Chapter 219: No-engine tracks and open slots
Twenty yards of no-engine tracks and open slots
A track behind a derail is closed to the locomotive. Cars can only be kicked or humped into it and never pulled back out, so each one has to arrive in order.
Outbound patterns can leave slots open to any car, or to a set of destinations. Choosing which car fills a slot cheaply is the puzzle, because the handy one is rarely the right one.
20 yards, pars from 4 to 12 moves. Beside its theme, chapter 219 draws on the running track, the wye and yard orders, with two breathers of plain sorting and extra cars. Difficulty runs as a sawtooth: runs of easy yards, a spike, a breather.
The yards
| # | Yard | Par | The job |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yard 219.1 | 8 | The outbound Dover, Albany, Dover, Dover, Albany or Concord on Track 1, Boston on 2, Concord on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 2 | Yard 219.2 | 8 | Dover on 1, Concord on 2, Albany on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a running track to the far lead. |
| 3 | Yard 219.3 | 5 | The outbound Dover, Boston, Dover, Boston or Concord on Track 1, Erie on 2, Concord on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 4 | Yard 219.4 | 7 | Erie on 1, Concord on 2, Boston on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for a wye off the lead. |
| 5 | Yard 219.5 | 6 | The outbound Albany or Dover, Concord, Concord or Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Albany on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 6 | Yard 219.6 | 12 | The outbound Boston, Dover, Dover, Boston, Boston on Track 1, Erie on 2, Albany on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 7 | Yard 219.7 | 5 | The outbound Albany or Dover, Dover, any car on Track 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 8 | Yard 219.8 | 6 | Dover on 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a running track to the far lead. |
| 9 | Yard 219.9 | 5 | The outbound Albany or Concord, Albany, Boston or Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Concord on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 10 | Yard 219.10 | 6 | Erie on 1, Dover on 2, Albany on 3, Boston on 4. |
| 11 | Yard 219.11 | 6 | The outbound Boston, Dover, Concord or Dover on Track 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 12 | Yard 219.12 | 7 | The outbound Dover, Dover, Dover, Concord, Concord on Track 1, Albany on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 13 | Yard 219.13 | 11* | The outbound Erie, Concord or Dover, Concord, Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Albany on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a running track to the far lead, a track closed to the engine. |
| 14 | Yard 219.14 | 8 | Dover on 1, Boston on 2, Concord on 3, Albany on 4. |
| 15 | Yard 219.15 | 4 | The outbound any car, Boston, Dover, any car, Dover on Track 1, Concord on 2, Albany on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 16 | Yard 219.16 | 8 | The outbound Boston, Boston, Erie on Track 1, Albany on 2, Dover on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for a wye off the lead. |
| 17 | Yard 219.17 | 6 | The outbound Dover or Erie, Concord or Dover, Boston, Dover, Dover on Track 1, Albany on 2, Concord on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine, yard orders on the clock. |
| 18 | Yard 219.18 | 11 | The outbound Concord, Erie, Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Albany on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 19 | Yard 219.19 | 7 | The outbound Albany, Albany, Albany or Erie, Dover or Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Erie on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 20 | Yard 219.20 | 10 | The outbound Concord, Concord, Dover, Dover, Boston or Concord on Track 1, Albany on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a running track to the far lead, a track closed to the engine. |
* A par marked with a star is the best known line for a yard too large to solve outright.
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