Model Railroad Club
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Garden State Central Model Railroad Club |
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| More Car Routing (2 of 4) Let us consider such a "drill" running from Wilkes-Barrie to Bethlehem, both towns with fairly large yards and engine terminals. Along the way we will pick up and set out various types of freight cars at one or more of the industrial spurs we will find. These spurs come in 2 patterns, with FACING-POINT and TRAILING-POINT switches. A Trailing-Point switch is one that we would BACK a car into, and a Facing-Point switch is one that we would PUSH a car into; to do the latter, it would be necessary to run the loco around to the rear of the train. To save time, and since there may not be a track to run around the train on near every facing-point spur, we will drill only the trailing-point spur on our way to Bethlehem, and on the way back to Wilkes-Barre later on, the facing point switches we first encounter will become trailing point switches. We start the run by considering how many cars we will deliver along the way. If we take too many at the tart, the train may become cumbersome, and may require a larger locomotive, or even more than one in order to pull the load. This may result in creating a problem with getting in and out of the spur tracks efficiently, and so not only waste time, but frustrate the crew! Tacked up upon the wall in back of Wilkes-Barre (WS) is a Switch List. This includes a track map schematic, a correlated list of industries, and also an indication of what type of freight car to be sent to each one. Where there is more than one type of car indicated, the first type is preferred. A corresponding list is in every tower, for that area. All we need now is a method or system to ensure that these cars (or others like them) will somehow get back to Wilkes-Barre, so that we (or the next guy) will have another train to operate, tomorrow or when-ever. BUT we don't want to always run the same cars in the same train to the same industries every day, as this would soon become routine, and boring. Tackling the problem one step at a time, if when we arrive at Bethlehem, with whatever cars we will pick up along the way, SUPPOSE that we DID take these cars directly back to Wilkes-Barre! Isn't this what a Through Freight is for, to move cars from one city to another? Of course! If the Bethlehem Yard Master (YM) is given a copy of the same switch lists as WS, he can send a Through Freight westbound with enough cars for WS, for the next drill back to Bethlehem to deliver. Bethlehem can send these cars to WS on any westbound train, as these cars become available. So as not to complicate matters too much, these ars will not be delivered until the next "day" or operating session, whenever that might be. |
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