Simple operating scheme: Wheel report plus switch list

[Jetrock]

In conjunction with the connection of my yard to my switching layout, I have worked out a very basic operating scheme. As mentioned before, the operations method known as "wheel reports" appealed to me, so I made up a simple matrix based on the industries I will eventually have on my layout and printed out some blank forms. Since my layout takes place within a single town, instead of listing station/town names I listed specific industries. Each industry or yard has a unique number--right now there are only five possible destinations (northbound, WP interchange, fruit-packing plant, SP interchange/team track, southbound.)

I made up about twenty wheel report forms and scribbled out some basic ideas: some "through freight" traffic (cars being shuffled from the yard directly to southbound end), some bridge traffic (cars going to and from interchange tracks), some "harvest time" trains (lots of reefers to the fruit packers and interchanges), some "state fair specials" (stock cars to and from interchanges, representing 4-H club livestock traffic), plus a few things like a three-car MOW train southbound and a fantrip using a passenger car.

Now, it would be simple enough to make use of this routine as-is, but I wanted to add a little more detail, and I happened to stumble across a Western Pacific switch-list form which gave me some ideas. It includes columns for roadname initials, number, loaded/unloaded, car type, "from" track number and "to" track number, plus a box for remarks. First I'll pull a wheel report at random, then I take it and a blank switch-list form and peruse the yard area. I jot down the numbers of the cars I need, with the number "1" for location (the yard is location #1) and if that car isn't in the yard, I'll check nearby spurs for something suitable. Once it is found, its number and location can be recorded on the switch list. Loaded/empty status can be inferred from traffic (a reefer going to the fruit-packing plant is probably full) or just guessed, but it really isn't critical, and while I can jot down contents in the "Remarks" column it's not all important, as the focus here is on car movement.

Now that I have my switch list, I can build my train and deliver it to its location. Since "south" right now is just a curve of track that goes nowhere, after I spot cars I'll probably either cassette the cars off-line (end-of-track is tangent to the edge of the layout, allowing cassette loading--both interchanges can potentially be cassette loaded as well) or just run them back to the yard.

If I still want to play, I can pull another wheel report and make out a new switch list. Using the previous switch list I can make note of loaded/unloaded status of needed cars, and act on them: if the morning shift spotted a full reefer at the fruit-packing plant and the afternoon shift's wheel report calls for a reefer to be sent to the SP interchange, I can just assume that the packing plant finished unloading and it is now time to return the empty to SP to pick up more fruit!

So it's a bit more complex than just a wheel report, but simpler than a full-blown operating technique. It's cheap (each session requires two half-sheet photocopies) and relatively simple, but hopefully engaging enough to be interesting in practice. I'm going to try it out this weekend once I get my 2-foot spacer that will attach the yard to the industrial section set up...