Using ShipIt for Operations

[jbroadglide]

Anyone here use ShipIt for their operations? I have been using it for sometime but have run into a snag that I need some advice on. If anyone is familiar with that program could you contact me so I can discuss my question? I did pose the question to their Yahoo group but so far no response.
Thanks

[Bober]

What's your problem? There are a bunch of guys here in Boise that use ship it and love it! I can relay your question.

[jbroadglide]

Thanks Bruce. I have a 5 track stub yard and an interchange track that goes to "offline" industries. I have 2 locals, a daytime local and an evening local. I am trying to figure out how to create a yard job train who's sole function is to build a train for the local. Right now local 101 starts at Harmomn Yard which is my sole yard and the first items on the switch list have that train pulling all the cars from the various yard tracks to build his train that he is going to take into the two towns to spot. I want the yard job to be able to run to the interchange track to drop off what the locals bring in and pick up what the "interchange" has moved there to be delivered onsite. Then bring it all back to the classification yard and sort the cars to be delivered.
Someone on the ShipIt Yahoo group was suggesting creating additional divisions and multiple interchanges and such. This is a 2'x11 foot switching layout with two towns plus a 2' x 7' yard. I have one division. I don't think I need any more divisions or interchanges so I am thinking there has to be a better way.

[bparrish]

Well OK....

I've used ship it for a number of years and have written operations for several railroads in the valley here. I try to stay away from interchanges and divisions as there are ways to make the program run well without it. If you insist on having divisions and interchanges the system is real unforgiving as to how you organize it and which division the transfer point is located. It really knots up if this is not set up correctly. The most common failure is empties that cannot find their way home. I am not the one to talk to about such things.

Ship it will not establish a locomotive in a marshaling yard to build the trains. You must have your various operators do this or pre set them before an operating session. If you set a train schedule with only one yard and no place to go..... Ship it will do nothing with it.

I can help you with your question however.

You can get a train to do that if..................

You create your 5 track yard as a separate town that ships all manner of stuff to the receiving location. If you don't tell other trains to go to your off site yard and establish only one or another transfer local to do that ... then ship it will in fact bring goods onto your railroad in this fashion. You can set it up two towns that only one train goes back and forth within. Ship it will not send a train to a place unless it is on the scheduled route. From your on site location then ship it will hand off the cars to appropriate trains to get the loads to their destinations.

A secret not in the instruction book. Even if you have no separate divisions and you have one large division called "Main"... go to the interchange pulldown and fill in the appropriate lines. Put in Main twice in the top two lines. Then near the bottom of the pull down it asks for the transfer location. Tell it what you want and it will pass the cars off at that location. Magic ! ! ! !

Example A = off site yard (give it a name)
B = on site (give it a name)
C-D-E-F - all other towns with distinct names

Set your schedules for a train to do nothing but A B A B A all day long
Set schedules for other trains from: B to C B to D B to E B to F and so on.

This can work without divisions or interchanges. Set up everything as an industry in the various towns. Even the off side is a town AND an industry.

Otta work

see ya
Bob

[Bober]

Hi,
I got this response from Joel Slagg about your problem. Bob Parrish is also one of our local experts. See his previous post.

I believe that in Ship-It, interchange tracks only operate between divisions. I have a somewhat similar situation to the one described in the question, involving the interchange track at Rome on my layout. I had to put the town of Rome and all of its industries (except the interchange track) in a separate division. The interchange track is in the main division along with all the rest of the railroad. Mainline trains do not switch Rome, but they do switch Rome Interchange.

I set up two switch jobs which I call the 1st Rome Switcher and the 2nd Rome Switcher. The first one is scheduled to run before any mainline trains get to Rome. It runs from Rome to Rome Interchange and back, and its function is to move cars from the industries to the interchange track for later pickup by mainline trains. The second switch job also runs from Rome to Rome Interchange and back, and it is scheduled after all mainline trains have passed through Rome. It distributes cars from the interchange to the industries at Rome, and also frequently respots cars from one industry to another at Rome.

Once I figured out that it was necessary to have two divisions to make the interchange work, this was all quite easy to set up and it's working very well for me.

Hope this helps,
Joel

[jbroadglide]

Thanks for all the tips and ideas guys. I am still fidgeting with it and may just handle the yard job manually rather than letting ShipIt try and configure it. It may be easier in the long run.