Transcript Implementing Operations with JMRI Operations Module

JMRI Operation Part II
More Fun with Operation
NMRA National Convention
Cleveland, OH
July 14, 2014
More Fun with Operation
JMRI Operation Part II
Getting more out of JMRI
More than Random Moves
More than “Loads” and “Empties”
Today’s Agenda
• Explore more JMRI features
– Tie to Part I
– Moving cars with a purpose
• “Custom loads”
• “Schedules”
• Multi-step material flows
– Other JMRI track types
• Yards
• Interchange/classification
• Staging
– Different types of trains
• Example RR Operations
– Birmingham Southern MRR
– Birmingham District MRR
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
Wonder
Wonderwhat’s
why
where
in
they’s
themgoing?
cars?
Charlie Getzdemderteryieu
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
Today’s Goal: Moving Cars and Loads with a Purpose
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND…
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
Things to Think About
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Running a railroad can be very complex
Operations can reflect all of this
But it doesn’t have to
You can have fun
And keep it simple…
Or make it more complex…
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Run a train
Switch cars
One at a time
And More…
What is JMRI?
• JMRI (Java Model RR Interface)
• Today’s focus is on “Operations” module
– Not about “dispatching”; does create trains
– Develops “manifests” to move cars/do work
• JMRI Ops has multiple layers of complexity
– May be your “random” car mover
– Can be your “supply chain logistics” car forwarder
– Another dimension for your model railroading fun(?)
Key Things to Do in JMRI Ops
• Build database of your RR
– Settings
– Locations
– Routes
– Cars
– Trains
– Locomotives
• This can generate lots of moves and fun
• Adding “relationships” can make more fun
End
Train
Route
Begin
Typical
JMRI Manifest
Build train at origin
There’s more
to model
railroading
operations…
Do “work” at interim locations
Than plain old
“loads &
empties”
Un-build (“terminate”)
train at Destination
The Basic Work of the Railroad is Moving Freight
HOW/WHY DO RR’S MOVE CARS?
So, trains move cars
Can JMRI Operations
with specific loads
do this for us?
for a specific purpose…
Graphic: MR, July, 1961; Nov. 1975
Yup!
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
All Locations are NOT the Same
TYPES OF LOCATIONS
Fundamental Stuff
• In JMRI a “location” is a place with track
• 4 types of “locations” in JMRI
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Spur tracks
Yard tracks
Interchange tracks
Staging tracks
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Store cars, “swap” loads
Store cars (only)
Store cars for forwarding
Store trains (only)
• We can put “conditions” on locations
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Loads
Cars
Sequences and numbers of cars
Trains
Routes
Remember “Name Every Place” on the Railroad
SET UP LOCATIONS
• “Locations”
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Amhurst “Yard”
Community Lumber
4L Jct.
Passing Siding
Twenty Five Jct.
Evergreen
• Dagget Electrical
• Evergreen Furniture
– Indy
• Getty Oil
• Iron Works
• Hegert Whsl
– Forman Foundry
– Wm’s Hardware
SB
NB
• “Locations”
– Forman Foundry
– Iron Works
– Wm’s Hardware
• Receives: bars
• Ships:
crow bars
– Wm’s Hardware
• Receives: crow bars
• Ships:
empties
Car
Move
– Iron Works
Car
Move
• Receives: billets (?)
• Ships:
bars
Car
Move
– Forman Foundry
Car
Move
• “Products” (aka “loads”)
Business -It’s All About
Relationships…
• Now we have:
– Set of three locations
• Foundry
• Iron Works
• Hardware
– Set of three loads
• Billets
• Bars
• Crow Bars
– A reason to move cars!
– A sequence to follow
• JMRI can do this!
• Let’s see how to do it…
What do we have to do next?
• Edit CARS
• Edit LOCATIONS
• Create “custom loads”
• Create a “schedule”
– Tell JMRI about loads
• Select a car type
• Define a load for that car
– Use with “schedules”
• Next step
– Pick a location
– Edit the spur track
– Add a schedule to spur
• Name the car type
• What is received?
• What is shipped?
Let’s review
some…
You may need to create “custom loads”
CREATE CUSTOM LOADS FOR CARS
Cars Needed for Work to be Done
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Make a list of locations
Assume car types for locations
Yards should serve all car types
Some locations are
– “Placeholders” for routing
– Don’t need cars
• There is no “right” answer
– Just select some cars to start
– You may fine tune/adjust later
Create Custom Load for Boxcars
Modify a location’s spur track to create a schedule
CREATE A SCHEDULE FOR A SPUR
Locations
Edit Locations
Edit Spur Track
Add Schedule
Schedule Created!
Will it Work…?
Build the Train…
It Worked!
• Let’s review…
• Created a load
– Steel Bars
– To be shipped
– Where to???
• What about billets?
– We didn’t ship them…
– They weren’t rec’d…
– OK, came yesterday…
• Start somewhere!
Things to Think About
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Spur tracks swap loads
– May start with “Empty”
– “Empty’s” become “loads” at
your plant
OR…
You could define the prior product as
a “custom load”
Spur track
– Receives prior product
– Ships “new” custom load
But remember…
Process must:
– Start somewhere
– End somewhere
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How long is your “supply chain”?
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Is the “prior product” on the layout?
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You could have an “imaginary plant”
located off the layout
– Generate prior products
– Consume newly made products
– How would you do this?
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It’s all up to your Industrial
Development Department’s creativity
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Hmmmm….
– Real factories
– Imaginary factories…
Ain’t got no
crow bars…
Modify a location’s spur track to create a schedule
CREATE A SCHEDULE FOR A SPUR
Gotta’ move
them crow bars
somewhere…
Modify a location’s spur track to create a schedule
CREATE A SCHEDULE FOR A SPUR
• Let’s review
• Forman Foundry
• Ships steel bars
• Iron Works
• Ships crow bars
• Wm’s Hardware
• Receives crow bars
What are they going to
do with the crow bars at
the Foundry?
Melt them and start over?
Lessons Learned
• All efforts to make things • Murphy’s Law at work
more specific will
increase the chance of
something going wrong!
• Each time you try a new • Check as you go!
step, run the train and
see what happens
• It may take multiple
• Your custom loads are
iterations for the desired
competing with random
effect to occur
movements
Lessons Learned
• Custom loads & schedules are powerful tools
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Use for special cases – can become complex
Building blocks for great operations scenarios
Good uses are multi-step mfg. process
Works well with offsite (imaginary) producers/consumers
Good uses are “open top” loads
May “schedule” #’s of cars
• Schedule car sequence by type of car
• Don’t necessarily have to use “custom loads”
• Let the “random” moves take care of other traffic
• You can mix the two methods
– Process oriented industries with specific materials/products
– Background warehouse or interchange traffic is not specific
Other JMRI Track Types
• Yards
– Do not swap loads
– May divide yards into parts
• Inbound
• Outbound
– May restrict tracks for car types, e.g., hoppers only
• Simplify switching (class by car type)
– May restrict load type
– May restrict railroad that serves yard
Other JMRI Track Types
• Classification/Interchange
– Special type of “yard track”
– Do not swap loads
– May restrict for:
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Load types
Car types, e.g., hoppers only
Trains/routes that setout vs. pickup
Railroad that serves track
Other JMRI Track Types
• Staging Tracks (handle “trains”)
– Assign trains to tracks
• Create “phantom” tracks w/ “# dash #” technique
– Departing track (#4-1)
– Return track (#4-2)
• Remember: train hasn’t moved till terminated
• Need “space” for the destination
– May swap loads
• Train to staging is “rest of the world”
• “Other” consuming industries are implied
– Some custom loads “leave” layout
– Empties “return” to layout
– AND – you may need to have “custom empties” too!
• Consider “continuous” staging; blocking but not “fiddling”
– What comes into staging goes back out next time
– We do block cars as required for “next run” when it is known
Putting JMRI to Work
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Birmingham Southern MRR
– Industrial theme
• Prototype industries
• Moving finished products
– Recent era - diesels
• No passenger
– Utilizes
• JMRI custom loads & empties
• JMRI Schedules
• Onsite industries
– “Relationships”
– Onsite & Offsite
• Offsite industries
– Produce items needed
– Consume items produced
• Interchange traffic (JMRI)
– Local origin/destination
– Traffic to wide world
• Classification(JMRI) in Yards
– Car types for convenience
– Offsite industries by tracks
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Birmingham District MRR
– Industrial “district” operations
• Steel mill theme
• Raw material to finished products
– Steam to early transition era
• Freight and passenger
– Utilizes
• Staging
– “Open” staging w/ engine
terminal
– “Continuous” staging
– Staging swaps loads
• “Mine to mill” logistics
– Custom loads & empties
– Schedules
– Intermediate yards
• Interchange traffic w/ 8 trunk lines
– Single track “yards”
– Traffic to wide world
• Classification
– Car types for convenience
– Operators “sort by car type”
Birmingham Southern MRR
• Craig Gardner’s short line
– Birmingham industrial area
• Prototype 76 miles in county
• Grew out of US Steel plant RR
– Onsite industries
– Doesn’t use “staging”!
• Uses lower level “offsite”
• Has two helixes (EB & WB)
– Parallel main lines
• BS & “Class I”
• Two interchange locations
– BS RR
• Captive industries
• Central “home” yard & engines
• Yard-to-point operation
– Class I RR (NS RR)
• Through trains from “offsite”
• Lower level engine terminal
• Local switching
Oak Grove
Coal Loader
Birmingham Southern MRR
HO Scale
30’ x 15’
Digitrax DCC
Birmingham Southern MRR
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN OPERATIONS
Train
Description
Departs
Visits
Primary Loads
Terminates
BS BP S1
Birminport AM switcher
Birmingport
Port / Ergon / Crockard
Asphalt
Birmingport
BS BP S2
Birmingport PM switcher
Birmingport
Port / Ergon / Crockard
Asphalt
Birmingport
BS C1
Crockard Junction turn
Fairfield
Crockard / Mulga Int.
Asphalt
Fairfield
BS ET 01
East Thomas AM turn
Fairfield
Offsite Ind.
Coal + Asphalt
Fairfield
BS ET30
East Thomas PM turn
Fairfield
Offsite Ind.
Coal + Asphalt
Fairfield
BS BP11
Fairfield / Birmingport AM turn
Fairfield
B'port / Ergon / Crockard
Coal + Asphalt
Fairfield
BS BP23
Fairfield / Birmingport PM turn
Fairfield
B'port / Ergon / Crockard
Coal + Asphalt
Fairfield
BS 19
Fairfield / Ensley EB AM local
Fairfield
Ensley & Int.
Mixed freight
Fairfield
BS 21
Fairfield / Ensley EB PM local
Fairfield
Ensley & Int.
Mixed freight
Fairfield
BS 20
Fairfield / Mulga / Ensley AM local
Fairfield
Ensley & 2 int.
Mixed freight
Fairfield
BS 31
Fairfield / Offsite / Ensley EB turn
Fairfield
Ensley + Offsite Ind.
Coal & Asphalt
Fairfield
BS SMC10
Fairfield / Steel Mill switching job
Fairfield
Steel Mill (Offsite)
Steel products
Fairfield
BS M1
Mulga / Ensley interchange train
Fairfield
2 Int.
Mixed freight
Fairfield
BS OG35
Oak Grove Mine turn
Fairfield
Oak Grove + Offsite Ind.
Coal
Fairfield
BS PM1
Powhaton Mine turn
Fairfield
Powhatan Mine / E Thomas
Coal
Fairfield
BS USS15
USS Pipe Mill switching job
Fairfield
Pipe Mill / Offsite / Ensley
Steel products
Fairfield
NS 102
Class 1 Avondale EB switching job
Offsite
Avondale / 2 Int.
Mixed freight
Offsite
NS 101
Class 1 Avondale WB switching job
Offsite
Avondale / Offsite Ind.
Mixed + Ethanol
Offsite
CE 130
Class 1 EB AM interchange train
Offsite
2 Int. + Offsite Ind.
Mixed freight
Offsite
CE 131
Class 1 EB PM interchange train
Offsite
2 Int. + Offsite Ind.
Mixed freight
Offsite
CW 120
Class 1 WB AM interchange train
Offsite
2 Int. + Offsite Ind.
Mixed freight
Offsite
CW 121
Class 1 WB PM interchange train
Offsite
2 Int. + Offsite Ind.
Mixed freight
Offsite
Birmingham Southern MRR
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN OPERATIONS
TRAIN
DESCRIPTION
DEPARTS
TERMINATES
BS ET 01
East Thomas morning turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS BP S1
Birminport morning switcher
Birmingport
Birmingport
BS 19
Fairfield / Ensley eastbound morning local
Fairfield
Fairfield
CW 120
Class 1 westbound morning interchange train
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
BS 20
Fairfield/ Mulga / Ensley morning local
Fairfield
Fairfield
TERMINATE PRIOR TRAINS
BS C1
Crockard Junction turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
NS 101
Class 1 Avondale westbound switching job
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
BS BP11
Fairfield / Birmingport morning turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS SMC10
Fairfield / Steel mill switching job
Fairfield
Fairfield
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Typical train order
for Ops Sessions
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Note “groups”
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How many trains
should be built at a
time?
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“Relationships”
TERMINATE PRIOR TRAINS
BS PM1
Powhaton Mine turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS M1
Mulga/ Ensley interchange train
Fairfield
Fairfield
CE 130
Class 1 eastbound morning interchange train
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
BS USS15
US Steel pipe mill switching job
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS ET30
East Thomas afternoon turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
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TERMINATE PRIOR TRAINS
CW 121
Class 1 westbound afternoon interchange train
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
BS BP S2
Birmingport afternnon switcher
Birmingport
Birmingport
BS OG35
Oak Grove mine turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS 31
Fairfield / Offsite / Ensley eastbound turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
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TERMINATE PRIOR TRAINS
CE 131
Class 1 eastbound afternoon interchange train
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
BS 21
Fairfield / Ensley afternoon eastbound local
Fairfield
Fairfield
BS BP23
Fairfield / Birmingport afternoon turn
Fairfield
Fairfield
NS 102
Class 1 Avondale eastbound switching job
Offsite Industries
Offsite Industries
TERMINATE PRIOR TRAINS
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Trains depend on
prior builds for cars
or loads
Complexity builds
dependency…
Prototypical…
Birmingham Southern RR
• Fairfield Yard to B’port turn
– Moves hoppers
– Inbound coal by barge
• Low sulphur in
– Outbound coal as well
• High sulphur out
– S/O empty tanks for
asphalt terminal
• Bulk asphalt in by barge
• Distribute by tank car
Birmingham Southern RR
• USS Pipe Mill Switch
• Starts “light” at FY
• Picks up at Steel Mill
– Mill is “offsite”
– P/U Coils
– P/U Pipe blanks
• Switches
– Pipe Mill “onsite”
– Local related industries
• Returns to FY
Birmingham Southern RR
• Class I Interchange
– Picks up “offsite” ind’s
– Works 2 interchanges
• Sets out for BS
• P/U’s from BS
– May do local switching
– Returns P/U’s to “offsite”
Birmingham Southern RR
Let’s lookit uh
difr’nt RR…
Birmingham District MRR
• John Stewart’s Steam Era Industrial RR
– Birmingham Steel “District”
• Iron & Steel Industries
• 8 Trunk Line RR’s + Industrials
– L&N is home road
• Others by “trackage rights”
• Six interchange locations
– Yards
• Main “staging”
• Downtown pocket yard
• Steel Works yard
– Steel theme – “mine to mill”
• Iron ore
• Coal to coke
• Limestone
– Related industries
• Scrap and iron pipe
• Cement
• Downtown industrial district
18 Miles
• Birmingham District MRR
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HO Scale
Digitrax Control
B & JMRI Ops
33’x12+’ plus 10’x14’ = 550 sf
Folded dog-bone
5 branch lines
Birmingham District Trains
• Basic train “types”
– Passenger trains
• Grade Separation project
• Staging to L&N Depot
• Head end cars
– Interchange trains
• Staging to Interchange area
• L&N includes Downtown Yard
• Connects local industry to world
– Raw Materials Trains
• More about this in Part III
• Created via JMRI tools
• Passenger Trains- from staging
– Utilizes the “Grade Separation” feature
• 1928-1933 project
• Impacted L&N/ACL depot and
platforms B
– Only running L&N trains at present
• Terminal Area Switcher required
– Utilizes separate JMRI Switchlists
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Interchange trains - Background traffic from staging
– L&N Local to Interchanges
• Cars to Downtown Yard & foreign roads
• Foreign road cars to staging
– 18 train cycle, alternate NB & SB
1. L&N Local (p/u
B from L&N, s/o to foreign)
2. Foreign road (p/u “own”, s/o to L&N)
3. Terminal Area Switcher assists
4. Downtown switcher to DT Industries
– Local Industry to/from “world” via interchange
• Raw material trains
– Mine to mill
• Downtown & Fairfield Yards
– Includes processing
B plants
• Iron ore
• Coal to coke
• Limestone
– Serves steel mill
– Affiliated industries
How d’ya run all
them trains?
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
Interchange Trains
For Ops
Session
Material Trains
Passenger Trains
Birmingham District MRR
Sequence of material
trains varies depending
on need for materials
at time of ops session
Birmingham District Operations
TRAINS
MAIN LINE TURNOUTS
CARS
LOCATIONS
Let’s move them
cars!
Graphic: MR, June, 1962
Thanks!
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Operating RR’s/Owners • Craig Gardner
– Help with
OPSIG
• Construction
Model Railroader DVD
• Digitrax
NMRA Division websites
• JMRI
– Gateway Division
• Our Ops Crews
• Nicho Young – 25 Years!
– “Operations Storyteller”
– BS MRR
– BDMRR
Questions?
www.bhamrails.info