02-28-2012, 11:02 AM
ShipIt! seems to wind up frustrating many users. I tried it and didn't like it. For what it's worth, I've used two other computer switchlist generators, which may or may not be satisfactory to someone with professional rail background. Minirail at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.minirail.com/">http://www.minirail.com/</a><!-- m --> has a free demo for download that can give you a good idea if it will do what you want with a small trial configuration. I find it's well-suited for small layouts. The last version I used did require you to run all trains, though.
RailOp <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.railop.com/">http://www.railop.com/</a><!-- m --> is more elaborate and allows you to set up any number of jobs for different shifts and run them as you please. It's more flexible for use on larger layouts and does things like let you take a bad order car out of a train and keep on running. On the other hand, I've found that the current owner is difficult to deal with.
There's a free program for the Mac if you're a Mac user, but I'm not, so I haven't tried it. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/switchlist.html">http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/switchlist.html</a><!-- m -->
For whatever reason, computer switchlists have been a niche area that hasn't caught on, and most guys still seem to like some version of car cards. The difficulties of car cards, in my experience, include a lot of work in setup (an awful lot of work if you have hundreds of cars on an existing layout), the awkwardness of handling a deck of cards in operation, and the need for all those pockets and stuff on the side of the layout.
When you consider how computers have caught on in other areas of the hobby, like on line shopping and forums, I'm a little puzzled that operations haven't kept pace.
RailOp <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.railop.com/">http://www.railop.com/</a><!-- m --> is more elaborate and allows you to set up any number of jobs for different shifts and run them as you please. It's more flexible for use on larger layouts and does things like let you take a bad order car out of a train and keep on running. On the other hand, I've found that the current owner is difficult to deal with.
There's a free program for the Mac if you're a Mac user, but I'm not, so I haven't tried it. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/switchlist.html">http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/switchlist.html</a><!-- m -->
For whatever reason, computer switchlists have been a niche area that hasn't caught on, and most guys still seem to like some version of car cards. The difficulties of car cards, in my experience, include a lot of work in setup (an awful lot of work if you have hundreds of cars on an existing layout), the awkwardness of handling a deck of cards in operation, and the need for all those pockets and stuff on the side of the layout.
When you consider how computers have caught on in other areas of the hobby, like on line shopping and forums, I'm a little puzzled that operations haven't kept pace.