06-29-2010, 09:30 PM
Harry, For some reason I seem to have a hard time "getting" operations schemes. I either have to read about them several times or actually see them work. For example, It took me forever to understand how classic four sided car cards work. :oops: I've read your description of the card plan a few times and wonder if it would help me and maybe others to go through an example of your scheme again. Tell me if I have this right....
1. Fill out cards for each car you plan to use for operations. (Do you used playing cards for convenience since they are already pre-cut, inexpensive and easy to shuffle?)
2. Find three industries each car might be sent to and write them on the card.
3. Roll dice to determine how many cards to pull off the shuffled deck.
4. Assemble a train with the cars named by the cards you drew.
5. Roll dice for each card to determine which industry it goes to (a 1-3 means Industry 1, a 4-6 means industry 2, a 7-9 means Industry 3)
6. Set these cars out according to the dice roll.
7. Cars that are already at industries are handled by dice roll (1-3 means leave it, 4-6 means pick it up)
8. A Rip card drawn means the next card is a car that goes on the Rip track.
An example: You rolled the dice, got a 4 and drew four cards. One of them was....
Penn Central 50 ft foot boxcar 160502
Industries: 1. Canton Box Co. (Dice roll 1-3)
2. Gern Industries (Dice Roll 4-6)
3. Kings Port Steel Supply (Dice Roll 7-9)
You roll the dice again for this card and get an 8...so Kings Port Steel Supply is the destination.
You assemble this car in a train and arrive at Kings Port Steel Supply, finding another car there. You roll the dice to see if it should be picked up or left alone.
You set out PC 160502.
Do I have this right? I like the built-in variety. I was using a home made system with dice and Industry cards on my layout for a while so I can relate to yours. I didn't have individual car cards though, just cards for industries and the dice randomly told me how many to set out or pick up.
So, have you been using this system for awhile? How is it working out?
Ralph
1. Fill out cards for each car you plan to use for operations. (Do you used playing cards for convenience since they are already pre-cut, inexpensive and easy to shuffle?)
2. Find three industries each car might be sent to and write them on the card.
3. Roll dice to determine how many cards to pull off the shuffled deck.
4. Assemble a train with the cars named by the cards you drew.
5. Roll dice for each card to determine which industry it goes to (a 1-3 means Industry 1, a 4-6 means industry 2, a 7-9 means Industry 3)
6. Set these cars out according to the dice roll.
7. Cars that are already at industries are handled by dice roll (1-3 means leave it, 4-6 means pick it up)
8. A Rip card drawn means the next card is a car that goes on the Rip track.
An example: You rolled the dice, got a 4 and drew four cards. One of them was....
Penn Central 50 ft foot boxcar 160502
Industries: 1. Canton Box Co. (Dice roll 1-3)
2. Gern Industries (Dice Roll 4-6)
3. Kings Port Steel Supply (Dice Roll 7-9)
You roll the dice again for this card and get an 8...so Kings Port Steel Supply is the destination.
You assemble this car in a train and arrive at Kings Port Steel Supply, finding another car there. You roll the dice to see if it should be picked up or left alone.
You set out PC 160502.
Do I have this right? I like the built-in variety. I was using a home made system with dice and Industry cards on my layout for a while so I can relate to yours. I didn't have individual car cards though, just cards for industries and the dice randomly told me how many to set out or pick up.
So, have you been using this system for awhile? How is it working out?
Ralph