Train Route

A train's route tells ModuOps where the train goes and what work it may do along the way. You build the route on the Route tab of the train form.

To open it:

1. Click Trains in the sidebar.
2. Select a train and click Edit, or double-click the train.
3. Click the Route tab.

The Route tab appears once a train has been saved. For a new or cloned train, click Save on the Details tab first. See Trains.

How routes work

The route is a list of stops, read from top to bottom. Each row is a module/town, a set of consignees at a module/town, a train order or a timetable instruction. The first row is the first place the train reaches after leaving its departure yard.

When you generate a trainlist, ModuOps picks equipment requests at random from the consignees on the route. The work prints on the trainlist in the same order as the route.

info

Because work is picked at random, a row on the route won't always have work on every trainlist. If nothing was picked for a module/town or consignee, it simply doesn't appear on that trainlist.

The Route tab

The Route tab works left to right. On the left are two tabs, Modules/Towns and Train Orders, where you choose what to add. In the center is a Will add: preview of what you're about to add, with a right arrow to add it and a left arrow to remove a stop. On the right is the route itself, with a count of stops, the departure yard above it (Departs) and the terminating yard below (Terminates).

The route table has these columns: a drag handle, Dir (direction), Module/Town and Consignees to Service.

Click Done to go back to the Trains list.

Screenshot needed

The Route tab with a module selected on the left, the "Will add:" preview in the center and a route with several stops on the right.

Changes save automatically

Every time you add, remove or reorder a stop, the route is saved right away. There is no Save button on the Route tab.

Add a module/town to the route

1. On the left, make sure the Modules/Towns tab is showing.
2. Click a module/town in the list.
3. Under Stop Options, choose a Direction and a Consignee Filter if you need them (see below). Leave them as they are to service all consignees with no direction.
4. Check the Will add: preview in the center.
5. Click the right arrow.

The new row is added to the route and saved. A module/town is required: the right arrow stays greyed out until you click one. Direction and Consignee Filter are optional.

Where new rows go

With no row selected, a new row goes on the end of the route. With a row selected, the new row goes in right after it, and the caption under the arrows says Insert after with the stop number.

The row you just added becomes the selected row, so you can add several stops in a row and they go in order. To insert a stop in the middle of the route, click the row it should follow before clicking the right arrow.

Consignee Filter

The Consignee Filter menu decides which consignees at the selected module/town the train may work. It goes back to All Consignees each time you pick a different module/town.

Consignee Filter	What gets added	Shows in the route as
All Consignees	Every consignee at the module/town.	All Consignees
A Only	Only work on drop zones facing A.	A Only
B Only	Only work on drop zones facing B.	B Only
Must Service + one consignee	A consignee the train should work first.	[[MUST]] and the consignee name
No Service + one consignee	A consignee this train should never work.	[[NOT]] and the consignee name

Drop zones facing AB, and drop zones with no direction set, count as both A and B. You set a drop zone's direction on the drop zone form. See Drop Zones.

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Modules are set up so drop zones face either the A or B direction, showing which way each spur trails. The orientation changes from module to module, so a route will often have some modules using A Only and others using B Only. That's normal.

Service one specific consignee

Below the filter is the Consignees list for the selected module/town.

1. Click a module/town.
2. Choose All Consignees, A Only or B Only. With A Only or B Only, the list shows only consignees with work on drop zones facing that way.
3. Click a consignee in the list.
4. Click the right arrow.

The route row shows the consignee's name, and the train works only that consignee at this stop. The A/B filter just narrows the list you pick from. Once you pick a single consignee, the row covers all of that consignee's work.

Must Service and No Service

1. Click a module/town.
2. Choose Must Service or No Service from Consignee Filter. The list shows all consignees at the module/town.
3. Click one consignee.
4. Click the right arrow.

warning

With Must Service or No Service you must click a consignee before you add the row. If you don't, the row is added as All Consignees.

Use No Service when a consignee shouldn't be worked by this train. For example, a grain elevator served by a unit train rather than the local turn.

Which scheduling engine honors which setting

Each scheduling engine on the Trainlists screen reads the route a little differently. Random (MRBT) is a simple random-selection engine: it picks route rows and equipment requests purely at random, with no weighting and no special handling for Must Service or No Service. Weighted Selection and Pull & Drop Ops do more with the route.

Route setting	Random (MRBT)	Weighted Selection	Pull & Drop Ops
All Consignees	Yes	Yes	Yes
A Only / B Only	Yes	Yes	Yes
One specific consignee	Yes	Yes	Yes
Must Service	Not used. The row gets no work.	Yes. The consignee gets the first try for a car before the random picks.	Yes, same as Weighted Selection.
No Service	Not used. The consignee can still get work from other rows.	Yes. The consignee is left out of the whole train.	Yes. The consignee is left out of the whole train, pickups included.
Direction	Printed on the trainlist	Printed on the trainlist	Printed on the trainlist
Limit Modules (train details)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Car Distribution (train details)	Not used	Yes	Yes, for set-outs and for how eagerly cars are picked up
Demand weighting	Not used	Yes	Yes

tip

Must Service gives the consignee the first chance at a car, not a guarantee. If the car won't fit on the drop zone or the train, ModuOps moves on.

Direction

The Direction menu adds a direction to the stop. The choices are None (the default), East, West, North, South, Outbound and Return.

The direction shows as a letter in the route's Dir column (for example O for Outbound) and is printed on the trainlist for that stop. It tells the crew which way the train is travelling when it does the work there. It doesn't change which cars are chosen.

The direction you pick stays selected when you click another module/town, so remember to set it back to None if the next stop shouldn't have one.

A common use is a turn that works trailing spurs in each direction:

1. Click a module/town.
2. Set Direction to Outbound.
3. Set Consignee Filter to A Only or B Only, whichever direction trails on the way out.
4. Click the right arrow.
5. Later in the route, add the same module/town again with Direction set to Return and the other facing direction.

Reorder stops

Drag a row by the handle in the first column and drop it where you want it. The stops are renumbered and the route is saved.

Remove a stop

1. Click the row in the route.
2. Click the left arrow in the center.

The row is removed right away. There is no confirmation.

Train orders and timetable instructions

The Train Orders tab on the left lets you add one-line train orders to the route. The Add timetable instruction checkbox under Stop Options adds an instruction that also counts as a timetable stop. Both are covered in Train Orders.

Changes from version 5

• The route is a tab on the train form instead of a separate screen, and changes save automatically.
• Drag and drop replaces the up and down buttons for reordering.
• The Select Consignee menu is now Consignee Filter, with a new Must Service choice.
• New Will add: preview and Insert after caption.
• New directions: East, West, North, South and Return, as well as Outbound.
• New Add timetable instruction option.
• With the Weighted Selection and Pull & Drop Ops engines, No Service now keeps the consignee off the whole train, not just one stop.
• Random (MRBT) now honors A Only, B Only and specific-consignee rows. In version 5 it serviced all consignees on each module.