Sorry Joe, but it is helpful

This month's MR mag has a nice one page article on this very subject.

2 card boxes per track

Our club has 2 card boxes per track.  We also have a misc box.  Most time this seems to meet the need. 

Has for the self space, I don't think you can ever have enough in the yard.  Go large.  I am assuming you mean 4" deep. I would make it 6" deep and a few feet long.

Art 

Hmmm....

I knew something got me thinking about this!

Thanks Alan.

Art - good info. What are those 2 boxes per track used for? Working and Holding?

My main yard is 5 tracks and 9' long. I have allocated a 4"x8' shelf here.

Everybody else... show me yours!

1 per track in Yards

As a frequent YM at my club layout, I don't particularly see the need for any more than 1 box per yard track. Either the whole track is classified for a particular train or destination, or the whole track is unsorted. You shouldn't be pulling outbound cars for a train from multiple scattered tracks; that's cherry picking and not very efficient.

The exception might be if you have a separate block at the west and east (or N&S) ends of a double-ended track; then you could use a simple divider to separate the blocks, or if you do this extensively, then maybe 2 boxes for each track (1E, 1W, 2E, 2W, etc.).

An industry storage yard where loaded cars are kept as a "rolling warehouse" (Storage-in-transit) would be another exception which would take a completely different approach to operation than a classification yard. In this case you likely would be cherry picking out particular loads that have been released for movement.

What I do

I use one box per yard track.

Here's a smaller yard.

And this is a larger one. 

Although these photos don't show them, I have dividers for the tracks to help crews identify which blocks are where.

Car cards?

How did these things get started?  Why do we even need car cards when we have the actual cars sitting there? I understand waybills, wheel reports, and switching lists but never understood the concept of card cars? I recall seeing the SP crews shuffling cards around in the caboose but they were just playing cards ........DaveB

Car card boxes with wide fronts

I like the idea of the boxes with a wider front section with the label on the top.  The card boxes from MicroMark are good but having the labels on the front of the box makes seeing which box is for which track more difficult, particularly if the layout is at a lower height.  Label on top requires just a glance while labels on the front sometimes requires a stoop to see what track goes with what label.  At least this has been my experience operating on various layouts with the MicroMark boxes. 

I assume these are home made as opposed to commercially available?  Any drawbacks other than protruding a bit further into the aisle?  I plan to use this style of box.  Any hints on making them appreciated. 

Funny you should ask....

What are those 2 boxes per track used for? Working and Holding?

The yard is connect to a wye and trains can leave going east or west.  So the original design was for a east and west box for each track.  In practice, usually an entire track is dedicated to east or west.  However it is still convenient to use both boxes for each track while sorting cars. Kind of like working and holding.  Like every thing else in model railroading, you can never have to much room. 

Art 

Yards

One box per track is all that is needed in a yard.  The concepts of on spot, hold and pickup don't really have a meaning in a yard track and with yard operations.  They are associated with a station where you don't have a box for each track.

Special case...

In my 2 main yards, cars may be held on any track because they failed to clear customs.

I've decided I'll just mark such cards with a stick on flag indicating it cannot cross.

Thanks for your input everyone! This has been helpful.

How did these things get

How did these things get started?

If you take a typical car card and waybill combination, together, they have more or less the same info as a prototype waybill.  Put a CC&WB on a photocopier and copy it, cut out the little piece of pare and you have a de facto mini-waybill.

Many moons ago (1950's) a smart modeler realized that if he separated the car information from the routing/commodity information  and put them on separate pieces of paper, he could recycle them to end up with multiple varied movements without having to rewrite the waybills each time. 

As far as car cards being prototypical or not, they are definitely prototypical for a decade or two.  Back in the late 1960's thru the early 1980's railroad computers used IBM cards.  When a train arrived at a yard (or station with an agent) a card punch would spit out a car card for each car on the set out.  The yard clerk/agent would have a rack of pigeon holes with one box for each track.  The car cards would go into the box for the track it was in, in the order the cars were standing in the track.  So if the ABC12345 was on the west end of track 2 and the DEF34567 was on the east end and the box was kept east on top , then the DEF34567 would be the top car in the box and the ABC12345 would be the bottom card.

The clerk would pull a stack of cards and run it through the computer to create a list, the cars would be switched and then the clerk would "switch" the car cards, putting them into the boxes for the tracks the cars went into in the yard, making sure the E-W standing order of the cards matched the standing order of the cars in the yard.

Just like the way CC&WB works in a model yard (except for generating lists).

Alternative for modern modelers

Bill, considering the era you model, and my memory that I think your prototype is relatively low-density, have you considered generating modern paperwork instead of using car cards?  A year or so ago I set out to create a Microsoft Access application that would generate train, yard, and interchange lists identical to those used by my prototype's crews, and they've been well-received by my operators.  

There's an overview of the reports at  http://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/Operations , and I go into more detail about how they're used in conjunction with my track charts in a blog entry at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/the-iowa-interstates-west-end-12191069 .  Also, I describe how the system is used to determine motive power assignments based on tonnage at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/tonnage-ratings-12193338 .  It's really a lot of fun, because you're working with the same information as the prototype crews, so it allows operators to really immerse themselves in the illusion of being in the cab and on the ground.

Another aspect I really enjoy is that the op session setup uses Access screens that I've patterned after prototype IAIS applications, so even before an op session begins, I get to start "playing the part" and doing the work of a prototype Trainmaster.  My weighted randomization process for car routing takes the generation of car orders out of my hands.  Just as on the prototype, the computer tells me what cars our customer needs, putting me in the position of having to find the cars to fulfill those orders, and then arranging the necessary motive power and crews to move the freight, just as IAIS clerks and Trainmasters do.

I'd be happy to share this Access application if you'd like to try it out - no cost.  One of my operators was a yardmaster for BNSF, and he said my IAIS-based paperwork was very similar to what they used on his railroad, so it sounds like it might be a good fit for you as well.

Joe...

As you'll find out in my next Blog Post, (maybe tonight,) your words on other subjects have been ringing in my ears and I've made some harsh changes to my plans - but this one won't get me!

I spend my days in front of computers and I could even write my own application to manage traffic, but I don't want to. I don't want to manage paper work and I don't want to have to update the database to reflect what actually happened on the 'road'.

And plus, my wife is looking forward to running the car card side of things

But thank you as always for your suggestions, your software and lists look great!

I plan to use a modified version of the TIBS CC&WB.

Changes?

Now, you can't go posting something like that and then not even giving a hint about what's to come! 

Fair enough.  I'm a computer geek too, but I'm also a bit of a paperwork geek.  For me, doing the behind-the-scenes computer work makes it feel more like the real thing - like we're really moving freight as part of the larger rail network, and updating the computer accordingly.  When I then step into the next room and operate, it just seems to give the whole thing more of a sense of reality, to me anyway.  I know that's not for everyone though.

Making Boxes

I described mine in an earlier blog here https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/putting-up-a-front-fascia-on-the-8th-sub-12188710 .  Basically they are an MDF 1X3 with some 1/2" X 11/16" rectangular moldings, glued together.  I start by gluing the 1/2" side of a molding strip (available in my area at Lowe's) to one edge of the 1X3 and letting it dry.  I then cut lengths from it as needed to make the individual boxes, and add the dividers at that time.  I mass produce the smaller molding pieces using a stop clamped to my chop saw so they're all the same size.  I use a belt sander and orbital sander to smooth all the edges and round the corners prior to painting. 

The boxes are mounted to the fascia from behind with screws.

The protrude into the aisle only slightly more than smaller boxes like the ones from Micro Mark.  I haven't noticed any real disadvantages to them.  Because the fronts are thicker, operators are less likely to dislodge car cards by brushing against them.  Labels are less likely to be damaged since they're on top.  Operators aren't always leaning down to read labels since they're visible from above.

Mine COULD be deeper.  With large cuts of cars, the cards become too thick to fit and we put them in upside down.  That's not proven to be a serious problem as everybody is used to that now, but something to consider.

"and updating the computer accordingly"

How do you handle the stuff that's been run for fun between operating sessions or stuff you've put on the layout since the last session?  I'm more a present tense operator, I look at where everything is and then figure out where   it should go then make a switch list. I have no interest in where it went 2 or 3 sessions ago or where it will go next session. I guess it helps that most of my cars are typical and have a well defined purpose and so I always know where they should go.As for which specific cars get to come off the shelf and onto the scene I randomize it according to how I feel that day, much like coach Nelllie if I want to see it run it makes the cut. ...DaveB

Running for fun

Most customers on my prototype had short turnaround cycles, so with just a couple exceptions, anything that's spotted to a customer in one session, including cars I just spot for fun, gets pulled the next.  Running for fun between formal sessions, though, I normally just finish work that was left from the last session, or start early on what I've generated for the next one.  Typically it takes me around 2-1/2 to 3 hours to generate paperwork for a prototype day, but it takes 2-3 sessions to get through an entire day's operations, so there's always extra paperwork on hand for jobs we haven't gotten to yet.

Anything new that I've added to the layout gets put in staging until an order is generated for it.  Because all my car order generation is based on data from my prototype's car movements, some cars may not move more than once or twice in my lifetime, because their prototypes maybe only ran once in the month I model.  While that may sound boring to some, it's actually fun, because when the more unusual moves ARE generated, the associated cars are noteworthy, just like when you see unusual cars when railfanning the prototype.  I always make a point to photograph the event of them being switched.  Such unusual moves bring out the railfans, whether on the prototype or in miniature.

Same here.  I typically don't need paperwork when I'm operating solo (but I still like to use it for the realism factor), because all those years of railfanning my prototype have embedded the car routing pretty firmly in my brain.  That's a really nice thing about modeling a smaller line where the repetitive movements were more recognizable.  In some cases, the very same car appeared a couple of times in the month I model, cycling between the same orig/dest pair.

An easy trial alternative

I'm having the same issue with having to bend down to read the labels. As a trial or alternative, I placed a 1/4" square stock  of basswood under the Micro Mark boxes backs/ bottoms. 1/2" is better but depends on your aisle space.  I don't have a table saw so tried this in the meanwhile.

A strip of closed cell foam or double backed tape allows for even better cushioning against human side swipes instead of the bass wood strips. 

It allowed us to read the labels without bending over and not increasing the protrusion into the aisle much.

 The angled faces worked well, but I'm probably still going to have to go to another method eventually as I have 30"-34" aisles and may choose to leave the boxes off of the facia entirely, using under the benchwork storage drawers where the labels will also be visible from the boxes' tops.

Anyway, it's an easy fix to see if you'll get the result you're looking for without having to build new boxes right away.

Jim

Informal running

I generally use 2 move waybills.  So I bill  or turn car cards between sessions anyway.  I have blocked trains so any train going into staging gets fiddled or rebilled.  I also use "block cards", waybills with just the blocks on them that can be used on through cars.

Since before a session i go around and adjust the billing on the cars anyway, it really doesn't matter what happens to the cars between sessions, at the start of a "formal" session, I just adjust the billing where ever the car is. 

I am a big believer in making the "formal" operating sessions balanced so I normally adjust things anyway.

Thanks Rob

You jogged my memory and I recall reading that in your blog.  I'll be doing the same when I get further along on the HBR.  The toggle switch protector thread you have is also useful. 

Car cards in yards

Our club in Napa, CA has 3 boxes and it is very convenient. The center box is for holds, the boxes on either side are for pulls going either North or South. The pulls are tagged and paper clipped for which train they should be set out on the siding to be picked up by a passing train. The only other thing needed is an accurate lineup. John Colley, Sonoma, CA

Thanks Dave and Joe for explaining

what Car Cards (CC) and Way Bills (WB) are and how they're used.  As a novice railroader, there's a lot of terminology and references that have no meaning to me because I lack the experience and knowledge.  As a kid I was just happy running trains around an oval, not having a care about real world operations.