Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 5 – Downloads)

In my last post – Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 4 – Setting Up) – I promised you a set of downloads for the operation of a layout similar to Aaron Riley’s Metra Layout. Here they are.

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Notes on the downloads

The downloads I’ve provided allow you to begin operating a passenger running depot layout, like Aaron Riley’s, using locomotive, passenger car and situation cards. We’ve been working toward this over the previous four posts. Now it’s time to download and get printing.

1 – Word Files

The passenger car and locomotive cards are in MS Word (*.docx) format. I’ve used the document header and footer to add two texts:

1. “<Name of Your RR>”, and
2. “Railroad Footer Here”

Both of these can be modified or deleted by double-clicking on the text. Then over-typing with the name of your layout or railroad, and a form footer text if you so desire.

2 – Excel File (database)

The database file is a multitab Excel file  (*.xlsx).

All you need to do is remove my test data and input your own into the spreadsheet.

3 – Creating the cards

You have options here. You can:

1. print a bunch of blank passenger car and locomotive cards, and hand-write or type in (if you own a typewriter) the details.
2. link to the supplied MS Excel file, or one of your own, and
   • from within MS Word, add the specific spreadsheet tab as a data source,
   • add the merge fields in the spaces provided on the cards (the names on the cards are the same as the merge field name for simplicity), and
   • complete a mail merge, and
     • export to a new document, save it as a PDF and print to Index Cards, or
     • Print directly to an installed PDF printer (such as Bullzip for Windows).

How you proceed will depend on what you have available to you.

Please note that if you are using software other than the MS products mentioned I have no idea how they work, but I assume they are similar in set-up.

4 – Situation Cards

I’ve pre-printed the situation cards for you in PDF format to standard 3.5″ x 5″ index cards.

In my tests they’ve printed perfectly on my printer (a black and white Fuki Xerox laser) without issue. My printer will not duplex print the index cards, which is a pain, but something I can live with.

Some legalese I have to mention

1 – No Warranty implied

1. These MS Word and Excel files are provided “as is”.
2. No support is offered, nor is any warranty implied by providing them to you.

2 – Ownership

1. Word and Excel Files
   • The content and design of the word files are released openly.
   • The spreadsheet similarly is provided openly.
   • No copyright is implied, although attribution would be nice if you modify and share the files
2. Situation Card PDFs
   • The content of the situation cards are copyright Ian Andrew Martin © 2021
   • You are granted a personal use license to use for personal use only
   • They may not be reproduced for sale, whether whole or in part without entering into an arrangement with me, their author.

3 – File Safety

1. All files were virus-free when uploaded.
2. I strongly urge you to run local checks after download to make sure that they still are.
3. Please note that I take no responsibility for loss or damage to your system from downloading the files provided. You should be running the appropriate AV software and you should check the individual files with that software before opening the files locally on your PC.

The download

I tried creating a single ZIP file, but WordPress doesn’t allow that. So instead I’ve added individual file links for you to download.

1. Andrew’s HVL Passenger & Locomotive Card Database
2. Index Card (3×5 inch)_Locomotive Card_Andrew Martin_Published (V 1.0)
3. Index Card (3×5 inch)_Passenger Car Card_Andrew Martin_Published (V 1.0)
4. Index Card (3×5 inch)_Situation Card_Andrew Martin_Published (V 1.0)

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In the next post

Next time, before we dive into playing the game, I need to make sure I’ve not proceeded on assumed knowledge. That is, something I know, and think you know. So I’ll be discussing how things work where I am from a higher level operations point of view.

I’ll be covering the service patterns, (morning run-out, morning peak, inter-peak, afternoon peak, evening, evening run-in, and overnight services) and how these patterns affect operations for operations staff (drivers, conductors, etc) and on the maintenance side (mechanics, etc.). Once you understand this I think the situation cards and the overall game-play will make a lot more sense. And most importantly we’ll be working from the same understanding.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far, I know I have. Till the next post.

Andrew

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Resources

This series so far:

• Aaron Riley’s Metra Service Centre Layout
• Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 1)
• Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 2)
• Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 3 – Game Theory)
• Operations on a Maintenance Centre Layout (Part 4 – Setting Up)

Staying in Contact

Interested in keeping in touch or discussing posts, pages and ideas?  You can do that in several ways by:

• • Commenting on this post (I read and answer each one)
  • Sending me a note using our About page (email)
  • Connecting with us on Facebook at Andrew’s Trains

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