Car Forwarding & Paperwork

Operations on the Ste. Genevieve subdivision started with Car Cards, but I was disappointed with the stack of thick cards and waybills falling out pockets. Hence, in 2026, I changed to a more realistic approach using a switchlist to guide switching and larger, prototypical waybills to aid in completing a switchlist.

In the “real world”, waybills were never handled by anyone who was not involved in the accounting and billing side of the railroad. They were essentially cash to the railroad and the conductor safeguarded them as such. Waybills typically remained within the caboose and were used by the conductor to prepare reports and, of course, the switchlist.

Switchlists

Most of the time, the clerk prepares the switchlists. If not, it only takes a few minutes for a crew to prepare their own.

Time can be saved by entering only the last 3 digits of the car’s road number. When cars move from the boat to Middle Yard, the destination column will denote the departing train for the Yardmaster.

Waybills

The top left of the waybill identifies the car. Just below is the car’s destination and the specific customer (Consignee).  For interest only, the right side shows the shipper and its location.

Occasionally, goods are shipped to customers who do not have a dedicated rail spur.  These cars are unloaded at the house track dock and the waybill will note HS TK in the Consignee section.

Each switching location has a hook to hold the crew’s clipboard (since the hooks blend in with fascia, look for the orange dot). There is also a bill box for the waybills. When switching is completed, reconcile the waybills with the cars in your train. The waybills for set outs should be left in the bill box; similarly, take the waybills for pickups with you.

Occasionally, one asks, “what about that car which isn’t on the switch list and there’s no waybill?  What do I do with it?”  That’s easy: “nothing!”  It may be a hold for the customer and the crew can ignore it…and if it has to be moved to complete switching, just put it back in the same spot when you’re finished working the location. When an off spot is ready to be moved, the clerk will place a “Switch This Car” form in the bill box.

The clerk prepared this 4½” x 7″ waybill to accompany MP 12309, a gondola filled with scrap iron from Shapiro Brothers destined for the American Steel Foundry in Granite City, Illinois.  The Yardmaster will weigh the car at Middle Yard and the gross weight should not exceed 169,000 pounds. The car crosses the river at Thomure on the boat. 

Empty Car Waybills

When the clerk orders an empty car for a customer, it arrives from a nearby yard (off layout) and is accompanied by an Empty Car Waybill. It will note where the car is to be spotted.

This Empty Car Waybill directs the crew to deliver an empty gondola to Peerless Lime for loading.  If the customer needs the car spotted at a specific location, the bill will indicate the track and/or door.  In this example, PRR 343961 should be spotted on track 3.
The Ste. Gen. sub has few enough cars & industries that it can get by with simplified AAR codes.

Simple Guide to Waybill Fields

Car Initials and Number    Self explanatory

Kind    The car type using one of the simplified AAR car codes shown in the figure above

To     Identifies the city and/or station where the car is to be delivered

Consignee    The specific customer to receive the car

Route    When a car is destined for an off-layout location, the Route field is completed with the location of where the car leaves the layout.  There are only 4 possible entries: BOAT, SLSF, DERBY JCT – BT SUB or DERBY JCT – MP.  The first is pretty clear – the car is going across the Mississippi River on the ferry. The remainder are interchanges.  SLSF is the Frisco interchange near the Ste. Genevieve depot.  The two spurs at Derby Jct handle interchange to the MoPac (MP) and the M-I’s north/south Bonne Terre subdivision (BT SUB).

Description of Articles    The car’s contents are shown here.  Occasional abbreviations are C/L (car load), LCL (less than car load) or L/C (last contained).

Weight    This field at the lower right is usually blank.  When a red Weigh In Transit stamp is present, the Yardmaster shall weigh the car before forwarding.  To the right of the C.O.D. panel is where Yardmaster finds the car’s  allowable weight.  This number has been pre-calculated for the weigh master from the car’s stenciled Load Limit and Light Weight.  As long as the scale’s Gross Weight is less than the Allowable Weight, the car is safe and ready to move along.

Train Orders

Train orders are prepared for each job or train describing where the train originates, what locations are to be worked and the train’s maximum tonnage.  When a caboose is required, the tonnage line will specify such.

Train Orders are created for each job and train. Line 2 of this example specifies a caboose is required and that it counts in the train tonnage.

Crew Packet

Each crew (and job) has a clipboard to hold paperwork.

All required paperwork is neatly handled with a small clipboard.
Engine, DCC addresses and throttle information is posted on the back, eliminating the need for Engine Cards. The figures at the bottom show ProtoThrottle customization and functions available.

If you are interested in learning more about Waybills, see these links…