Wheel reports for easy operation

[Jetrock]

In my quest for a simple operating scheme to try while I'm getting ready to whomp up a bunch of car cards, I found an article in the May 1984 MR about an operation technique called "wheel reports."

It's pretty simple. Each wheel report is based on a sheet with rows indicating switcing locations, and columns indicating types of cars.

Rather than being based on specific cars, a wheel report indicates only that a number of cars is needed at a specified location. It looks kind of like this (very simplified):


Car type-> Boxcar Reefer Tank car Gondola Hopper
Location____
Freight house 2
Packing plant 1 1
Oil refinery 2
Interchange 2 2
Junkyard 1

Starting out at your yard, trains are blocked in order of destination--the first destination, a freight house, gets two boxcars. The ease comes from the fact that it doesn't matter WHICH boxcars--just select any two! You'll know which order they are in based on where they are in the train. The last car in this train (ahead of the caboose, of course) is a hopper, going to the junkyard.

Out on the mainline, one car is picked up for each one dropped off. This keeps traffic flowing back & forth and prevents over-filling sidings.

Wheel report sheets would be pretty easy to make up using an Excel spreadsheet. Simply make up a dozen or so car cards, and grab one at the start of a session. Make up your train from available cars in your yard, and hit the mainline. The article mentions that one of its strengths is its flexibility--veteran operators who want to switch a lot can choose deliberately difficult combinations, while new operators who don't want to bother can just run on through if they want, switching where they'd like to without feeling pressured to do so.

I'll have to make up some of these forms and give them a try once my yard is connected to my switching area--it seems like a nice way to try operations without too much complexity or prep time.

The article goes into more detail, of course, but I think that this covers the basic idea...I'm intrigued!

[Jetrock]

hmmm....well, my handy-dandy chart got a little mangled, but the basic idea is hopefully clear...

[ClinchValleySD40]

Yes it is clear. I've operated on a layout that uses this and it does work. And is very simple.
Another guy in our group even has it simpler. When yard makes up a local switcher train, they have a list of what cars are needed. Say 2 boxes, 3 flats, 2 gons, etc. When you get to a town, you just swap one for one. There is no paperwork involved (other than the list the yardmaster has). About as simple as it gets.

[BRAKIE]

Sounds good..But,on my switching layouts some industries require more then on type of car.These cars will need two or more different spots.Look at Pillsbury.They receive cars of corn syrup,corn starch,flower,cardboard boxes and sugar.You see for me its not that simple of swapping one car for one car as all cars may not be unloaded and ready for pickup.[:0] [banghead]

[Jetrock]

BRAKIE: But it is! One can assume that each train is on a different day--yesterday's boxcars of cardboard boxes and sugar can be swapped out for today's tank car of corn syrup and a hopper of wheat. For industries that use more than one type of car, just indicate some of those types of cars on the industry's row. The mangled sample only used single types of cars--but, while one industry might just need 3 boxcars, another might need 1 tank car, 1 reefer and 1 boxcar. By using the "take out as many as you're putting in" method one maintains traffic flow--and if, say, there is only one car on that siding and you're spotting two, just take the one. They don't HAVE to be the same number of cars--it's just simpler that way. Obviously the maximum number for each siding would be that siding's maximum capacity--or you could make a note of it and run it as an extra, if you really wanted to.

[cwclark]

my system is a bit more complex...each one of my rolling stock units is assigned a destination and a "return to yard track #" and it's placed on an index card...there are 4 or 5 index cards for each piece of rolling stock so that the same car doesn't go to the same place everytime. Now i shuffle the cards and pull out about 25 cards and make a train from the list and then put them out at the various layout destinations, the secret is to keep the piles separated so that you know which trains are "in the yard" or "out of the yard"..the rolling stock falls into three catagories...1 "in the yard" pile, 2 "out of the yard" pile, and of course 3 the "in repair" pile...it's not fool proof, but it works quite well because then each individual piece of rolling stock is used according to the luck of the draw when it's time to make a new train and it's prototypical because you actually have to find the car number in the yard just like they do on real railroads...

[ClinchValleySD40]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

Sounds good..But,on my switching layouts some industries require more then on type of car.These cars will need two or more different spots.Look at Pillsbury.They receive cars of corn syrup,corn starch,flower,cardboard boxes and sugar.You see for me its not that simple of swapping one car for one car as all cars may not be unloaded and ready for pickup.[:0] [banghead]

It works. If an industry has spots for 2 tanks, 3 boxes and a covered hopper that is what is swapped, spot for spot. If you want some cars to stay until next session, you just don't send that many cars. Say you only send 1 tank, then 2 of them there stay.

It's really really simple way to do things.