Patent ID: 8019497

Claim:
A method for computing railcar switching solutions in a railway switch yard having: a switch for receiving a group of railcars to be switched, the group of railcars being arranged into two or more railcar blocks; a plurality of classification tracks for receiving railcars from the switch, wherein the switch directs railcars from the group of railcars to respective classification tracks; said method comprising: providing in a machine readable storage medium an electronic representation of the status of each classification track, the status capable to acquire at least two conditions namely an opened condition and a closed condition; in the opened condition the classification track is allowed to receive a railcar that belongs to any one of the railcar blocks; in the closed condition the classification track is associated with a particular one of the railcar blocks and is allowed to receive railcars from the particular one of the railcar blocks while being closed to at least another one of the railcar blocks; computing with a computing device switching solutions for the railcars of the group of railcars, each switching solution being indicative of a classification track in which the railcar is to be directed, said computing using as a factor the status of each classification track and includes: for a railcar that is a first railcar of a given railcar block for which a switching solution is computed, selecting a classification track among the classification tracks having an opened condition; changing the status of the selected classification track in the machine readable storage medium to a closed condition; switching the first railcar according to the computed switching solution.