Train shunting puzzles, also often called railway shunting puzzles or railroad switching puzzles, are a type of puzzle.
Shunting puzzles usually consist of a specific track layout, a set of initial conditions (typically the starting place of each item of rolling stock), a defined goal (the finishing place of each rolling stock item), and rules which must be obeyed while performing the shunting operations.
There are often constraints such as making the minimum number of couplings and uncouplings, or making the minimum number of junction direction changes, or completing the puzzle within a specified time limit.
Other important factors may include the lengths of tracks limiting the number of rolling stock vehicles which can be placed along them. Some shunting puzzles allow certain types of rolling stock to navigate a particular section of track but not other types of rolling stock, for example a locomotive might not be allowed to pass below a low bridge whereas wagons are allowed, or a particularly heavy wagon might not be allowed across a weak bridge, or a particularly tall wagon might not be allowed to pass through a tunnel.
Some train shunting puzzles have been developed as add-ons for railway simulator computer programs such as Auran's Trainz and Microsoft Train Simulator.
Shunting puzzles tend to fall into the following categories, but this list is not intended to be exhaustive:
Two of the best known model railway train shunting puzzles are:
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A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars onto one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill. From there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ladder onto the classification tracks. Larger yards tend to put the lead on an artificially built hill called a hump to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder.
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been brought in, and generally moving railroad cars around – a process usually known as switching (USA) or shunting (UK). They do this in classification yards. Switchers may also make short transfer runs and even be the only motive power on branch lines and switching and terminal railroads. The term can also be used to describe the workers operating these engines or engaged in directing shunting operations.
In railroad structures, and rail terminology, a wye or triangular junction is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch at each corner connecting to each incoming line. A turning wye is a specific case.
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term railroad and the international term railway is the most significant difference in rail terminology. There are also others, due to the parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world.
A railfan, rail buff or train buff ; railway enthusiast or railway buff ; trainspotter, ferroequinologist or anorak is a person interested, recreationally, in rail transport. Railfans of many ages can be found worldwide. Railfans often combine their interest with other hobbies, especially photography and videography, radio scanning, railway modelling, studying railroad history and participating in railway station and rolling stock preservation efforts. Magazines dedicated to railfanning include Trains and Railfan & Railroad.
Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard, where 297 withdrawn British Railways steam locomotives were sent, from which 213 were rescued for the developing railway preservation movement.
The North Tyneside Steam Railway and Stephenson Railway Museum are visitor attractions in North Tyneside, North East England. The museum and railway workshops share a building on Middle Engine Lane adjacent to the Silverlink Retail Park. The railway is a standard gauge line, running south for 2 miles (3.2 km) from the museum to Percy Main. The railway is operated by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association (NTSRA). The museum is managed by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council.
The Charfield railway disaster was a fatal train crash which occurred on 13 October 1928 in the village of Charfield in the English county of Gloucestershire. The Leeds to Bristol London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) night mail train failed to stop at the signals protecting the down refuge siding at Charfield railway station. The weather was misty, but there was not a sufficiently thick fog for the signalman at Charfield to employ fog signalmen. A freight train was in the process of being shunted from the down main line to the siding, and another train of empty goods wagons was passing through the station from the Bristol (up) direction.
Shunting, in railway operations, is the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete trains, or the reverse. In the United States this activity is known as "switching".
This page contains a list of jargon used to varying degrees by railfans, trainspotters, and railway employees in the United Kingdom, including nicknames for various locomotives and multiple units. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. There may be significant regional variation in usage.
Tinsley Marshalling Yard was a railway marshalling yard, used to separate railway wagons, located near Tinsley in Sheffield, England. It was opened in 1965 as a part of a major plan to rationalise all aspects of the rail services in the Sheffield area, and closed in stages from 1985 with the run-down of rail freight in Britain. It was also the site of Tinsley Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD), which was closed in 1998. At its peak, 200 locomotives were allocated to this depot.
A fiddle yard or staging yard is a collection of model railway tracks that are hidden from view and allow trains to be stored and manipulated by the operators. These tracks are used to allow most model railways to be operated in a realistic manner. Whilst it is possible to have a realistic shunting yard in view, its operation is generally unreliable with models.
Inglenook Sidings, created by Alan Wright, is a model railway train shunting puzzle. It consists of a specific track layout, a set of initial conditions, a defined goal, and rules which must be obeyed while performing the shunting operations.
Timesaver is a well-known model railroad train shunting puzzle created by John Allen. It consists of a specific track layout, a set of initial conditions, a defined goal, and rules which must be obeyed while performing the shunting operations.
Route Availability (RA) is the system by which the permanent way and supporting works of the railway network of Great Britain are graded. All routes are allocated an RA number between 1 and 10.
A headshunt is a short length of track provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines.
In model railroading, a layout is a diorama containing scale track for operating trains. The size of a layout varies, from small shelf-top designs to ones that fill entire rooms, basements, or whole buildings.
The Saltburn Miniature Railway is a 15 in gauge railway at Saltburn, in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England.
The Waitara Railway Preservation Society is a society established in 1999 to operate a heritage railway over the former Waitara Industrial Branch Railway that operated between Lepperton and Waitara in the New Plymouth District of New Zealand's North Island. The line had been closed that year after 124 years of operation, after the closure of the local AFFCO freezing works in the town.
Buffers and chain couplers are the de facto UIC standard railway stock coupling used in the EU and UK, and on some surviving colonial railways, such as in South America and India. These couplers are an assembly of several devices: buffers,hooks and links|screws).