Using The ShipIt! Computer Program On An ISL

[Gary S]

All cars in the database are setup with that yard being their "Home Yard". The "Shipper" for all commodities to "Consignees" on the industrial spur is the yard. I don't think that ShipIt cares if I call my staging a yard, a industry or a siding, as long as I have a shipping point from somewhere.

I don't have any customers on my industrial spur that ship, only receive, but if I did, the "Consignee" for their shipments would also be the yard. With the operational concept I have, that would be prototypical, as everything going to the spur would come from the yard and everything coming off the spur would go back to the yard for further movement.

That's what I was thinking, thank you for the clarification.

Biggest problem right now, is the concept of overflow cars to certain customers. I have one customer that currently only unloads one car in a 24 hr period, but the track can hold 3 cars. If I set the car capacity for that shipper as 3, then ShipIt will try and keep 2 or 3 cars at that customer most of the time, with the result that if there are 3 cars on that track tonight and I generate a switch list, it may pull all 3 cars from the track, rather than spot the next one in line to unload.

Did you mean unload or load? This industry is a shipper, right, and would have extra empties sitting there for loading? But the program is acting like all 3 cars get loaded between operating sessions and then hauls the cars back to staging?

I have been using the program to generate sessions for operating my layout, mainly to test the program and as a quick way to create an operating session. But I don't know at this point if I'll actually use it once the layout gets to a permanent status. Just seems to be too many prototype situations that I can't make work right with the program.

I hate to hear that. What else do you have in mind? I think it would be a good idea for me to use whatever program you use because you certainly know the prototype side of operations.

That last paragraph brings up a topic for another thread elsewhere, but I've already fallen in to the trap of being able to operate trains, so nothing else is getting done!!! Every time I come down here thinking that I'm going to do this or that on the layout, I end up just spending a couple of hours operating the layout! Track plan seems to be final and it's a good one with plenty of operation, but I'll never get it permanently built at this rate!

I know what you mean! There are a lot of distractions in this hobby! Like bashing 27 reefers for the potato factory! I think sometimes we just need to set goals, for example, "this weekend, I will accomplish X" and then strive for that. May help keep us focused on the task at hand.

Okay, another question: Having staging on only one end seems fairly straightforward. But how would the prototype, such as the LAJ, schedule the trains with "staging"at both ends like my layout?

One scenario I see is that a train would start at the first "staging" yard with the incoming cars, then as it sets out the incoming cars, it would pick up only the cars headed to the other staging yard. Once it travels the whole layout to the other end, it would drop off the outgoing cars there and pick up a new set of cars coming to the layout, then reverse its travels dropping off those cars and picking up any cars destined back to the original staging yard. That train would be called a "turn", right? Reckon ShipIt could do that?

And what other ways could the job be handled besides a "turn"?