STS

Shipper-driven Traffic Simulator

Version 4
Quick Start Guide
(or “Instructions for the Impatient”)
November 2020
Step 1. Collect the necessary information.
Make copies of the worksheets at the end of this guide and use them to document your railroad's
stations, cars, shippers, and jobs. Making a schematic diagram of the railroad helps in identifying and
labeling the locations where cars can be positioned.

Step 2. Enter the information into the STS database.

Use the ​Database Operations​ links on the STS home page to enter the collected data into the
database. Clicking on the column headings that are in ​italics​ will sort the rows of data using that
column. Filters can be used on some columns to reduce the number of rows displayed on the screen.
Filters are cumulative, that is if more than one filter is selected, only the rows that meet the
requirements of all the filters will be displayed. Click on the ​Clear Filters​ button to display all of the
rows. To modify an item in the database, find the item in the appropriate table and click on the link in
it's left hand column. This will display another page that shows the item's various properties and
allow most of them to be changed. This second page also allows for the item to be removed, but doing
so after the simulation has been started can be problematic. Check this table of dependencies before
removing items.

Items in these Database Tables Depend on information in these tables

Locations Stations
Shipments Locations, Car Codes
Prioritized Empty Car Search Locations Shipments, Locations
Cars Car Codes, Locations
Job Steps Locations
Car Orders Shipments, Cars

Removing an item from one of the tables in the right column will “break” the connection with items
in the tables in the left column. If this happens, each affected item in the left hand tables will have to
be modified in order to link it to another item from the table on the right that will replace the deleted
item.
For example, if a location is deleted for some reason and a new location created as a replacement, all
items in the shipment, empty car search location, car, and job step tables will have to be checked, and
if one of them had been associated with the location that was just deleted, it will have to be
reconnected to the new location. In the case of car orders, the car order will have to first be canceled
and if it is linked to a car, the car's status will have to be changed to ​Empty​.

Step 3. Verify that the information in the STS database matches the state of the railroad.
After all cars have been entered into the database, display or print a station car report by clicking on
the ​Station Car Report​ link in the ​Reports​ column and selecting ​All​ as the station. Match the report
against the physical location of all of the cars. If a car is not where it should be, either manually
relocate the car or modify it's location in the STS database. Once the state of the railroad is correct,
create a backup copy of the database. This way, if something goes wrong, the railroad can always be
put back to it's starting state.
Step 4. Generate Car Orders.
Click on the ​Generate Car Orders​ link in the ​Simulation Operations​ column. This is the start of the
simulation. By default, STS will generate car orders based on the data that has been entered into the
database for the shipments. You can manually select shipments to order cars if desired. Once car
orders have been generated, the simulation is considered active.
Step 5. Fill Car Requests.
The person or persons responsible for managing the fleets of cars on the railroad clicks on the ​Fill
Car Orders​ link in the ​Simulation Operations​ column to fill any outstanding car requests. Click on
the ​Fill​ button associated with each car order. A new page will appear with a list of eligible cars. The
computer will have one car already selected. If this car is acceptable, click on the ​Assign​ button. If
not, select another car.

Step 6. Reposition Empty Cars.

Cars that have been emptied at a customer’s location need to be repositioned, either by being used to
fill a new car order, or by being moved to a storage location. If these cars aren’t removed from the
customer’s location, incoming cars won’t be able to be spotted there. Another reason to reposition
empty cars is if there is a shortage of empty cars somewhere on the railroad. In either case,
unassigned empty cars can be routed to a new location by clicking on the ​Reposition Empty Cars​ link
in the ​Simulation Operations​ column. As an aid to help decide which cars to reposition, empty cars
not at their home locations are highlighted. To reposition one of the empty cars in this list, select it's
new destination from the drop-down list in the left column and then click the ​Update​ button. An
empty car waybill will be created for each car to be repositioned. This function can also be used to
reposition empty cars if there are too many of them at one location and they are clogging up a yard.

Step 7. Print Waybills (Optional)

Once a car order has been filled, a waybill can be printed by clicking on the ​Waybill​ link in the
Reports​ column. This is an optional function and can be skipped if waybills aren't used. If an empty
car has to move from its current location to where it will be loaded, an empty car waybill will be
generated along with the waybill that will move it from it's loading location to it's unloading location.
If the empty car is at the same station as the loading location, but is positioned on a different track or
spot, STS will generate an office memo that will give switch crews instructions on where to move it.

Step 8. Assign Cars to Jobs/Trains

Switchlists for jobs are generated when a person acting as a yard clerk, freight agent, or yardmaster
assigns cars that are ready to move to the job that will pick them up for onward movement. This is
done at each station on the line by clicking on the ​Assign Cars​ link in the ​Simulation Operations
column, and then by selecting a station. The routing instructions for that station will be displayed,
along with all cars that are ready to move and the yard clerk uses the instructions to assign each car
to the job that will pick it up. Cars can be added to switchlists at any station at any time until the job
that is to handle the car has left the station in question.

Step 9. Print/Display Switchlists

A crew can display or print their switchlist by clicking on the ​Switchlist​ link in the ​Reports​ column
and then selecting the switchlist format and the job name from a drop-down list. Each job's switchlist
can be updated repeatedly while the job is running so it's a good idea for a crew to check their
switchlist as soon as they arrive at a station on their route, as the switchlist may have changed since
the job left the previous station.
Step 10. Pick up cars
In order for STS to track the location of cars on the railroad, crews need to update the database as
soon as possible. While this can be done anytime prior to the job terminating, it's best to do it as cars
are picked up and set out. After picking up cars, the crew should click on the ​Pick Up Cars​ link in the
Simulation Operations​ column and then select their job from the drop down list. A list of cars that
their job is to handle will be displayed. Click on the check mark box for each car that has been picked
up and then click on the ​Pick Up​ button. This will tell STS that the car is now in the train.

Step 11. Organize cars

After cars have been picked up by a job, the crew can click on the ​Organize Cars​ link in the
Simulation Operations​ column to bring up a form that can be used to modify the order of cars either
in a train or at a specific location on the railroad. First, select the job from the drop down list and
then click on the ​Organize​ button. A list of cars in the train will be displayed and the ​Up​ and ​Down
arrows can be used to rearrange the order of the cars on the switchlist so it matches the trains actual
consist. Once the cars are in the correct order, click on the ​Update​ button to save the changes.

Step 12. Set out cars

When cars have been set out, STS needs to know where they are so they can be made available to
other jobs for onward movement or so they can be loaded or unloaded. To set out a car, the crew
should click on the ​Set Out Cars​ link in the ​Simulation Operations​ column and then select their job
from the drop down list. The cars currently in the train will be displayed. For the car or cars that
have just been set out, select where they were left and then click the ​Update​ button. For the cars that
are still in the train, leave the set out location blank so that STS will keep them in the consist.

Step 13. Load/Unload Cars

Operating sessions are quite often set up as a 24 hour period. Sometimes operators don't get through
the entire day. Many customers also operate on a 24 hour loading and/or unloading cycle, but others
load and unload cars several times a day. Regardless of the time period involved, STS needs to know
when empty cars are loaded and when loaded cars are unloaded.
To perform this function, click on the ​Load/Unload Cars​ link in the ​Simulation Operations​ column.
This can be done once per operating session at the end, or multiple times during the operating
session in order to load and/or unload cars at a customer that can turn cars around rapidly. Some
customers may take a couple of days to load or unload. In that case, cars at those customers can be
skipped until the next operating session.
After clicking on the ​Load/Unload Cars​ link, a page will be displayed showing all cars that are in the
process of either loading or unloading. A car will not appear on this list unless it is either at it's
loading location or at it's unloading location. To change a car from loading to loaded, or from
unloading to empty, click the check box in front of the selected car (or cars) and then click on the
Update​ button.

Step 12. Do it over again, starting with Step 3.

After an operating session has been completed, it's a good idea to print or display another ​Station
Car Report​ and verify that all cars are where they should be. If all is well, create another backup copy
of the database. The names of the various backup copies could include the date of the backup so that,
if necessary, the database could be restored from the most recent backup copy. A typical name for a
backup made at the end of an operating session that happened on the 15​th​ of June, 2017, might look
like ​Backup20170615​. Once this is done, the system is ready for another day, starting with Step 3.
Planning Forms.​ ​These forms can be used to collect the information required to be entered during
the setup process.
● Commodities​ – Enter a short name for each type of commodity that the railroad will be
transporting. Prototype railroads use alphanumeric codes but it would probably be easier
for the model railroad crews to use short but descriptive abbreviations. The ​Remarks​ field
can be used for notes about the particular commodity.
● Car Codes​ – Enter a unique code for each type of car to be used on the railroad. AAR car
and/or mechanical codes are commonly used, but they can be a bit confusing for specialty
cars. Simple one or two character codes are easier for crews to deal with and the ​Remarks
column can be used to identify specialty cars. Short character strings of up to three letters
work as well.
● Stations & Routing Instructions​ – Enter a unique name for each station on the railroad. If
the station name is fairly long, such as ​Middleton,​ a shorter code can be used instead, such as
MD.​ Some railroads assign station numbers to their stations however that can be confusing
in the model railroad world unless the crew members have prototype railroad experience.
The ​Routing Instructions​ are used to assist station agents in figuring out which job should
pick up which cars based on each car's ultimate destination. The contents of the ​Routing
Instructions​ box are displayed for the operators when performing the ​Assign Cars​ function.
The ​Sort Sequence​ determines how the stations are listed on the various reports produced
by STS. The ​Default Setout Location​ is an optional setting that tells STS which location at a
station is the preferred location for jobs to set out cars not destined for a specific customer.
● Locations​ – Stations are made up of a collection of locations, which are any places where
cars can be positioned. The level of detail is up to the person setting up the simulator. Some
stations may have one location for each industry, some may have one location for each spot
at an industry. Some stations may have one location representing the entire yard, some may
have one location for each track in a yard. Each location should be given a short but
understandable code name, such ​MD-CementOut​ for the location where covered hoppers are
loaded with cement in ​Middleton.​ The track and spot names and/or numbers are optional.
The optional ​Reporting Station​ can be used for the full name of the station to which the
location is assigned and this used on waybills.. The ​Color​ column is used to assign a color
code to the location. The color can be used on switchlists and waybills to assist in quickly
identifying car destinations and setting up blocks of cars.
● Shipments​ – Enter a unique code for each shipment that will be transported over the
railroad. An example code would include the shipment's loading location, it's unloading
location, and a short description, for example ​MD-DUL-Cement​. This code is then associated
with a description of the route (​MD cement to Duluth port)​ , the consignment (​cement)​ , the
code of an acceptable car (​LO)​ , the loading location (​MD-CementOut)​ , the unloading location
(​DUL-CementDock​), the minimum and maximum number of operating sessions between
shipments, and the minimum and maximum number of car loads needed to move this
shipment. The ​Special Instructions​ field can be used to tell crews about special situations,
such as when a refrigerator car has to be iced prior to being spotted for loading or a train
containing stock cars has to stop for the cattle to be rested. ​Remarks ​are for user notes and
the ​ON/OFF​ field is used to enable or disable the shipment. This can be used to control
seasonal shipments such as those involved in a grain rush. The ​Empty Location Search
Priority​ is an optional list of prioritized locations where STS will search for empty cars for a
specific shipment. If this is not used, first the originating station will be searched for suitable
cars and then the rest of the system.
● Cars​ – Enter each car's reporting marks (initials and number), it's type code, it's current
location, and it's home location. All newly entered cars have a status of ​Empty.​ If RIFD tags
are installed in the cars, that data can be entered as the ​RFID Code​. ​Shipment Pool​ is used to
assign cars to pool service associated with specific shipments, such as covered hoppers
owned by an elevator or coal hoppers owned by a mining company.
● Jobs & Job Steps​ – Enter each job's general description and then a sequential list of all
stations serviced by the job. For each station, indicate whether the job will set out cars, pick
up cars, or do both. Anything entered into the Job Description box will be included on
switchlists. After the jobs and trains servicing the stations on the railroad have been
determined, go back to the ​Stations and Routing​ page and fill in the ​Routing Instructions​ if
that hasn’t already been done.
Commodity Codes

Commodity Description Remarks Commodity Description Remarks

Code Code
Car Codes

Car Code Description Remarks Car Code Description Remarks

Stations and Routing Instructions

Station Routing Instructions (Fill in this section in Sort Seq. Default Set-Out Location
Name conjunction with Job Steps.)
Locations

Location Station Track Spot Reporting Station Remarks Color

Code
Shipments

Shipment Code
Route Description
Consignment / Commodity
Car Code
Loading Location
Unloading Location
Last Ship Date
Minimum Interval
Maximum Interval
Minimum Amount
Maximum Amount
Special Instructions
Remarks

Shipment Code
Route Description
Consignment / Commodity
Car Code
Loading Location
Unloading Location
Last Ship Date
Minimum Interval
Maximum Interval
Minimum Amount
Maximum Amount
Special Instructions
Remarks
Empty Location Search Priority

Shipment Code Priority Location Shipment Code Priority Location

Cars

Reporting Car Current Position Remarks Home RFID Code Shipment

Marks Code Location Location Pool
Jobs & Job Steps

Job Name
Description

Seq Station Set Out Pick Up Remarks

Nbr

Job Name
Description

Seq Station Set Out Pick Up Remarks

Nbr