Car Routing

Car routing, or determining how cars move from point A to point B, is the most important job a Yard Master has.

Train Symbols and Routes (TSARs)

Much like the Russian Czars of old, TSARs rule the FYM world. If it is not on a TSAR is didn't (shouldn't) happen.

See Train Symbols and Routes (TSARs) for more information about TSARs.

The first thing to do when trying to learn how traffic is handled in your yard is to read the TSARs that pass through your yard. All of them. Notes specifically for your yard will (most of the time) have @@[Yard #] - [Name] in the TSAR notes. When reviewing the TSARS for your yard you want to look for the following:

• "works here", "work as needed", or some variant - This typically indicates that you should pull off any cars for the local industries in your yard. This may also mean that you can add cars for destinations down the line to this train.
• "setout" - This typically indicates that you are to pull a block of cars off this train for inclusion on a different train passing through later.
• "pickup" - This typically indicates that you are to add cars from an earlier setout.
• "check engines" or "fuel power" - If you have fueling facilities in your yard you should refuel the engine if they are below about 500 miles left.

TSARs may also contain information about how many and what type of engines should be used for a train and the types and number of cars for unit trains.

Locals

Local trains form the start or end of a car's journey from source to destination and often traverse very short distances. Locals carry cars from larger sorting yards to smaller yards for delivery to local industries and then back to the sorting yard. In some cases this may lead to a situation where cars will travel through your yard to the sorting yard and then come back to your yard on a local train.

When reviewing TSARs make sure you have a good understanding of locals that run to and from your yards.