Classification Tactics

I was interested how everyone went about classifying(blocking) cars for certain locations.I usually work in Barstow so I have the advantage of having a lot of tracks for storing cars. Up until last night I was keeping one track to one destination because that's the way we do at at the model RR club. However since the number of yards now greatly outnumbers my trackspace and will continue to do so as more yards come on-line I needed to combine tracks for certain locations. I trimmed it down so now I have about a track for about 3 or destinations, all very close to each other. For example, I have Eugene and Seattle on the same track, Fresno Mojave and Bakersfield on the same track and I have LA switching locations on two tracks, 1 for Los Nietos, Watson and Dolores, ICTF and the other for Taylor, Butte and so forth.Once I bring a train in I usually give it a run over the inspection track and then bring cars that are in need of something to be washed, repaired or whatnot. I then bring it to a stop so the train is clearing all the switches that lead to certain classification tracks. I uncouple 1 car(or however many are in a block for a certain location) and send them rolling down at notch 2 lining the switches for them. Once they are away, I wait a few seconds and move on to the next car(s). Once the train has been fully classified I bring the power to engine servicing and check destination tracks to see if I have enough cars to warrent a train. I will rarely send out a train with less than 20 cars, probably won't let it get over 60 but that hasn't been an issue yet. I then bring out the road power for the train and couple it on to the set of cars and pull that forward. I basiclly reclassify the train for a second time which allows me to block the train for certain destinations.Send train out and process starts over again Chris Lee
Train Artisan

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RE: Classification Tactics, KingJPW, Dec-12-02, 05:18 PM, (1) RE: Classification Tactics, KingJPW, Dec-12-02, 05:36 PM, (3) RE: Classification Tactics, leesome1226, Dec-12-02, 06:07 PM, (5) RE: Classification Tactics, romanrails, Dec-12-02, 06:17 PM, (7) RE: Classification Tactics, pwm33, Dec-12-02, 05:27 PM, (2) RE: Classification Tactics, romanrails, Dec-12-02, 05:43 PM, (4) RE: Classification Tactics, leesome1226, Dec-12-02, 06:12 PM, (6) RE: Classification Tactics, KingJPW, Dec-12-02, 07:25 PM, (8)

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Oh my gosh, somebody is actually playing the game the way it was meant to be played! Ya know, I must admit that I do get a little lazy sometimes. Often, I bring the road power into the yard, do a little switching with it and then leave the yard with the same power. The yard master doesn't seem to mind much when I play! hahaJim

Yard Duty, The National Freight Yard Simulation - http://groups.msn.com/YardDuty

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Yea, Chris is a cheater. He drives the cars as he sorts them! I tried to challenge him to sort cars the 'manly' way by kicking them in, but you can't teach old dogs new tricks. lol Jim

Yard Duty, The National Freight Yard Simulation - http://groups.msn.com/YardDuty

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Two words, Barstow Hump.If you weren't scared before, now would be a good time Chris Lee
Train Artisan

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>Oh my gosh, somebody is actually playing the game the way it
>was meant to be played! Where's the fun in that! I like a game (like this one) that is flexible enough to allow all kinds of playing tactics. You know, sometimes you might want to be a sniper in Castle Wolfenstein, sometimes a medic. Sometimes you want to hump a train, sometimes kick it. My favorite method is the 20 MPH, no stop, instant reverse, kick method. Too bad you can't do it without an engine attached. I can clear a 60 car train out of the yard in 5 minutes like that Alan

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Are you "driving" the cars? You ought to try pushing them with the engine. No biggie, you can do it anyway you want. As long as it works and you're enjoying it, that's what's important.I've found that once I got used to the various keystrokes, pushing cars became fairly easy. I throw switches and select the car(s) with the mouse, and control the engine and uncouple with the keyboard.I'll post later on how I classify cars.Paul Metzger
NS Team
Northern Region

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Long post, sorry. That's a good question and one I had considered posting to see how everyone else does it. As things grow, it will be impossible to block a 'new' unclassified train fully for all locations. I'm not sure how the prototype does it, but I would think that they fully classify it for all stops or destinations before the next yard or classification point at the least and just generally classify, by state for instance, for further on. For example, I create a train in Jacksonville. I will classify it first by state. Then go back and seperate the Georgia, Tenn cars to their individual destinations since there is no other major yard (yet) between Jacksonville and these locations. Cars going further, like to Chicago, are only blocked by state since they can be sorted out when they get to Chicago. Same thing for cars going to California. I will seperate the mid-California cars (Barstow, Bakersfield, Fresno) from the Southern California cars(West Colton, Butte St, Dolores etc), but normally don't classify it much further than that. As far as daily operation goes, I populate (great feature Jim) Krannert, Forrestville, Jacksonville and their satellites most days, collect the cars, classify as described above then start a train out of Jacksonville headed north to Forrestville. It swaps blocks there, leaving any Forrestville, Krannert cars and picking up north bounds for Chicago and out west. If I need more cars for a train in Chicago, I populate that map or create a local coming in from the warehouse district. Then I build the westbound and eastbound trains out of Calumet (Chicago). I also try to run some dedicated hotshot intermodals to other intermodal terminals. It would be great if they got returned after you get them! Make a regularly scheduled train out of it, you know. I doubt that in the prototype that they would spend a lot of time fully classifying cars on the east coast for individual west coast destinations or vice versa. On my local prototype, Forrestville yard builds cars in just a few blocks: One to be picked up by a northbound train headed for Knoxville, TN; one for a northbound going to Chattanooga; one for a southbound going to Macon, Ga; and one for a Southbound going to Atlanta or Gainesville, Ga. At least this is what I have gathered listening in to the dispatcher on the scanner. So I doubt if they classify the cars any further at Forrrestville than to seperate for those four destinations. I think it will be great as YD and the number of yards and players grows for teams to come up with blocking guides for individual yards with regular trains to move the cars along. I am trying to get this going by posting some of the same trains each day with appropriately destined cars. BTW, it would be nice if someone out west or north could start a regular SB train headed for Jacksonville There was a great series of articles in trains magazine on yards which basically describes the concepts of car forwarding. The fully classified at first yard approach is called 'extreme anticipation' (I think) and the method of only sorting out cars at each individual yard along the way is called 'extreme deferment'. I personally like having a little work to do on a train when it comes into the yard from somewhere (someone) else. It would get a bit boring if all the work was done and all I had to do was uncouple the cars and scoot them off the map to unload. But of course, I am a freak. How do the rest of you do it?Alan

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I think it was great that you referenced to the Trains articles Alan, they are really very good articles about yards, working a hump etc. I'm pretty sure that they appeared in trains in the last year, I very might dig those out and scan them for everyone. I think it would be very benefical.I think you are correct in your saying that most yards these days do very little blocking of cars until the cars actually make it to the yard where they are to be switched off and put on locals. In essence, we are better than the pro's Chris Lee
Train Artisan

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Yes, I read that Trains article as well. I think it must have inspired me (at least subliminally) to make Yard Duty. You know, people have been reading articles like that for decades, and now there is a way for you to put those techniques into practice! It's called Yard Duty, thank you very much. Here's a nice technique that I use:
I keep at least one 'switcher' in each industy map. When I populate the map, I use the switcher to gather the cars and put them on a siding or somewhere convenient. Then, the next time I come rolling through with mainline train (which may be another day for example) I pick up the cut of cars. I think this is a fun way (and prototypical, I think) to get cars into the system.Jim

Yard Duty, The National Freight Yard Simulation - http://groups.msn.com/YardDuty

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