Questions, Answers & Tips - 3
If you are modeling contemporary passenger cars with simpli-
fied rubber-tube diaphragms, sections of heat-shrink tubing
can be measured, cut to fit, and fastened in place.
– MRH
Switch lists
Q.
My buddy wants to operate his railroad using switch lists.
Not being a railroader, this is all new to me. Where can I learn
how to use them, and what do they look like?
A.
This is kind of a loaded question. He may be talking about
using the correct real-life railroad form for the job, or he may
be talking about using a specific software program that tracks
and creates car movements. An article in the October 2013
Model Railroad Hobbyist
talked about using the JMRI programs
for operating, includ-
ing generating train lists
and routing cars. Other
commercial software for
modelers can also gener-
ate switch lists.
Let's assume he's talk-
ing about casual opera-
tions, using the switch
list (5) as a way to move
cars around. You need
some sort of a form, a
pencil, and some idea
of where the cars in a
train are to be set out,
and what cars are to be
picked up from sidings
or interchanges. Some
people use car cards and
waybills to keep track of
cars and destinations,
and the waybills will tell
you where cars are to
go. You can also skip that
step and make up a list
on the spot, based on
the cars and destinations
4
4: These Bachmann Branchline UK cars have a fixed
diaphragm at each end that allows a gap to show in the
corridor connections of passenger trains.
5
5: A blank generic switch list form can be the basis for
simplified freight train operations on a model railroad,
identifying cars in a train and their destinations. Search
via Google for “switch list” for examples.
MRH-Dec 2013
