Chapter 79: Open slots and no-engine tracks
Twenty yards of open slots and no-engine tracks
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 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.
20 yards, pars from 4 to 9 moves. Beside its theme, chapter 79 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 79.1 | 6 | The outbound Albany, Albany or Boston, Concord on Track 1, Boston on 2, Erie on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 2 | Yard 79.2 | 6 | Erie on 1, Boston on 2, Albany on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 3 | Yard 79.3 | 5 | The outbound Dover, Dover, Dover, any car on Track 1, Erie on 2, Albany on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 4 | Yard 79.4 | 7 | Albany on 1, Boston on 2, Erie on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 5 | Yard 79.5 | 4 | The outbound Boston, any car, Albany on Track 1, Dover on 2, Concord on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 6 | Yard 79.6 | 7 | The outbound Dover, Dover, Boston on Track 1, Albany on 2, Erie on 3, Concord on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 7 | Yard 79.7 | 6 | The outbound Concord or Dover, Albany, Albany, Dover on Track 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 8 | Yard 79.8 | 9 | Albany on 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for yard orders on the clock. |
| 9 | Yard 79.9 | 6 | The outbound Albany or Erie, Dover, Dover, Dover on Track 1, Erie on 2, Concord on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 10 | Yard 79.10 | 5 | Boston on 1, Albany on 2, Dover on 3, Erie on 4. |
| 11 | Yard 79.11 | 5 | The outbound any car, Albany, Dover, Concord or Dover on Track 1, Concord on 2, Erie on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 12 | Yard 79.12 | 7 | The outbound Concord, Concord, Dover, Dover on Track 1, Erie on 2, Boston on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 13 | Yard 79.13 | 9 | The outbound Albany or Erie, any car, Concord on Track 1, Boston on 2, Albany on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine, yard orders on the clock. |
| 14 | Yard 79.14 | 7 | Erie on 1, Boston on 2, Concord on 3, Albany on 4. |
| 15 | Yard 79.15 | 7 | The outbound any car, Erie, Erie on Track 1, Concord on 2, Dover on 3, Boston on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 16 | Yard 79.16 | 6 | The outbound Erie, Concord, Erie, Concord on Track 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 17 | Yard 79.17 | 9 | The outbound Dover, Boston, Boston or Erie, Dover, Boston or Erie on Track 1, Erie on 2, Concord on 3, Albany on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a stub behind another track, a track closed to the engine. |
| 18 | Yard 79.18 | 7 | The outbound Boston, Concord, Boston, Boston, Concord on Track 1, Dover on 2, Albany on 3, Erie on 4. Watch for a stub behind another track. |
| 19 | Yard 79.19 | 8 | The outbound Erie, any car, Albany or Boston on Track 1, Concord on 2, Boston on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine. |
| 20 | Yard 79.20 | 9 | The outbound Erie, Erie, Albany or Concord, Boston or Concord on Track 1, Albany on 2, Boston on 3, Dover on 4. Watch for a hump yard, a track closed to the engine, yard orders on the clock. |
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