Not a stupid question at all! Train movement on the C&W is governed by TT&TO but car movement is governed by label-on-car. The "blue things" on the cars tell the crews where each car is bound. I just grabbed cars in the yard for this shot because blue labels signify the cars are to go East to Cranbrook and this train is headed westbound in the photo. As the layout is N scale, and I use 13' track-to-track spacing, reading car numbers is not practical. I also don't like carrying car cards even if they use photos. Hence I have settled on a variant of what other N scale modelers in my area use: label-on-car. Over the next two years I will be trying to design out the label mechanism, possibly to some kind of switch list/wheel report which is included on the train instructions given to each operator when they pick up their train. thx for asking! md
