Hi all, I thought I would revisiting this switch list software issue And let you know where things stand....
After playing or slaving around with ShipIt for a while my 30 day demo period is about to run out. I must say that this software is pretty difficult to set up.
Everything started out pretty simple and I was generating switch lists for one train without to much trouble... Then I wanted the program to let train A drop all of its cars at Georgetown yard so train B could take over and do the switching. This was a bit harder but I got it to work by making a second division. But then I found out that none of the off- line industries are allowed to be in a Yard. That ment I had to make a virtual town off-line to ship my cars to. At this point it was impossible to do with the demo because I would need to create a third division (can't have more then 2 divisions in the demo) so I could hand cars off to the virtual train that ran to the virtual town to switch the virtual industries that supplied my online industries!!!! What!!! And this is a very simplified explanation of what I have been trying to accomplish on my simple railroad.
OK, its kinda neat to think about your furniture maker needing supplies from the nail manufacturer, and the lumber mill, and the fabric people, and the varnish supplier, well you get it... now times that by 15 industries and you can see that this is a huge task. Not to mention the 7 team tracks I have. I mean anything can go to a team track and having to make virtual industries for team tracks is a whole another issue.
And then your database gets so complicated you have to purchase software from a third party to balance everything out! So with all that said I am very close to letting ShipIt go by the wayside!
Now I have requested a demo of RailOp. I received this about an hour ago, and I am a little disappointed that I will not be able to set up my own layout to see if it will work for me.
I will however give it a chance, and read the instructions and hope that I can understand the demo layout and the program. So Far I have not seen a track plan, and I think a track plan could help one visualize the demo a bit better. But to be fair I just received RailOp and I have not had time to sit down with it.
Thank you, Kelly Regan Home Page: