My Take On Operations "Game"

[scubadude]

I have been slowly and methodically planning and re-planning my N scale layout since I joined THE Gauge in 2006. Due to the endless stream of incredible ideas and layouts on this forum, I seem to keep changing my mind about what I want or don't want to do. My first attempt at a layout was a simple 5' x 8' L-shaped loop with a small yard and one or two sidings. At the time I was not interested in realistic type operations, point - to - point, etc. But I quickly became bored with watching the train going round and round and round.......I have decided, from inspiration from Gary S. to do a three sided around the walls shelf layout with a peninsula, filling up an 11' x 11' bedroom. Benchwork is in and I will be starting a construction thread very soon.........
With that said, I have been intrigued by all the various methods of creating realistic operations. It's important to understand I know nothing of how real operations are conducted. I have been inspired by all things Brakie, and most recently FedEx13's situational modeling thread <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2909">viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2909</a><!-- l -->. I have tried to absorb everybody's ideas and thoughts and have come up with a rough plan using index cards to create switchlists as a "game" and wanted to bounce this off the experts (you know who you are)!

Knowing how operations are to be conducted on my layout is the last piece of the planning puzzle to allow me to come up with a workable trackplan. Things to consider for me are:

Single operator
Large double ended yard with traffic from east and west
Maintenance Facility
Manufacturer to industry deliveries
Industry to industry switching
Less than carloads to warehouses and team track
One or two passing sidings

I don't think I'll like car card and waybill operation. I like the idea of switchlists. Here's my concept of a random game to create switchlists for and operation session...

As a prototype, I made index cards with the situations FedEx13 described in his thread. Added more cards for pick-up and deliveries to all the planned industries. Since I will have a large yard and maintenance facility, more cards for moves just for the yard. And finally, more cards for problem situations such as breakdowns, etc along the mainline.

Here's the "game". Shuffle the deck(s) . There are 3 separate stacks of cards - one for yard operations, one for mainline operations and one for problem situations. I separated yard and mainline operations, but I guess they can be combined. At the beginning of a session, I decide how many moves I want to make and draw that many cards from the "operations" deck and maybe one or two (or more) cards from the "problem situation" deck. I then take those cards and create my switchlist, and off we go! At the end of the session, I leave those particular cards out of the deck to allow me to resume where I left off for the next session.

I hope this makes sense. I am looking to you guys to help me out and decide if this is workable. Don't hold back, if it is ridiculous, just say so. I really don't know what I'm doing and am not smart enough to take into consideration what it takes to operate a railroad. Brakie - I'm ESPECIALLY looking forward to hearing your thoughts....

[Puddlejumper]

Sounds interesting... I look forward to reading more about it... as you implement it. Sounds fairly inexpensive to try. Let us know all about your experience with it.

[Russ Bellinis]

I noticed that you mentioned "manufacturer to industry deliveries" and "industry to industry switching." Our railroads are generally so small in actual scale mileage that most moves form manufacturer to industry or industry to industry switching would actually be accomplished by truck in the real world. That doesn't mean that you can't do it on your layout, but most of your freight will either originate on your layout to be delivered to a distant location off layout, or it will originate off layout at a distant location to be delivered to the layout. The most common exception to this would be, say, a boxcars that comes in loaded to be delivered to industry "A" and is then moved as an empty to industry "B" to be loaded for another move to a distant location off layout.

[Gary S]

I agree with Russ. Incoming loads would originate "off the layout" and outgoing loads would be headed "beyond the basement" too. A newly unloaded car could be moved to another industry needing an empty, and the use of a "storage yard" could also be used as an "on-layout" destination.

Richard, other than that, I've been thinking for awhile of using a system similar to yours, except with car cards and waybills.

[scubadude]

Russ, Gary - good stuff, thank you. I think I may already have your suggestions covered. The givens list I gave you all was an attempt to give you an idea of what the operations could possibly be. The index cards I have made read - "Deliver car _________ from Interchange to _______________" Another reads "Return car _________________ from ___________________ to Interchange" I need to amend (or add more ) to note whether cars are loaded or empty. On my layout, there will be no hidden staging, so the inbound/outbound cars to or from distant lands will be stored on the appropriate Interchange track in the yard. Does that make sense?

I like the idea of making moves with empty cars from industry to industry. Dummy me would be taking them back to the yard first for classification and then taking them back out. Duh!

Last night I was playing around with it, and I decided instead of just deciding to draw a "Problem" card, I would add several "wildcards" to the operations deck and if I draw a wildcard, then I draw a problem card from the problem deck. Kind of like landing on the Chance square on a Monopoly board. Puts a little more mystery to the whole process, during an operating session, maybe I encounter a problem, maybe I don't.

Thanks for your comment, I hope for more. I need suggestions for moves within the yard, maintenance facility and sidings and industries on the layout. As you can already see, I really am diving in black water with no light!

[doctorwayne]

Richard, I would think that your mainline operations would be, in all or part, dependent on what was in the yard (and vice versa). Will your switchlists be able to account for this? I'm also assuming that if one operating session is for the yard, then the next won't be - no point in re-shuffling the cars in the yard if they're yet to be delivered to an industry. I'm planning on using car cards and waybills, but won't know the exact mechanics of it until the upper third of the layout is in place. I like your idea of "problem" cards to introduce an element of the unknown into the mix.

Wayne

[scubadude]

This is one of a million things I need to learn. One thing to keep in mind is I probably cause confusion in the way I try to describe what I am trying to do. Doc - what I envision is that after I draw a number of cards which will collectively tell me what and where the train doing and going that day, I then assign the appropriate car from the yard to do the job. Or pull the appropriate car from the mainline and it's sidings, and then write out the switchlist. Let me try to write out what I envision:

1) I decide how many moves I want to make during a particular operating session.....let's say 10
2) I then draw 10 cards from the shuffled deck.
3) If I draw a "WILDCARD",then I draw a card from the "situation" deck. The situations were taken from FedEx13's recent thread. It will be specific like "enroute to Industry B, you encounter ____________". That will tell me where in operation I have to deal with the problem.
4) I look at all the cards drawn and what rolling stock is available in the yard or out in the field to pull or spot. I decide what the best order of things will be.
5) Then I take a blank switchlist and fill in the orders from first to last, making sure I note where my problem is going to be, if I drew one.
6) I assemble the block in the yard, and off I go.....

Whatever cards I drew for this session are left out of the deck for the next session. No shuffle until I run out of cards. Or I start from zero every session and put all the cars back in the yard, shuffle the deck and start over. What I don't know at this point is if I should separate yard moves in a separate deck, such as moving cars to RIP or car shop, etc. Or should I leave them in the same deck as the mainline movements???? My planned double ended yard and maintenance facility is a going to be rather large and a focal point of the layout, so I imagine I could have a completely separate operating session just for the yard.

Hope this is making more sense, trying not to repeat myself, but I really want to hear everybody's ideas....

[shaygetz]

I like the idea, I've seen similar ones, especially in the UK forums with their fiddle yards. It appeals to me primarily because it is a simple table game-like scenario that can be done with inexperienced guests and small layouts. By using a simple forward/stop/reverse switch with a set speed, there's no room for newcomer fears as everyone runs at the same speed. My modifications for my smaller regularly operated roster---19 cars, 4 locos, 6 sidings---will include laminated cards with a picture of each piece of rolling stock, siding, locomotive and "Chance Cards". Operators draw 6 car cards and a corresponding siding to go with each car, a loco to do it with and a chance card. The chance cards will include scenarios such as timed commuter trains, hot boxes, wreck trains, derailments both minor and major and change orders...operators will draw one of these, two as experience grows. Car traffic also increases as experience grows, i.e. 9 cars instead of 6 and so on. The locomotive is drawn by chance by the first operator and used by all others throughout the night. All remaining cars currently in the sidings must remain where they were when the new car is dropped/moved.

I look forward to seeing you hammer yours out.

[Brakie]

Richard:I have been slowly and methodically planning and re-planning my N scale layout since I joined THE Gauge in 2006.
-------------------------------

I know the feeling..I have had several false starts and other design problems..I even thought about a 2x4 foot with a excellent plan submitted by one of the guys and that felled through as well.

I shall be watching your progress from the side lines and cheering you on.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Hey Richard, per your request, I went over your ideas and I came up with, yet another, idea for you. I took the liberty of using your playing card idea and "tweaked" it a bit. Then I added some of my own ideas and brought them together. Here's what I came up with:

Instead of using playing cards, use index cards instead. Index cards give you more writing space to alter or add situations. Besides, they are easy to shuffle - like a deck of cards. So, here we go:

For EACH railcar, make out at least 2 or 3 index cards. Each seperate index card will give a different situation for the same car. Make sure you shuffle your deck fully before you start. You decide how many cards (cars) to start with (pick). If you pick the same card (car), just place it back in the deck. The cards (cars) you pick become your "inbound interchange". These are the cars you will be handling during your operating session.

Let's start: You picked up your 1st index card and it belongs to a boxcar - RBOX 32085. This index card states the following:

RBOX 32085 (L) (CR) spot at Industry A, middle door. When empty return to CR.
So place this car on your inbound interchange track and pick another card.

The information here is telling your crew that you received a loaded (L) car from Conrail (CR). It's to be spotted at Industry A at middle door (situation). When car is empty it must be interchanged back to CR (situation). You have created 2 situations for this car on 1 index card. Car must be placed at a exact location and must be returned to CR when empty.

Now continue picking index cards for as many railcars as you want to handle. What you add for information is up to you. Be creative so that you keep your operators "on their toes".

Now I said to make out at least 2 or 3 index cards for each car to create different switching routines for the same car. If you keep going to the same place with the same car all the time, it could get boring. So that being said, let's create another index card for the RBOX 32085. It could read something like this:

RBOX 32085 (E) (CR) place car to RIP track for repairs per Car Department. When repaired place to storage track.

These instructions tell your crew that the "car department" found something wrong with this car (situation) and they need it placed on RIP track for repairs (situation). That's it. Maybe your Kadee is hanging low or your missing a hand brake wheel. But when car dept. repairs the car, it must be placed on storage track (situation).

See, be creative and think about your own "situations". Situations ALWAYS show that you are doing something with a railcar other than just running around a loop of track.

I hope this answers some of your questions - maybe created more. Either way, let me know. I can walk you through it. Oh yes, don't put the cards back in the deck UNTIL the cars are interchanged back to the originating carrier (CR). Keep them in your "played" pile.

[scubadude]

Steve, thanks for your reply, and your PM reply the other day. I think I am getting closer to understanding what to do. I think what I have mocked up on index cards will probably yield the same result as some of the suggestions I have received. The big difference is, I have made index cards to create a switchlist based on the industries and situations. Whereas if I read your suggestions correctly, you suggest I create the switchlist based on the possible moves each car might make to the industries and sidings. I have not made any cards specific to a car, only to industries and situations. If you look at my post above, I tried to layout how I was doing it. I think we'll end up with the same result, just from a different way. In essence, I am making up the same card as you suggest, I just left out the actual car to be used for any particular operation, thinking that Boxcar xyz could go to any number of industries. I was thinking more of assigning the cars while I wrote out the switchlist, (based on what I have availabale in the yard) instead of the cards actually being the switchlist. I also like the idea of having "WILDCARDS" which might force me to draw a situation/problem card from a separate deck....I think it will give me a little excitement dealing with the unknown, such as you suggest in your Situation Modeling thread.

So I think the final question to you all would be ...... is it better to make several cards for each car and its possible moves, or make the card specific to a move and THEN assign the car while making the switchlist?

I'm lovin' the help, please keep it coming........

[Ralph]

I vote for the latter because the idea appeals to me and is similar to ops schemes I've developed. It allows you flexibility to select any number of cars you may wish to meet the need of the industry being served. If I want to include that nicely weathered NYC boxcar on a train I can choose it if the cards ask for a boxcar. Isn't this reflective of how the prototype works? Shipping orders come in and the railroad makes decisions about how to meet them with the equipment they have available?

Ralph

[scubadude]

Thanks, Ralph, I tend to agree and am leaning towards doing it that way. Just seems to make sense to me, don't really know why.

I came across Dallas Model Works sometime ago at the suggestion of Foulrift (I think). They have a really cool function to add a Hotbox Detector to randomly signal problems with you rolling stock at various points on your layout. Click here
http://www.dallasmodelworks.com/intercha...ector.asp# and check it out. You can randomly activate the Hotbox and it will send you radio signals to identify problems with your rolling stock. Brilliant!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Talk about a random situation you can create using a detector. A simple Atlas relay case makes a great and simple wayside detector. Now......where are you going to set off the defective car? Don't forget to move it at 10 MPH. Can you make it to the yard or will it have to be placed in a customer siding? What kind of defect, hotbox or dragging equipment?

Count 'em, 7 situations created here and you haven't even made it to your destination yet.

As far as using the index cards, what ever works best for you is the best way. You can always try to do it both ways or add different situations to any car.

I hope I provided some insight about this type of modeling. Your best bet is to "pay attention" when your trackside. Look at what the railroad is "trying to do". Take those ideas home with you and put them into effect on your layout.

In any event my friend, JUST HAVE FUN!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Hey Richard, the more I read into your idea, the more interesting it gets. Instead of creating a index card(s) for each individual car, creating index cards for just certain types of cars is much easier. As stated above, rail customers just order cars, not a specific car. For example, ABC industry needs, say, 2 boxcars, so the railroad gathers 2 boxcars and puts them in the next train for that industry. The junk yard needs a gon, so the railroad brings them one, any one.

I'll try coming up with a switchlist according to these ideas. I'll let you know.