Waybills and Car Cards

Waybills and Car Cards on the P&E

(Or -- "All those cars! How do I know where do they go?")

The purpose of waybills is to tell the train crew where their cars is destined. Each car on the line has a Car Card stored in a drawer near its location. And every car which has is consigned to an industry has a Waybill attached. Loads moving over the railroad move as directed by the Waybill. Empties may move with or without a waybill, though if they're consigned to an industry for loading, they will always have one. Only empties moving to a yard for storage or Interchange may not have waybills. In such cases, the instructions ("When empty return to...") on the car card are sufficient to direct its movement.

Double Sided Waybills

The sample below is for a car that is consigned to Medco for the purpose of loading lumber. This car may be pulled from Crater Yard or may arrive in Medford from the SP Siskiyou Line Interchange or on the West Hauler from Klamath Falls. (In the near future we are going to implement a draw system based on the prototype practice of ordering sufficient empties to make the draws for empties to from either yard.) Waybills are not to be turned or removed until the car has been spotted at the specified location or destination.

Suppose a suitable car, as noted in the car classification box, for Medco is in Crater Yard on one of the empties/storage tracks. The freight agent (person who sets up the draw) will pull this waybill from the draw box and attach the waybill to the proper car. He can choose any car as long as the car classification matches. The car card/waybill combination then goes back in the slot for that particular storage track in the card drawer.

Coming on duty, the Crater Yard switcher checks for pulls to made from the storage tracks. This waybill tells him to move the car from storage to one of the Medco yard tracks. The switcher may chose to sort the cars as he places them in the Medco yard (preferred) or he can just shove the cars in and leave the sorting to the Medco switcher. The card on the left (below) instructs a crew that this car is to be spotted at the Lumber Shed. This waybill face remains up until the car has reached the indicated location (spotted at the industry). At this time the crew member turns the waybill over and places the car card with the attached waybill in the card file marked “Medco Pulls” in the drawer under the Medco mill. The car is now ready for loading and will not be moved again during this op session.

On the following op session, a crew will pull this car for movement to Crater Yard, where it will be assembled into an East Hauler for movement to Pelican Yard, There the Pelican Yard switcher will pass the car on to the BN Interchange Transfer. Once the car has reached BN trackage (BN Yard in K. Falls) the waybill is to be removed and returned the waybill draw box.

Most of the cars that are switched from the yards for loading or unloading are to be placed directly to the Pull card slot once the car has been spotted at industries. The freight agent may determine that a car is not ready to be pulled and will leave the car card/waybill in the Hold slot. In that case, the car will be left spotted at that industry, although it may need to be moved during switching.

Single Sided Waybills<>

The second type of waybill is for the purpose of bringing loads to various industries or locations from Interchange with the SP Siskiyou at Medford or from either the SP yard in K. Falls or from the BN Yard also located in K. Falls.

The waybill below indicates that a propane tank needs to be sent to Suburban Propane in Eagle Point. Once again the person freight agent will attach the waybill to the correct car at one of the interchange yards for movement to the P&E at either Medford or K. Falls for movement to Eagle Point. This card remains face up until the car has been spotted at which time the waybill is removed from the car card. The car card is then placed in the “Holds” slot for that industry for pickup by a following crew determined by the road master. The waybill is then returned to the waybill draw box for sorting to the proper slot.

You may have noticed that this waybill is a one way only. Most cars bringing product on to the P&E are loads in, empties out. Few of our shipping industries are set up to bring in product at this time. This practice is based on the flow of traffic many of us have observed on the prototype throughout the years here in the Rogue Valley.

Handling the Car Card/Waybills
(Or, "Hey, has anyone seen my paperwork?")

By now, it should be clear how car card/waybill combinations are organized and left in slots in drawers near their locations on the railroad. But, what do do with the cards for cars which are on your train?

Cards for a train are usually sorted in order with the card for the last car on the top of the deck. This facilitates switching from the rear end of the train, but the top/bottom -- front/back issue isn't as important as having the cards in order. Also, it's sometimes the case that when a train reaches a yard, the switcher will want the card order to be reversed. If you find you need to reverse the order of the pack, it's a good idea to take an extra minute and match the cards with the cars to again make sure they're in the correct order.

When operating a train, beit a turn, transfer or hauler, it's convenient to use a big clip to keep the cards together. When a train is to be parked for a period of time, there should be a nearby shallow drawer (or "breadboard") to leave the pack of cards and perhaps a throttle. The breadboards are also handy to use for sorting out cards when switching a yard or industry. (Note that breadborads are only for leaving cards for cars in transit or during switching -- not for leaving cards after their cars are spotted.) Also, it's a bad habit to use the benchwork as a sorting desk, as eventually there will be scenery on all the benchwork and it will no longer be suitable for use as a desk.

Finally, make sure you have your cards with you as you proceed over the line. While it's entertaining to others when you forget your paperwork, it's embarrassing for you and you will be up for cookies!