game, but then that orientation would in many cases differ from what is seen on the map.
And then we have one game (1830) where the two copies of one brown plain-track tile have different base orientations...