An operating scheme for my PRR Northeast Division
operating convenience, yard and indus- tries, for example. The industry list should have their locations, car capaci- ty and layover/loading-unloading time (days corresponding to the number of operating sessions). Next, one lists the trains by originating point, direction, destination and maximum number of cars each carries. You build a database for your roster,
including reporting
marks and car type, current location on the layout, plus routing sequence, des- tinations and loaded or empty when the program is initiated. The sequence and load status can be varied for each cycle, but it should make prototype sense, e.g., empty hoppers inbound to a quarry and loaded cars coming out. This is the most time consuming part of the job, but it only needs to be done once; it can be modified and/or added to at a later time. For each operating session, Caroute randomly selects cars for each train ac- cording to the criteria defined above and generates a switchlist
for that
train. As mentioned above, most switch list programs work like this. On my layout, the general operating
scheme routes the majority of cars as blocks on through freights from the staging yards to an interchange yard or to the staging yard at the other end of the layout. In the case of the inter- change yards, the cars are picked up and moved at the next operating sessions. The remainder of cars move in the two locals between Wickham Yard and sev- eral industries following the routing for each car. However, there is a rotating in- terchange of cars built in between the lo- cals and the through trains at Wickham Yard to introduce additional variety. There are no dependencies within a set of switchlists other than a yard’s siding capacity, so in reality the trains can be operated in any order to avoid overcrowding of yards; on my layout Brookview Yard is the key. (The num- ber of prototype trains that typically came into Maybrook Yard for classifica- tion before there were any departing trains meant that the yard needed to have a huge capacity, which it did. Most model layouts, including mine, have no such capacity.) With Caroute the Next Destination feature on the switchlist allows for advance blocking of cars in the yards by the switching crews, if desired.
Once all the trains on the switchlists
have moved their consist to the Cur- rent Destination, a Car File is saved and becomes the database for the next operating session using a new set of switchlists. Although trains originat- ing in staging yards are made up be- fore each operating session using the “0-5-0” method, I have tried to train
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Train No. 30 (top) idles at Brookview Yard. Its job is complete and it’s time for the engines to proceed to the engine terminal for servicing. Most of the cars will move eastward under New Haven power. The caboose has been left on the main (above) and following the switchlist, three boxcars and the ERDX reefer are being set out. Although switchers do the work of making up the consist for the locals, the through trains have to carry out their own work.
myself to use the yard switchers to move cars in the visible yards. Locomo- tive assignments are determined ac- cording to the number of cars and where the engine is located. Cabin car and caboose assignments are also de- termined “manually.”
Since my passenger trains generally
have fixed consists, they are not includ- ed in the system; however, the individ- ual passenger and head-end cars vary according to the assigned equipment for a train.
Advanced features Caroute offers a number of additional features. Some are for convenience and others are for more in-depth analysis. The Current Status Report provides a list of all cars in the system by town and industry. This has come in handy when I need to find a particular car on the layout or if I want to know where a car belongs that’s been taken off the layout for display or maintenance.
Errors and Warnings is a list of prob- lems that the program has encoun- tered when trying to move cars. Full Destination is an example. I used this in the early months and found that train lengths were not adequate to move the cars soon enough, resulting in yard overcrowding. The Data Analyzer module offers de- tailed lists (optional) for Industry Sum- mary car capacities and shipping infor- mation; its Car Mix Summary gives a detailed list of car mix by industry, and Train Service by Industry is used to iden- tify industries not adequately served. After the initial setup, which was a bit
tedious (especially the cars, since I have a lot of them), I found Caroute to be im- mensely useful to create a much greater sense of operating a real railroad, includ- ing the concept of “off the layout” desti- nations and loads and empties. Jim Bot- sko,
of Decapod Systems, offered
considerable assistance in answering my questions during my early trials.
JANUARY 2013
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