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Mathematics > Combinatorics

arXiv:1810.07970 (math)
[Submitted on 18 Oct 2018 (v1), last revised 3 Apr 2019 (this version, v2)]

Title:Inglenook Shunting Puzzles

Authors:Simon R. Blackburn
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Abstract:An inglenook puzzle is a classic shunting (switching) puzzle often found on model railway layouts. A collection of wagons sits in a fan of sidings with a limited length headshunt (lead track). The aim of the puzzle is to rearrange the wagons into a desired order (often a randomly chosen order). This article answers the question: When can you be sure this can always be done? The problem of finding a solution in a minimum number of moves is also addressed.
Comments: 23 pages, 4 figures. Minor typos in previous version corrected
Subjects: Combinatorics (math.CO); Discrete Mathematics (cs.DM)
MSC classes: 68P10
Cite as: arXiv:1810.07970 [math.CO]
  (or arXiv:1810.07970v2 [math.CO] for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1810.07970

Submission history

From: Simon Blackburn [view email]
[v1] Thu, 18 Oct 2018 09:41:07 UTC (3,106 KB)
[v2] Wed, 3 Apr 2019 11:54:38 UTC (3,106 KB)
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