Rail Dispatch
A signalling puzzle. Trains appear at the ends of a small network and need to cross it. Each station and line holds one train at a time, so you decide which train gets which route, and when.
Reserve routes for each train through a small network so they all reach their destinations safely and on time.
FreeOn this device
Block table
| Block | Reserved by | Occupied by |
|---|---|---|
| A | — | — |
| B | — | — |
| C | — | — |
| D | — | — |
| E | — | — |
| F | — | — |
| A-B | — | — |
| B-C | — | — |
| C-D | — | — |
| B-E | — | — |
| E-F | — | — |
| C-F | — | — |
Trains
Train 0
Score = late seconds of delivered trains + 120 for each train not delivered. No claim is made that the reference dispatch is the best possible.
Controls
- Pick a train in the list, then press one of its Reserve buttons to claim a whole route.
- Run plays the clock, Pause stops it, Step 1 s advances one second; Reset starts the timetable again.
- Release unentered route frees the part of a reservation the train hasn't reached yet. The block table lists who reserved and who occupies every block.
The rules
- Every station and every line is a block that holds one train. A train enters a block only if it reserved it and the block is empty, and frees its old block only after entering the next.
- A route is reserved all at once or not at all — if any block on it is taken, the game names the blocks in the way.
- Lines take a fixed number of seconds to cross. Trains that can't enter yet wait off the map without harm.
Scoring, saving and limits
Lower is better: the total seconds late of delivered trains, plus 120 for each train not delivered when time runs out.
Every reservation and second is kept on this device as a replayable log, so trains are exactly where you left them after a reload.
Three small invented networks; trains are one block long and travel at one fixed speed. The reference dispatch shown for comparison is not claimed to be optimal.
Questions
- Why was my reservation refused?
- Another train has reserved or is standing in one of its blocks. The message lists which blocks.
- Can two trains ever crash?
- No. A block can hold only one train, and a train can't move without a reservation.
- What happens when two trains ask for the same block at once?
- The lower-numbered train gets it; the other stays where it is until you give it another route.