Human Resources Work Order Submission Policies

Thank you for your interest in submitting a work order. NERR serves a wide range of members, each with their own skills and personal goals. Regardless of the difficulty, NERR will strive to fill every work order received. Please keep the following standards and guidelines in mind before submitting a work order for consideration.

Entry Form

Guidelines

1. Keep them within approximately 2 hours.
2. Verify that you are only using NERR equipment (available on the NERR site, this also includes NERX equipment). You can also use the default US2 equipment.
3. Keep waits for AI trains under 10 minutes. This is suppose to be fun, even though we like it as real as it gets most members do not have the time to run a work order in which you are left staring at the screen for 30 minutes waiting for a train.
4. Be very careful when using reverse points and AI trains as the reverse point can easily cause a stalemate with an AI train if the engineer is running faster or slower then the work order was written. If in doubt break the work order into smaller pieces or give detail instructions on the timing.
5. For work orders longer then 1 hour please supply a timetable of potential AI meets.

Naming Conventions

The first two letters in the work order name should be NE for North Eastern Railroad. Two letters follow this, representing the route, based on the following chart:

This is followed by the creator’s NERR engineer number, and then a sequentially increasing number based on how many work orders have submitted for each route by each developer.

Naming a Series of Work Orders

If more than one work order is required for a specific activity (for instance, the training work orders), NERR convention states that additional letters can be added to the file in order to show which part of the work order this represents.

Consist Names

All consists names should start with NE and include an explanation of how the consist is made up.

Note: MSTS has a limit on how long a consist name can be, so be as descriptive as possible within the limitations.

Path and Service Names

The path and service names should reflect the work order name.

Documentation

NERR maintains strict standards for work order documentation. The current format includes the following information included in a text document bundled with the work order:

Description – Include the route used, and any additional information such as where the activity begins and ends as deemed appropriate.

Work Order – The work order name (as indicated above).

Time – Starting time of the activity.

Season – Chosen season (ie. winter or summer).

Weather – Chosen weather (ie. clear or snow).

Duration – The estimated amount of time to run the work order.

Train – The locomotive that the engineer will be running.

Class – This is the difficulty rating that is being used by NERR on a scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (most difficult). An easy work order might include a lot of instructional pop-ups, a short running time, and a loose schedule (ie. on a passenger run). The most difficult work orders might be ones with only the information on what must be done given over a long duration and with a tight schedule on passenger runs.

Notes – Background information (such as an optional back story to why you are performing this work order), and expectations of the engineer in the work order. You could provide the stops for a passenger run or the sidings and consists that would be picked up or delivered for a freight work order.

Equipment – Equipment list will be included by the F-team.

Name – Finally add your name and engineer number so that engineers who run your work orders know who to congratulate in the forums.

Note: doncam65 has created a template and has been modified by the mow that may help out in the creation of the work order, the zip file contains both an excel and html file.

Work Order Submission

Forward all work orders to mow@vnerr.com. Send a zip file including the apk file, the supporting documentation as listed above and a copy of the evaluation in order to show that it is possible to complete the work order.

What’s Next?

Your work order will be tested by at least two members of the NERR’s Feasibility Team to ensure that NERR engineers can meet the demands of the work order in an efficient and timely manner. This can take up to 14 days depending on how many activities have been submitted, but it will usually be completed within one week. The team members assigned to your activity will contact you should you be in violation of NERR policies, or if there are questions or comments regarding your activity. Once the team members have approved your work order, it will be added to NERR’s website.

Questions?

There are many resources available if you have questions about creating work orders. These include www.train-sim.com and NERR’s forums. Questions regarding NERR work order standards or the submission procedure can usually be answered by searching the forums, as others may have had similar questions. Posting to the forums will otherwise provide the fastest results.

Thank you for contributing to NERR.