Model Railroad
Operations Software
Car forwarding, waybill generation, switchlists, and the 4-cycle waybill system — all digital. Replace your paper car cards and run your layout like a real railroad.
Core Operations Features
Everything for Prototypical Operations
From car forwarding logic to printed switchlists, RailScanPro handles the complexity so you can focus on running trains.
Car Forwarding
Automatic car routing based on industry demand, car type, and load/empty status. The system generates realistic traffic patterns following prototypical railroad operating practices, ensuring every car movement has a purpose.
- Demand-driven car assignments
- Load/empty cycle tracking
- Multi-industry routing
Switchlists
Generate clear, printable switchlists for each crew assignment. Lists include pickup and setout instructions, track assignments, and special handling notes — just like the real railroad dispatcher would prepare.
- Printable crew instructions
- Track-specific assignments
- Special handling notes
Train Building
Assemble consists based on car destinations, blocking rules, and tonnage limits. The system respects prototype practices like setting out cars in station order and observing hazmat placement rules for realistic operations.
- Destination-based blocking
- Tonnage & length limits
- Station-order setouts
Getting Started
Four Steps to Prototypical Operations
Set up once, run sessions forever. RailScanPro learns your layout and generates realistic traffic.
Define Your Layout
Enter your towns, yards, staging tracks, and spurs. Tell the system about your track arrangement and the geographic flow of your railroad.
Set Up Industries
Assign industries to spurs with car type requirements and shipment frequencies. A lumber yard needs flatcars, a grain elevator needs hoppers — the system handles the rest.
Build Trains
The car forwarding engine assigns cars to industries, generates waybills, and builds train consists with proper blocking and station order.
Run Operations
Print switchlists, assign crews, and run your session. After the session, advance the clock and the system generates fresh traffic for the next run.
Deep Dive
Operations Features in Detail
4-Cycle Waybill System
The gold standard of model railroad car forwarding, pioneered by the Operations Special Interest Group (OpSIG). Each car card holds up to four waybills that cycle automatically, creating realistic movement patterns without manual intervention.
Cycle 1: Loaded Shipment
Car picks up a load at the originating industry and is billed to the destination.
Cycle 2: At Destination
Car arrives, is spotted for unloading, and the waybill flips to the return move.
Cycle 3: Empty Return
Empty car is routed back to a home yard or reassigned to a new loading point.
Cycle 4: Reload or Reroute
Car is either reloaded at a different industry or sent off-layout via staging.
Digital Car Cards
Every piece of rolling stock on your layout gets a digital car card that tracks its current location, load status, home road, and movement history. No more lost cards, illegible handwriting, or worn-out card pockets. Your car cards live in the cloud and are always up to date.
Operations Sessions
Organize your operating sessions with structured timelines, crew assignments, and automatic traffic generation. Each session advances the layout clock, creating fresh car movements and new challenges for your crews. Track session history, crew performance, and operational metrics over time.
Crew assignments
Session metrics
Auto traffic generation
Why RailScanPro?
Compare Your Options
See how RailScanPro operations stacks up against other approaches.
| Feature | RailScanPro | JMRI OperationsPro | Paper Car Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car forwarding engine | Manual | ||
| 4-cycle waybill system | |||
| Printable switchlists | N/A | ||
| Cloud-based (access anywhere) | |||
| Integrated inventory | |||
| AI-powered setup | |||
| JMRI integration | Native | ||
| Mobile/tablet support | |||
| Multi-user sessions | |||
| Setup time | Minutes | Hours | Days/Weeks |
Ready to Run Your Railroad?
Join model railroaders who have replaced paper car cards with intelligent operations software. Every plan includes full operations features — car forwarding, waybills, switchlists, and more.
All features included on every tier. Cancel anytime. Questions? support@railscanpro.com