You're probably thinking of a switch contest game invented by John Allen called the Timesaver.

There is little info about this on my website.

Charlie

Here is the link that you want. It has the design and what you need.

http://www.gdlines.com/Timesaver.html

It is a blast !!!!!!

Charlie/Nick - This is exactly what I was looking for......Thanks very much.

Now my challenge is to try and fit this into a N-Scale T-Trak Module, using the Unofficial T-Trak concept.

Bob to let you know it has been said that only a novis that knows nothing about building a yard would add the Timesaver to a model railroad. It was designed by John Allen to frustrate his friends during operation sessions while they were waiting their turn on the G&D and not as something you should attach to any model railroad.

It's a Game as is.

Dan

You might be right, Dan, but I had it in one of my layouts as an "industrial Park" and it worked beautifully. It was a nice challenged every once in a while. At least I enjoyed it. In matter of fact I am planning to do a module in O Standard Gauge using the "Timesaver" plans in our On30 club layout.

Agree with Nick.  So it's origines comes from a game. So what.   So it gets  included in a track plan. Go for it.  No great harm will come of it. If you grow  tired of it, tare it out.  Better this than a rollout table that comes out once every three months on nights of bordom.     

It can be a trap, tongue in cheek, for the unsuspecting novice at the OP SES or a conversation piece when friends come over that do not have a clue what all this " playing with trains "  is about.   Beats having to explain " operating session " to them.   Have the main really run thru it to put some pressure on the switcher/Eng.

Just be forward that there is more to this that meets the eye. The  layout plan is precise as to hamper or permit  moves and not simply layed out on a whim. 

Call it Allentown,  and let the hair pulling begin.

Marc Fournier, Quebec

The town of Jallen on the 1st, 2nd and (temporarily on the) 3rd BC&SJ layouts was a timesaver. I put it at the end of a branchline.

The timesaver was designed to create nasty switching puzzles. The standard setup was 5 cars and one loco. The goal? To move the cars from a starting position to a final position as quickly as possible. Quickly does NOT mean running at slot car speeds - the original timesaver had a built in throttle with a 3 position speed swith - forward, stop, reverse - there was NO speed control other than that.

I found (or rather Joe Fugate found) during an op session that I needed to be very careful the number of cars going to Jallen, plus the number already there did not exceed a limit (the exact number escapes me at the moment since its now been close to 5 years since the timesaver / Jallen got disconnected and replaced by "real" track in Redland on my 3rd (and current) BC&SJ.

If you have the timesaver on a mainline going through it I suppose the number of cars it could handle would be higher. But, since the timesaver calls for wye turnouts at both ends of it's run around, that would make it a bit odd for a 'town' on the mainline.  Straight leg turnouts would make more sense.  Also, 2 of the 5 spurs on which cars could be spotted were what would become the mainline making the switch puzzle less intense (not a bad idea unless you really like switching puzzles).

Anyway, some folks will say the track arrangement in a timesave is unprototypical because of the switchback. It's true that most railroads went out of their way to avoid switchbacks to industries, but in very tight quarters they would do whatever it took to get track to a customer's loading dock.

Bottom line, if want to try it, go ahead. And if later on you find you don't like it can always come out or get rearranged. We do control both the vertical and the horizontal on our railroads.

If you really are into switching puzzles, check out how to switch Oakhill on my current BC&SJ. There are 3 spurs, a wye, and a passing siding. BUT crews are expected to switch the 3 spurs without using the mainline which means all runaround moves need to use the wye.  Good crews can do it. Can you see how to get it done? Check here for the Oakhill Turn's switching moves.

Cheers,

Charlie

Anyway, some folks will say the track arrangement in a timesave is unprototypical because of the switchback. It's true that most railroads went out of their way to avoid switchbacks to industries, but in very tight quarters they would do whatever it took to get track to a customer's loading dock.

In New England there are a surprising number of switchbacks to serve industries and mills along rivers. For instance, the paper mills in Ryegate and Gilman VT (both now closed) both were reached via switchback so the rail could reach the lower elevation of the river-bank mill. I used to see them as unprototypical but the need to no only fit in a space but to achive the correct height makes them more common then expected..

Chris

Chris,

Is the reason for the surprising number switchbacks in your area because the industries and mills were there before the railroads, hence the height differential?

In areas of the country developed along with the railroads, industry was located to facilitate rail connections.  This is certainly true here in California, where many of the cities and towns where sited by the progressing railroads.

Prototype switchbacks often deal with an elevation difference and only rarely are there industries located on both "wings" of the switchback.

Gimmicky model switchbacks (like the original cramped Timesaver, in my unfavorable opinion) often create situations where you must empty one industry spot to switch another (or are just moving an empty slot around as on the Timesaver). Virtually unheard-of on the real thing.

There are many ways to add operating interest and challenge without resorting to gimmicks, IMHO. But to each his or her own.