Chapter 35: Open slots and repair time
Twenty yards of open slots and repair time
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.
A repair job takes time: the car must stand at its service track for a set number of moves, and taking it away part way through starts the work over.
20 yards, pars from 4 to 13 moves. Beside its theme, chapter 35 draws on yard orders, no-engine tracks and stub tracks, 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 35.1 | 6 | The outbound Concord or Dover, Erie, Concord, Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Dover on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 2 | Yard 35.2 | 8 | Dover on 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 3 | Yard 35.3 | 9 | The outbound Boston or Dover, Concord, Concord, Albany or Concord on Track 1, Albany on 2, Dover on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 4 | Yard 35.4 | 8 | Erie on 1, Dover on 2, Albany on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 5 | Yard 35.5 | 6 | The outbound Boston, Boston, Dover, any car on Track 1, Concord on 2, Albany on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 6 | Yard 35.6 | 10 | The outbound Albany, Dover, Albany, Albany on Track 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 7 | Yard 35.7 | 8 | The outbound Concord or Erie, Erie, Albany, Erie, Albany or Concord on Track 1, Dover on 2, Boston on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 8 | Yard 35.8 | 8 | Albany on 1, Concord on 2, Dover on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 9 | Yard 35.9 | 9 | The outbound Boston, any car, any car on Track 1, Concord on 2, Dover on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 10 | Yard 35.10 | 4 | Dover on 1, Erie on 2, Boston on 3, Concord on 4. |
| 11 | Yard 35.11 | 9 | The outbound Erie, any car, Dover, Erie, any car on Track 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 12 | Yard 35.12 | 9 | The outbound Concord, Concord, Concord, Dover on Track 1, Erie on 2, Albany on 3. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 13 | Yard 35.13 | 13 | The outbound Concord, Concord or Erie, Concord, any car on Track 1, Dover on 2, Boston on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for cars that need the shop first, yard orders on the clock. |
| 14 | Yard 35.14 | 8 | Concord on 1, Dover on 2, Erie on 3, Albany on 4. |
| 15 | Yard 35.15 | 10 | The outbound Albany, Concord, any car, Albany, any car on Track 1, Erie on 2, Dover on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 16 | Yard 35.16 | 8 | The outbound Boston, Albany, Boston, Boston, Albany on Track 1, Dover on 2, Concord on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 17 | Yard 35.17 | 13 | The outbound Albany or Boston, Albany, Concord or Erie on Track 1, Dover on 2, Concord on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track, cars that need the shop first. |
| 18 | Yard 35.18 | 8 | The outbound Albany, Erie, Erie on Track 1, Dover on 2, Concord on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 19 | Yard 35.19 | 9 | The outbound any car, Albany, Albany, Erie on Track 1, Boston on 2, Concord on 3. Watch for cars that need the shop first. |
| 20 | Yard 35.20 | 9 | The outbound any car, Dover, Concord or Erie on Track 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for cars that need the shop first, yard orders on the clock. |
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