THE RAILCAR NETWORK MODEL

This report describes a railway planning tool. It represents a five-year development activity directed at the creation of a set of analytical models that can be used to analyze yards and line sections. These component models are integrated into a model of an entire system. Thus, the tools presented here are usable for the study of individual parts of a railway or can be directed at the study of the complete railway system. This report is divided into four parts: (1) Overview of the Railcar Network Model; (2) Line Model; (3) Yard Model; (4) System Model. The first part provides an overview of the total model and how the components fit together. It also describes the capabilities and limitations of each. The remaining parts present the details of each component model and the overall systems model. In each part the theoretical considerations are first presented, followed by detailed documentation on the computer programs used to implement the model. The computer programs are all written in Fortran.