Jeff, thanks for the prototype insights.
Sheldon
Those read Reading switch lists are pretty common for all railroads in layout. I have some CNW ones that were used for a yard check as well as to switch cars.
I also have some Rock Island ones that appear to be made out by the Engine Foremen as a report as to what they did and the time done.
Hereâs the RI ones.
Hereâs a yard report (one of many sheets) for the yard the switch engine worked.
Finally, industries can also have switch lists. Large ones, even with their own switch engine, can have instructions for the serving railroad.
This is a partial computer produced train list. Even though itâs on a switch list form.
Notice the use of station numbers for destinations. Almost all railroads use them. Some are numbers, others use a combination of letters and numbers. Itâs a Zip Code for the rails.
Jeff
Just ignore the legs. I didnât realize they showed up.
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At least you had pants on! 
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Disclaimer: diff RRs and diff territories use different terms, and do things differently, but for myself:
One on the left is what we would call a work order. That shows what industries want done (pulls/places/re-spots).
One on the right is a yard check/inventory sheet that youâd fill out when you yarded your train. (Well, you should have it filled out before). Basically shows what cars you brought back and what track (or class code) you placed them to. Then the sheet would be given to a yardmaster to update the computer. Also weâd fax a copy to the customer service people for their files. That has all been replaced with apps on the mobile devices we now carry. We move the cars in the computer world as well as the real world.
Switch lists (for us) were just a printout of a track (i.e. track 3) with cars marked where they should go in the yard.
So a yard crew would use a switch list to build a local train, that local train would then have a manifest of that train + the work order to know what to do, then when they come back they fill out the inventory sheet so everybody hopefully knows where the cars they brought back are located.
Doing the work is half the job. Knowing what you did so you know how to charge and where the cars are is the other 2/3s of it.
And Jeff has some clean jeans for a RRer.
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which image are you referring to? this one
what is a âwork orderâ?
i thought the local would have a âswitch listâ identifying where cars get dropped-off and which get picked up.
No, this one.
One on the top (with the Maryland and w. Virginia banner) is what we would call a work order. That shows what industries want done (pulls/places/re-spots).
donât they both convey the same information?
i created the MD&WV sheet with separate columns for pick-ups and drop-offs to make it easier during our op-sessions.
isnât the implied destination for a pick-up the âYardâ?
would you consider car-cards as âwork ordersâ
No.
Yeah, your pickups are destined for the yard, but which track? In what order? Thatâs what you need to keep track of so you know what order the cars will be when they leave the yard.
Car cards seem to be like waybills. We normally donât deal with the actual waybills. Those are in the computer system and allow the cars to be shown to be picked up on the work order issued to the conductor. I donât need to know the empty hopper from the fertilizer dealer is gong to Walla Walla. I just need to know itâs been released (OK for pickup), and it will be added to the block going to Memphis. From there? I really donât care.
when the local returns to the yard, doesnât the yard switcher put the cars on the appropriate track. Does the conductor of the local hand his âwork orderâ to the yard switcher or does the local crew break the return local up in the yard?
Depends. Our yard? Only if the local crew is out of time. Normally the local puts their own stuff away.
If another crew has to do it, they usually have a copy of the train printed from a AEI scanner, or the local CO can brief the relieving CO on what is where. Normally crews try to keep the trains blocked as they work. Sometimes thatâs not possible for various reasons.
Ref: Your last picture of a switch list.
In my youth a branch (PSE) of the Cotton Belt had a local that used a small yard to make up trains. As the yard was situated at the stub of a wye. It took two people to signal the engineer of movements (hand signals, no radios in 1960). One of the two relaying hand signals was the conductor who always had the switch list in hand as he signaled movement. Oh what fond memories of watching this. endmrw0420252144
who would you propose does this during a model RR op session, the local or yard operator
They can. But the form that Zug says is a âwork orderâ tells where the specific cars are to be worked, whereas the âReadingâ form simply determines a list of where cars are moved, with âFromâ and âToâ left unspecified.
One of my very least favorite forms of âentertainmentâ as a boy was âswitching problemsâ. There were actually illustrations in MR laying some of the greatest âbrain-teasersâ out for the visual learners. The âReadingâ form is perfect for that sort of thing, if it is being used in the âwork orderâ sense, as youâll have to puzzle out which drops involve facing-point switches, shoves, runarounds of part or all of the train, etc. to get all the 'fromâs âtoâ in the end using minimum fuel or timeâŚ
I thought one of the points of the switch problems was that not all the setouts might be coming from the way-freightâs origin, or all the pickups going to the way-freightâs destination â presumably yes, both being yards of some kind where the cars would be classified into departing trains or held for subsequent use. If you had an empty boxcar over at the pickle works, you shifted it over to the casket company to be loaded, while the empty string of covered hoppers at the Hostess bakery went over to the elevators or whatever.
wouldnât the From/To columns on the Reading sheet specify a specific spot at an industry?
as i said, I created the MD&WV sheet that Zug describes as a âwork orderâ, itâs no from any protptype RR. I created separate columns for drop-offs and pick-ups to make it less confusing for our inexperienced operators. (so far, we havenât the need to pick-up from one industry and drop-off a another.
I assume that âYardâ would be specified in the From column for drop-offs and in the To column for pick-ups.
Sheldon, your layout has so much rolling stock. Maybe more than a shortline RR. Are you âregisteredâ with the FRA? I agree with your âswitch listâ preference. I have no clubs nearby to enjoy operations. My brother is involved in the same. I am curious to hear his experience on the matter. Regards mike endmrw0421251009
Mike, 1000 freight cars may sound like a lot, but on a layout of this size it is at or below average actually.
I donât have some big stockpile of rolling stock that needs to be rotated on and off the layout. All the equipment will be on the layout.
I can take you to a number of layouts way larger, and/or with way more track and equipment than mine.
Sheldon
Well maybe, but for most of the layouts I have operated on the âprocessâ of an operating session is not some sort of âchallengeâ that you have to figure out the secrete answer to.
It is a âsimulationâ game with tangible game pieces that adds relevance to the model layout.
Nobody in our group tries to make the operation âhardâ on purpose. In fact I spent a good bit of time earlier in this thread explaining how I make it easier.
Greg seems determined to make it harder, or make sure it is âcorrectâ. Iâm not sure which. Since every prototype road I know anything about did all this a bit differently, Iâm not sure what âcorrectâ would look like.
Sheldon
just trying to understand the differences between the various forms
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