It's only on the Mac but it is free, took me a few hours to set up and master it although still tweaking with it
Dale, Nice! I thought about using the MM starter set... just wasn't just if I would like it? I like the dice thing! Think I might "barrow" it for my bad order cars. Thinking that 2, 7, 11, 12 could be bad order, and anything else means clean bill of health. That way roughly 1/3 of the time(statically, but maybe not in reality) I would have to set out a car! Now to figure out how to decide which car is bad ordered... probably will also use dice, just not sure how! JMS
John, I made 2 one inch square pieces of wood dice. I marked each side for a different car. B- box, T- tank, Go- gondola, F, GH- grain, CS- coil steel and S which is a special car. Each dice had all except the S and CS, both of those were on one or the other. A special car could be a center-beam flat, a plywood car or something that didn't fit with the other designations. I roll the pair 3 times and that is what is coming into the port, I have to use a lot of selective compression on the layout. I then pull the cars from the shelf and get the car cards that go with them, the way bills tell me where they are to go. I'll then roll 3 more times to make up the out bound cars for the session. If I do not have a car on the layout that I roll, I roll for that one again. So far it seems to be. Working. The crew will work at spotting the new cars while also pulling the outbound cars. A ops session usual takes around an hour or so. Rolling for a bad order could work the same way for sure. Thanks,
That's such a cool idea! I'm just getting started in the operations aspect. Until now I was just satisfied with scenery and putting trains together and running them for the visual enjoyment. Now I'm more interested in trying operations. My branch line layout is true to its prototype as far as the number of spur tracks, a junction and a wye. This dice method might help me stage some pickups and drop offs. Thanks for explaining that!
I do write up a switch list for moving cars. I found a copy on line of an old Santa Fe switch list and made one for the POC from it. I'll get some pictures of things over the weekend and post them. Glad you guys like my ideas, feel free to use them!
Do you write up an actual order of industries that need to be switched? Just curious... as I give the crew two stacks... one of cars that need to be spotted, and the other of cars that need to be picked up. I let the crew figure out the best way to switch. Sometimes it goes great! Sometimes it all falls apart! LOL! JMS
I need to try and do something like this, It would make the locals much more interesting to run. I just dont know where to start.
As promised gents, the "Official" POC Railroad switch list form. The new edition and the old 2014 edition. You can make them with Word or some other program. Enjoy!
I don't put them I an order to be switched, I let the switch crew do that. I just write them down so I don't have to thumb through the car cards as I go. It's all there in one spot to read.
Nice! I let them switch their own way too. The only issues the crews have is when I send a loaded or empty coal train around the layout. Then they either have to "clear up", "wait" or switch another industry(if possible). JMS
You could make that part of your train orders for operations, they have to be clear of the main at a certain time for a priority train to pass.
I took a little break from operations this weekend since it was 100 plus and the garage wasn't much better. I decided to build some. We now have the start for our steel fabrication industry , Word Industries. The building is kit-bashed from the Micro Engineering Shops kit, the bridge crane is Walthers.
Nice work! I like the way you have set up the building as a background with the crane coming over the tracks! Do you mine if I steal this set up? LOL! JMS
