Car Management System (CMS) screen. This database includes one entry for every car on my model roster. Cars that are on the visible portion of the layout have the Track field populated, which causes them to be included in the appropriate Yard Report for that track.
I'll initially update this database with current car locations prior to my next op session, but from that point forward, my dispatcher/clerk will be updating it throughout each session as crews tie up and report pull and spot times. If that works as planned, op session setup time should be greatly reduced, as I'll just have to validate car locations. By: Joe Atkinson
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Second sample of CMS data. This shot includes several cars that have no Track data entered, meaning they're not on the visible portion of the layout. As you can see by cars such as PLMX 35600, which is off-layout, I've pre-populated other fields for local cars. This particular car always serves Tanner in Council Bluffs (Station ID = COUBLUF), and their spur only holds a single car, so Seq (the car's order on the track) would always be 1. When it eventually makes its way onto the layout and is spotted, all that has to be done to show that it's ready to be pulled again is to fill in the Track field, causing it to show up on the CBSW Yard Report. The empty will then be routed back to IHB at Blue Island (Chicago). By: Joe Atkinson
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Yard Report for road jobs, generated using the CMS data. If the value in "Block To" corresponds to the car's current location, as is the case with IAIS 9007, a MOW flat routed to the IAIS "agent" at Atlantic (AGT IAIS ATL"), it's not moved. Otherwise, the car is pulled and routed according to the Block To value, as is the case with the group of IAIS-controlled covered hoppers on Atlantic #1 and the South Siding, bound for delivery to the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City ("CIC") at Iowa City ("IOW"). These cars are destined for a huge ADM ethanol plant on the CIC at Cedar Rapids. By: Joe Atkinson
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Page 2 of the Yard Report for road jobs. This page includes the cars shown in the CMS screen above, but printed in Seq order so the report reflects the order of the cars on the Elevator track. By: Joe Atkinson
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Page 1 of the CBSW Yard Report, showing only those tracks at Council Bluffs. As the report stands currently, it prints only those tracks that have cars on them, whereas the prototype yard reports include entries for each empty track as well. It's possible to add them by simply adding dummy Car table entries for each empty track, but that just leads to a lot of wasted ink and paper, and thicker packets for my conductors to have to carry. For now, I'm leaning toward not printing the empty tracks, but it's an easy fix if I change my mind down the road.
Per the prototype, empty hazmat cars such as GATX 54465 on the McCollister Oil spur still indicate the commodity they last carried, with only the LE indicator and weight reflecting the fact that they're empty. By: Joe Atkinson
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Manually-generated IAIS Train List. This shows all cars that were in the train at the time the report was generated, and is used to indicate to crews those cars that should be set out enroute. My original plan was to automatically generate this report, but due to the amount of programming required to handle all the exceptions, and the ease with which it can be generated manually, I instead just built train list templates for my single daily eastbound and westbound trains, populating each with all possible cars and destinations based on prototype data applied to my model roster.
Once the Weighted Randomization routine (see below) generates those cars that are to move inbound from the eastern portion of the IAIS, I just update the westbound BICB train list to delete the cars that WON'T be moving, and print. The eastbound CBBI list is generated by my dispatcher/clerk based on reports from Bluffs yard switch job (CBSW) indicating how the train was blocked.
Weighted Randomization is very simple. I basically make an Excel spreadsheet row for every prototype car that moved east on my portion of the IAIS during my era, and another for all cars that moved west. I generate a random number for both the eastbound and westbound trains indicating how many cars will be in each. Then, for every car in each train, I generate a random number between 1 and the total number of prototype cars that moved in that train's direction. The random number then corresponds to one of the Excel rows, which tells me what prototype origin/destination pair I'll be replicating for that car and what corresponding model to use in doing so.
I'm building my model roster so it includes cars in the proper ratios from all 78 of the prototype origin/destination pairs in my era, plus a large fleet of covered grain hoppers to serve the layout's three elevators. Each prototype orig/dest pair has at least one corresponding model to represent it, although 11 of them remain to be built. By: Joe Atkinson
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Manually-generated IAIS Interchange Report. This report shows all cars inbound from the BNSF, CBGR, and UP at Council Bluffs. Like the train list above, I've created an interchange report template that includes all cars that could move from each interchange and their destinations. That template is then just pared down once the Weighted Randomization routine determines what should move. By: Joe Atkinson
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I learned how to create drop-down fields in Access and thought this would be a helpful way to guide my dispatcher/clerk when entering or updating Car records. This example shows a few of the values in the new "Track" drop-down. By: Joe Atkinson
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New "Station" drop-down. I also added drop-downs for destination station ID (e.g. "COB" for Council Bluffs, "BLU" for Blue Island, etc.) and Kind (AKA car type, e.g. "C" for covered hopper, "E" for equipped gondola, etc.). By: Joe Atkinson
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More changes to the CMS screen. I obtained a screen shot from the IAIS's IBM-based computer system and decided to pattern my CMS screen after that. Much more utilitarian than what I'd originally designed, but hopefully it gives a more authentic feel. By: Joe Atkinson
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Car Management System (CMS) screen. This database includes one entry for every car on my model roster. Cars that are on the visible portion of the layout have the Track field populated, which causes them to be included in the appropriate Yard Report for that track.
I'll initially update this database with current car locations prior to my next op session, but from that point forward, my dispatcher/clerk will be updating it throughout each session as crews tie up and report pull and spot times. If that works as planned, op session setup time should be greatly reduced, as I'll just have to validate car locations.
Second sample of CMS data. This shot includes several cars that have no Track data entered, meaning they're not on the visible portion of the layout. As you can see by cars such as PLMX 35600, which is off-layout, I've pre-populated other fields for local cars. This particular car always serves Tanner in Council Bluffs (Station ID = COUBLUF), and their spur only holds a single car, so Seq (the car's order on the track) would always be 1. When it eventually makes its way onto the layout and is spotted, all that has to be done to show that it's ready to be pulled again is to fill in the Track field, causing it to show up on the CBSW Yard Report. The empty will then be routed back to IHB at Blue Island (Chicago).
Yard Report for road jobs, generated using the CMS data. If the value in "Block To" corresponds to the car's current location, as is the case with IAIS 9007, a MOW flat routed to the IAIS "agent" at Atlantic (AGT IAIS ATL"), it's not moved. Otherwise, the car is pulled and routed according to the Block To value, as is the case with the group of IAIS-controlled covered hoppers on Atlantic #1 and the South Siding, bound for delivery to the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City ("CIC") at Iowa City ("IOW"). These cars are destined for a huge ADM ethanol plant on the CIC at Cedar Rapids.
Page 2 of the Yard Report for road jobs. This page includes the cars shown in the CMS screen above, but printed in Seq order so the report reflects the order of the cars on the Elevator track.
Page 1 of the CBSW Yard Report, showing only those tracks at Council Bluffs. As the report stands currently, it prints only those tracks that have cars on them, whereas the prototype yard reports include entries for each empty track as well. It's possible to add them by simply adding dummy Car table entries for each empty track, but that just leads to a lot of wasted ink and paper, and thicker packets for my conductors to have to carry. For now, I'm leaning toward not printing the empty tracks, but it's an easy fix if I change my mind down the road.
Per the prototype, empty hazmat cars such as GATX 54465 on the McCollister Oil spur still indicate the commodity they last carried, with only the LE indicator and weight reflecting the fact that they're empty.
Manually-generated IAIS Train List. This shows all cars that were in the train at the time the report was generated, and is used to indicate to crews those cars that should be set out enroute. My original plan was to automatically generate this report, but due to the amount of programming required to handle all the exceptions, and the ease with which it can be generated manually, I instead just built train list templates for my single daily eastbound and westbound trains, populating each with all possible cars and destinations based on prototype data applied to my model roster.
Once the Weighted Randomization routine (see below) generates those cars that are to move inbound from the eastern portion of the IAIS, I just update the westbound BICB train list to delete the cars that WON'T be moving, and print. The eastbound CBBI list is generated by my dispatcher/clerk based on reports from Bluffs yard switch job (CBSW) indicating how the train was blocked.
Weighted Randomization is very simple. I basically make an Excel spreadsheet row for every prototype car that moved east on my portion of the IAIS during my era, and another for all cars that moved west. I generate a random number for both the eastbound and westbound trains indicating how many cars will be in each. Then, for every car in each train, I generate a random number between 1 and the total number of prototype cars that moved in that train's direction. The random number then corresponds to one of the Excel rows, which tells me what prototype origin/destination pair I'll be replicating for that car and what corresponding model to use in doing so.
I'm building my model roster so it includes cars in the proper ratios from all 78 of the prototype origin/destination pairs in my era, plus a large fleet of covered grain hoppers to serve the layout's three elevators. Each prototype orig/dest pair has at least one corresponding model to represent it, although 11 of them remain to be built.
Manually-generated IAIS Interchange Report. This report shows all cars inbound from the BNSF, CBGR, and UP at Council Bluffs. Like the train list above, I've created an interchange report template that includes all cars that could move from each interchange and their destinations. That template is then just pared down once the Weighted Randomization routine determines what should move.
I learned how to create drop-down fields in Access and thought this would be a helpful way to guide my dispatcher/clerk when entering or updating Car records. This example shows a few of the values in the new "Track" drop-down.
New "Station" drop-down. I also added drop-downs for destination station ID (e.g. "COB" for Council Bluffs, "BLU" for Blue Island, etc.) and Kind (AKA car type, e.g. "C" for covered hopper, "E" for equipped gondola, etc.).
More changes to the CMS screen. I obtained a screen shot from the IAIS's IBM-based computer system and decided to pattern my CMS screen after that. Much more utilitarian than what I'd originally designed, but hopefully it gives a more authentic feel.
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