The Lab

The Shunting Yard

A night yard, a handful of wagons, and a winch with only so many pulls left in it. Nothing stops halfway, so the order you park in is the whole problem.

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How it works
  1. A shunted wagon slides until something stops it — a buffer block, another wagon, or the far end of the yard. Never halfway.

    it runs to the far end
    unless a wagon is in the way
  2. You have a limited number of shunts. One slide is one shunt, however far it travels.

  3. Every yard is scored out of three stars. Park them all in the fewest shunts possible and you take all three; each extra shunt costs you one.

    the shortest solution
    one shunt more
The goal

Park every wagon on its letter, before the shunts run out.

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