Rail Yard Humping Vs Flat-Track Switching: A Tale of Two Yards

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Rail Yard Humping Vs Flat-Track Switching: A Tale of Two Yards

Рет қаралды 19,243

Күн бұрын

In this video we look at the differences in sorting rail cars in a hump yard versus a flat-track switching yard.
You'll see hump operations at the CSX Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati and flat-track switching at Parson's Yard in Columbus.
We compare the two and show some of the similarities that enable them to be as efficient as possible.
Let me know what you prefer to watch in the comments.
Queensgate Yard: 9:15
CSX Operation Lifesaver Unit: 40:22
Parsons Yard: 40:30
Genesee & Wyoming Locomotives: 1:40:42
Switcher Locomotive: 1:50:37
What's Left of the Roundhouse: 2:43:11

Пікірлер: 54

@davidroberts7425 4 ай бұрын

I am always mesmerised by the speed that cars are sorted by either method. Blows my mind. Thanks for the explanation.

@robertsullivan3877 4 ай бұрын

Nice!! Reminds me of CSX,s former Erwin Tennessee yard!

@ohiorailfann124 4 ай бұрын

Also nice catch of the Csx operation lifesaver unit!

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

I wish it was in a better position so I could have got a better view of it. I also found out after the fact, the law enforcement unit was in the Queensgate Yard as well.

@charleswoods9938 4 ай бұрын

I like Humping the Yard more then Flat Switching the yard I think it's Quicker than Flat Switching the Yard

@osrr6422 4 ай бұрын

Most bowl tracks usually have a sort of static retarder at the end. That catches the first car that comes in.

@stevenreynolds8393 4 ай бұрын

That is the case with Queensgate. As the train blocks are complete they close the front end retarder in the track and open the tail end retarder. The trim job can then enter the track with a locomotive and couple the cars. After all three or so blocks are coupled the trim job will connect the blocks and move them to the departure tracks. In the departure tracks a Car man will blue flag the track, connect the air lines and final inspect the cars. Eventually the road locomotives will be added and brakes are tested. The road crew might add non-humped blocks and off it goes.

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for the info, I'll have to go to the other end of the bowl and see if I can spot the static retarders.

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

@stevenreynolds8393 thanks for the great information. I really do appreciate it.

@LandNfan 4 ай бұрын

I’ve been fascinated by hump yards since I saw one on a Cub Scout field trip in 1955.

@StormySkyRailProductions 4 ай бұрын

Awesome video so far as once again giving us a birds eye view of the railyards. Enjoy watching these videos from up above. Have a wonderful upcoming holiday weekend.(Steve)

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Thank you as always, Steve. Have a great holiday weekend as well.

@StormySkyRailProductions 4 ай бұрын

@@nkyrailfan Your very welcome and thank you very much also.

@discgolfillustrated2640 3 ай бұрын

Another excellent video, ty

@nkyrailfan 3 ай бұрын

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@markandkiminnewzealand2702 4 ай бұрын

Greetings from Christchurch New Zealand Thanks for your in-depth informative videos I presume that a yard worker has to go along and hook up all air lines after the cars have been humped. Wondering what happens if there is an occasion where cars are not connected Regards Mark

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Greetings from the United States. I'm very glad to hear you enjoy the videos. I do not work for a railroad, but here is how others have explained the process to me. Once all the cars have been sorted into the bowl tracks from the hump to create a train, a yard crew will pull those cuts of cars into the departure section of the yard. As the crews work to do that, they will make sure each car is coupled before pulling out of the bowl. This is where if a car doesn't couple, the crew would manually go through and make sure it connects. Now that the cars are coupled, they're taken to a track in what's known as the departure yard and coupled together to make fewer, but longer cuts of cars (2-3 vs the 4-5 in the bowl). Those are then hooked up to yard air (if available in the facility) to fill the air brake reservoirs. The humping and sorting process in general is done with no air in the cars to prevent a brake application. Each car will then be inspected before a road crew connects the long cuts of cars and departs the yard. I hope this helps.

@KimiWallrus 4 ай бұрын

When police calls every 3 mins interrupt the rail yard noise lol.

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

😂😂😂 There were a lot of emergencies while I was filming. They were fire crews though, not police.

@KimiWallrus 4 ай бұрын

@@nkyrailfan I worked on Spring Grove. At the north side of Queensgate. It was solid both there lol.

@BlackMan614 4 ай бұрын

Great video. I was under the impression, from PSR, that the hump is most efficient when moving blocks of cars where order doesn't matter, i.e. not building locals. The flat yards serve the humps and vice-versa. Yet in your video Queensgate is sorting single cars. My son used to work there and he said HH wanted to convert it to a flat yard due to its low car counts switched in a 24 hr period - which I think would not be possible due to its location/layout.

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think you're correct, there isn't really a way to make it a flat track switching yard without spending quite a lot of money.

@ThaSilentOne420 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the time put into your vids i really enjoy them

@jefhow22 11 күн бұрын

Absolutely awesome and amazing....👍☕️

@nkyrailfan 11 күн бұрын

Thank you very much. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

@mikereed174 4 ай бұрын

Very neat, I need this on my HO Scale Model Railroad.😁

@jerrysinclair3771 4 ай бұрын

Very nice video. very informative!

@bobjozsa5266 4 ай бұрын

The cars are stopped after they’re humped at the end of the track by a thing called a Skate. It looks like a cows rung, made out of steel, and the wheels roll up on it and the car comes to a stop.

@jeffbrooks5580 3 ай бұрын

I'm not sure if it's called a cow rung or but ur right about it being a skate it is made of steel it's like the retarded pushed on the wheels from both sides

@charleswoods9938 4 ай бұрын

I Too like Hump Yards more than Flat Switching Yards you can work more in Hump Yards also you can do more of the workload you can get done a lot Faster that way

@coxsj 4 ай бұрын

Thank you, thank you!!

@truckertrev3837 2 ай бұрын

There us a rr company in Wisconsin called Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. They have a nice sized rail yard in Madison and Janesville l, Wisconsin. Also, could you visit the Canadian Pacific Rail Yard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Thanks.

@nkyrailfan 2 ай бұрын

I'll see if I can make it up to Wisconsin at some point. I think that would be pretty exciting to check out.

@Keikdv 4 ай бұрын

That kicking of cars is really using the expertise of the people on the job: Give it speed but not too much so it will hit the previous one too hard. Not to little because you end up with space between the cars. But you need to know before: the wheater (with or against wind), load (empties roll faster), track (slippery and the car will run faster) and the amount of cars in the spurs. Not an easy job. Wheather can change along the job. And than, they also do it in the dark, adding more uncertain facts. And remember: no retarders to depend on... I have great respect for those working in that kind of yards! That man at 06:44 should NOT have been there, al least not on the track they are switching too. From the footage at normal speed around 54:00 mark, it did look that the shove was stopped around the spot, the inspector went under neath a car. But at 54:44 you can really see that there is not much space on either side of a car when tracks are full. My father did work in these kind of yards and they never worked like this. Everybody out, and only in when the moving train is out. And he did most of it's work in the dark of night...

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the great info and insight. I really do appreciate it. The process of kicking cars is fascinating to me for everything you just mentioned. The amount of skill is quite impressive.

@trainsofmichiganproduction5418 4 ай бұрын

I see 4568 back there can't miss him😂

@ohiorailfann124 4 ай бұрын

Awesome!😊 video

@johnwhalen3037 4 ай бұрын

Hump yards are better then flat switching you get done with a hump yard

@25mfd 4 ай бұрын

there are pros and cons for the use of both... one HUGE con for a hump yard is COST... cost to build and cost to maintain... looking at this vid i see so many components that need to be cared for and baby sat... EXPENSIVE!!!!

@wcucash8313 4 ай бұрын

looks like you were there the day the 3194 came in on the L542 lol and I forgot what train CSX 4568 was on

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

Unfortunately, I didn't find out until later that 3194 was in the yard. I barely caught a glimpse of it in one of the clips.

@drc930 4 ай бұрын

Really cool, I love the shots of Parsons. What was the date of those? I ask because CSXT 4057 was released from the shops in Waterville ME late last fall and wondering if this was taken since then.

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

I shot this around mid-March of this year.

@jmchristoph 4 ай бұрын

So when I hear shippers say they prefer trucking to rail freight because the train damages their product en route, is there any data at all on whether flat or hump switching is more likely the culprit?

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

I have not found any data regarding damaged cargo on trains vs trucks. I do know from comments made by railroaders that the coupling system in the cars has been improved to safely buffer most impacts. That's why as many as four cars are able to be sorted without damage to the cars. For instance, I used to see "Do not hump" placards on auto racks. Now, I no longer see that which tells me the cars safety systems have been dramatically improved. However, my guess is any fragile cargo (glass products, etc.) is not sent via rail. Hopefully, someone can chime in with more information.

@lewisschrader1097 4 ай бұрын

Time is money hump yards are the best.

@trainsofmichiganproduction5418 4 ай бұрын

5:04 is that a sinkhole in the yard?

@nkyrailfan 4 ай бұрын

I don't believe so. Although, not shown in the video, they were dealing with some ballast not staying put near the roundhouse.

@trainsofmichiganproduction5418 4 ай бұрын

@@nkyrailfan I was like man what is that In background I was kinda confused cause you don't see any tracks in that spot and locomotives as buffers by the looks of it 🤣

@Narpets2112 4 ай бұрын

If you talking about what I think you are talking about, it looks like a giant pile of dirty snow covering three tracks to me. I also noticed a slew of emergency vehicles to the left of the bowl. I wonder what was going on there, @NKY Railfan?

@michaelhband 4 ай бұрын

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

@kens.3729 4 ай бұрын

Hump Yards are Super Efficient but the Goofballs in Railroad Mgmt. don’t Benefit from this Method in their Bone-us Check so they would rather just Shut them Down.

@25mfd 4 ай бұрын

*Bone-us* ... aint that the TRUTH!!!!