Welcome to Shunt, a daily train-shunting puzzle. Every day you get an Inglenook Sidings layout with eight wagons. Your goal is to make today’s five-wagon train. The catch: you have only three short sidings and a headshunt that holds just three wagons, so spare track is tight. If you’ve never played before, here’s how to work through your first puzzle.
What Is an Inglenook Sidings Puzzle?
Inglenook Sidings is a classic puzzle concept. You have a small yard: a headshunt (a working track that can hold three wagons) and three short sidings. The sidings are where extra wagons live, but they’re also where you’ll shuffle things out of the way.
Shunt places eight wagons across this layout. The target consist for the day tells you exactly which five wagons need to be coupled together, and in what order. The other three wagons aren’t part of the train — they just need to be parked somewhere out of the way. Since the final train uses five wagons, the puzzle gives you only three slots of spare track to play with. That’s why every move matters.
Read the Target Before You Move
Look at the day’s target consist first. It tells you two things:
- Which five wagons are in the train
- The exact order they should be in
Identify the three wagons that are not in the target. These are your “off wagons” — the ones causing all the trouble. On your first solve, don’t worry about doing the puzzle in the fewest moves. Just make a valid train. The move counter is fun to check, but your first success is about learning how the yard works.
A Simple Plan for Your First Solve
There is no single right way to solve an Inglenook puzzle, but a simple approach works well for beginners:
- Find an off wagon. If you see a wagon that isn’t in today’s target, make it your goal to move it out of the way.
- Use the headshunt as your work area. The headshunt gives you room to reposition wagons. Whenever you need to get past a wagon, move it to the headshunt first.
- Park off wagons together. When you remove an off wagon, place it in a siding that is empty or already full of other off wagons. Keep wanted wagons as accessible as possible.
- Work through the target order. Pick the first wagon of the target consist and get it into a clear spot. Then find the second wagon, move it next to the first in the right order, and so on.
- Check your five-wagon train. Once the five target wagons are in the correct sequence, the three off wagons should be sitting harmlessly in the sidings. You’re done.
Tip: If a move leaves the yard in a tangle, remember you can always move wagons back into a siding and try again. The puzzle is designed to be solvable with only three slots of spare track, even if your route isn’t the prettiest.
What If You Get Stuck?
It’s normal to get stuck while learning. Here are some ways to reset your thinking:
- Look at what’s blocking you. Usually it’s an off wagon parked between you and a wagon you need. Move that off wagon somewhere else.
- Work backwards. Instead of building the train from the front, try to find the last wagon of the target and make it the back, then build toward the front.
- Count your spaces. If you’re one wagon short of room, you might be holding too many wagons in the headshunt. Put one back in a siding.
FAQ
Do I have to use all eight wagons?
No. The final train is exactly five wagons. The other three can stay parked in the sidings.
Is Shunt timed?
No. It’s a free, daily puzzle with no sign-up, and you can take as long as you want.
Does “fewest moves” matter for a beginner?
Not for finishing the puzzle. Shunt tracks whether you matched the fewest moves possible, but that’s a bonus for later. First, just get the right train formed.
What exactly is a headshunt?
A headshunt is the short track used to move wagons out of sidings and reorganize them. In Shunt, it holds room for just three wagons — use it as your main workspace.
Once you’ve formed your first five-wagon train, you’ll have a feel for the layout. Come back tomorrow: a new consist will be waiting.
