Comment: This morning I tried creating a consist for a future run. I was curious to see what was involved if I took the switchlist produced by Ship It! for a new train and then tried to create the train from the cars that were sitting in the Jasper Yard in no particular order.

Session 1f: Create the consist for Train 700 the Distillery Row Local that will travel East from Jasper to Distillery Row and then to Prairie Dog and Queenston before arriving at Coaldale.

The locomotive was CN 1706, a GP-7 diesel, which was sitting in the Jasper Yard. I noticed that Track 3 was vacant, and would be long enough to hold the consist.

Here is a schematic of the tracks and switches in the Jasper Yard:

Step 1: pickup caboose GTW 77942 which is currently on Track 6, and set it out on Track 3.

• set SW13 closed, SW12 closed, SW11 closed, SW10 closed.
• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW13, SW12, SW11 (speed 5).
• set SW12 open, SW6 open.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW12, SW6 (speed 5) onto Track 6. Pickup caboose GTW 77942.
• Reverse CN1706 thru SW6, SW12, SW11, SW10.
• set SW11 open, SW4 closed, SW3 closed.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, SW4, SW3 (speed 3) onto Track 3. Setout caboose GTW 77942.

CN 1706 pulling caboose GTW77942 from Track 6

Step 2: pick up 2 reefer cars currently on Track 2, and set them out on Track 3.

• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW3, SW4 (speed 4).
• set SW3 open.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW4, SW3 (speed 4) onto Track 2. Pickup reefers FGEX 36742, SB 105.
• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW3, SW4, SW11, SW10.
• set SW3 closed.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW3 (speed 3) onto Track 3. Setout FGEX 36742, SB 105.

CN 1706 pushing two reefers onto Track 3

Step 3: move 3 cars currently on Track 4 to Track 2 (so I can pickup CN 242705 on Track 4).

• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW3, SW4, SW11, SW10.
• set SW12 open, SW6 closed, SW5 closed.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, SW12, SW6, SW5. Pickup boxcars CN 461010, CN 542270, CN 501407.
• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW5, SW6, SW12, S11, S10.
• set SW11 open, S3 open.
• Forward CN 1706 thru S11, S4, S3 (speed 3) onto Track 2. Setout boxcars CN 461010, CN 542270, CN 501407.

CN1706 setting out 3 boxcars on Track 2

Step 4: pick up boxcar on Track 1 and move to Track 3

• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW3, SW4, S11, S10.
• set SW11 closed
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, SW12, SW6, SW5. Pickup boxcar CN 242705.
• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW5, SW6, SW12, SW11.
• set SW11 open, S4 closed.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, SW4, SW3. Setout boxcar CN 242705.

CN1706 picking up boxcar from Track 1

Step 5: move 5 cars currently on Track 4 to Track 1 (so I can pickup PNR 1986 on Track 4)

• Reverse CN 1706 thru SW3, SW4, SW11 SW10.
• set SW12 open.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, SW12, SW6, SW5. Pickup 3 hopper cars and 2 boxcars.
• Reverse CN1706 thru S5, S6, S12, S11, S10.
• set SW11 open, SW4 open.
• Forward CN 1706 thru SW11, S4, S2. Setout 3 hopper cars and 2 boxcars on Track 1.

CN 1706 pushing 5 cars onto Track 1

Step 6: pick up boxcar PNR 1986 on Track 4 and move to Track 3. The consist for Train 700 is now complete and sitting on Track 3.

consist for Train 700 ready on Track 3

Comment:

This turned out to be a lot of fun! And everything worked perfectly. There was not one locomotive stall during the entire process, and the operating speeds while carrying out all of the switching maneuvers were very slow. I also had to really think about what to do at each step as I often had to move cars into other sidings in order to get access to the car that I wanted to add to the new train consist.