The Railroad

The Railroad is an underground movement working to free sentient Androids from their creators, The Institute, a facility to the north in The Commonwealth. They also work to assist runaway human slaves. Their methods for aiding in escape can be extreme, going so far as to find doctors to perform full facial reconstruction on escapees. The extent of their influence is unknown, but they obviously operate in the Capital Wasteland, and at least as far north as The Commonwealth.

Overview
There is little information given about either the Railroad or the Institute, but the Lone Wanderer becomes involved in their conflict during The Replicated Man in Rivet City, where a scientist named Dr. Zimmer requests aid in capturing a runaway android, and Railroad agent Victoria Watts pleads with the character to take pity on the android and fake its/his death.

Both Dr. Zimmer, the android, and Ms. Watts give very logical and convincing arguments for their point of view, and the player must make an ethical choice based on the limited information he or she gains from each of them. There are multiple "good karma" solutions.

Appearances in games
The Railroad and The Institute are mentioned only in Fallout 3.