Inglenook Model Train Games

Inglenook switching or shunting puzzles can be a fun way to spend some time. They can be easily setup with a few packages of model railroad track. You could also set one up with wooden railroad track or just paper and strings.

You can get more information about how the Inglenook puzzle works here: http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/Inglenook/inglenook-trackplan.html

At it's core a 5-3-3 Puzzle has 8 cars (wagons) and one locomotive. You need to make a train consist up with 5 cars in a specific order, but the pieces of track can only hold so many cars each so you have to work at moving things around to build your train. 

Some people like to just pull tags out of a hat to decide on their final train makeup, while that works I've put together a small web app that lets you save and reload your cars and randomize your output train. It's available on my website at: https://www.smythenet.com/ig-select/

So if you're looking for a fun activity for an afternoon or weekend to keep busy, check out Inglenook puzzles and my selector app.