The Best Norfolk Southern Hump Yard? The Famous Conway Yard in Action

[@deplepfan]

Awesome job. A big ole hump yard,gotta be one of my favorite rail yards.🇺🇸💯

[@DerrickTony68]

Conway Yard is in Borough of Conway and Baden. Which is 20 minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh on Ohio River Blvd (PA RT 65). In Beaver County on NS Fort Wayne Line it Open in the Mid1950s when the PRR Built this Yard , replacing the Pitcairn Yard to the East the Yard is 4 miles Long once the Largest Yard I'm the US. THE UP Bailey Yard in North Platte,NEB Took over. It is one of the Busiest Yards in the East

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for all the great info! I do appreciate it.

[@bhproductions1061]

Awesome coverage! This is my favorite Railfan spot to go to

[@randydobson1863]

Hi NKY Railfan & it's is Randy and i like yours video is Cool & Thanks NKY Railfan & Friends Randy

[@nkyrailfan]

Hey Randy! I'm glad you like the videos. Have a great day.

[@WesleyEast-RRfan]

pretty cool. the Galesburg classification yard hump is SO loud too.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'd love to make a trip to Galesburg, but it's in the airspace of the airport and I can only fly my drone 100 feet in the air over the yard.

[@WesleyEast-RRfan]

@@nkyrailfan Knox hwy 10 has wide shoulders which one can pull off and view the north edge of the hump and engine facilities.

[@JustAGamerA]

Depending when exactly this was shot, i might of been on that csx local going to the shell plant. I was almost definetly in the yard across the river at least. The hump is annoyingly loud even across the river while im switching all night.

[@nkyrailfan]

I was there on Sunday, 11/24. Do you all see a good amount of traffic in the yard? I saw several trains come through. It must be the river valley or something, because that is definitely the loudest hump I've covered.

[@JustAGamerA]

@@nkyrailfan i wasnt working that day. That yard only gets local traffic. Road trains used to stop and work there, but now they do all of that in Demmler yard in mckeesport. And we have a dedicated transfer local just to bring in customer cars to aliquippa and take the outbounds back to Demmler. The line itself is pretty busy. Good mix of intermodal through trains, mixed freight, along with coke and coal unit trains

[@rjjones4372]

How many cars do you get out of the shell plant per week? Rumor has it they approached us at NS first, but NS said no bc they didnt want to build a bridge

[@JustAGamerA]

@@rjjones4372 on a busy week we could pull 300+

[@jackdillon3815]

As a young kid in the late 40s early 50s I lived on the bluffs at Freedom so saw the yards every day. Back than both humps serviced west bound traffic. To my sorrow I saw the death of steam. Most of the employees were brakemen or switchmen. Brakemen on the boxcars was a very dangerous job. Used to lose one every two months on average. The father of one of my friends was caught in a coupler and asked that it not be released until he had given final instructions. He died immediately after coupler release.

[@zacmoore6209]

Great vid man, u should check out CSX Willard yard in Willard OH it’s smaller yard but a lot of traffic moves through there and bnsfs Memphis yard it’s an intermodal facility with a hump

[@nkyrailfan]

I am planning to head back to Willard at some point. I went up there a year or so ago, but it was so windy, I couldn't fly my drone. It seemed pretty busy from my ground spot. I think the Memphis facility is too close to the airport to fly my drone. I drove by the yard though, and couldn't get over how big the facility was (lots of FedEx trailers and containers).

[@walkersrails]

Nothing like this in the UK - Great video

[@nkyrailfan]

Greetings from the United States. Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed the video.

[@leemccready845]

Between 12:20 and 13:15 there is a bald eagle setting on the light tower in the middle of the screen.

[@nkyrailfan]

I have to say this... You really are eagle eyed to spot that! Thanks for pointing the eagle out. I watched the footage several times as part of the edit and never spotted it.

[@rjjones4372]

The "pin puller's shed" is known at Conway as the "Hump Shanty"

[@samsrailventures1961]

We lived near there way back in '86. I think they had both humps then. Up above the yard, in the town of Conway, you could hear the hump squealing 24/7. Our favorite spot was to eat at a Wendy's which was right across the road from the tracks. Looks like it might be a Burger King now.

[@nkyrailfan]

This is by far the loudest hump yard I've been too. I can only imagine how loud it is a little higher up.

[@samsrailventures1961]

@@nkyrailfan Actually, I work out of Argentine Yard KC. I usually put in foam earplugs anytime I'm working near the hump crest. But the RR is full of loud sounds. I watched an episode of "This Old House" one time and they focused on protective gear. Air nailers, even hammering a nail with a framing hammer can damage hearing over time. It made me think about wearing hearing protection when working around locos. They are always just waiting to hit you with a super loud blast of compressed air right when you walk by. So, anytime I'm working on or around the locos, the earplugs go in.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm glad to hear you're protecting your hearing. I'm actually in the planning stages of a potential spring trip that would include a day of recording in KC, with several hours at Argentine yard. I'll try to let you know if it happens and what day I would be at the yard.

[@samsrailventures1961]

@@nkyrailfan Yeah, just let me know when you'll be around.

[@nickjohnston1331]

Outbound yard on left is 9 yard. Handles East and larger West Bounds. Outbound on the right is 2 yard handles westbounds.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the information. I really do appreciate it.

[@Seaboardsystem-t7e]

Do you know exactly where all the track and equipment from the other pulled up hump yard went?

[@nkyrailfan]

I believe it went to Enola Yard. Here's a thread discussing the two yards and their humps: www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,5155473

[@ryano.4380]

That wasn’t 4 autoracks; that’s actually two cars

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info. I couldn't see if they were articulated or not.

[@fakecumberland]

No issues with proximity to the airport?

[@nkyrailfan]

Nope. It's several miles outside the controlled airspace.

[@Motherslug-q7l]

Like I said in an earlier video Conway was 1 of 3 Biggest Double Hump Yards in the World other 2 were Altoona and Enola Yard. 2:18 SD40-2, MT-6 Slug with RCO and RPU-6 Slug. The 2 gentlemen with the pin-puller on hump are most likely Hump Master supervisor and Veteran pin-puller teaching Rookie in's & outs of Humping, Rookie pin-puller most likely is wearing the Brighter looking Safety Vest as only year old working the Hump vests will get really dirty fast. Humps are only allowed to Hump up to 7 cars on a string no more than that becomes dangerous, the 7:11 Auto-Rack Auto-Max being Humped are stuck together so 1 is actually 2 different carloads owned by BNSF and KCS. Conway Yard may still have Pin Brakes another form of Brake Retarder at the front of the receiving bowel when Conrail operated Conway they were used, not sure if NS removed them but they sure are a thing. on each track on the inside rail both sides are 3 spikey pins which are operated by air, sometimes theses spikes are painted yellow so you can spot them easier, used as a safety Net so cars don't go rolling out onto Mainline or sidings. 15:09 Rare sight of Conrail Bay-window Caboose upper right-hand, Left-to-Right locomotives SD40E, AC44C6M, SD60E & SD60E. 15:50 Left-to-Right SD60E & SD40E. Great video sir really enjoyed seeing Conway again, old age and bad legs has stopped me from actually going there in real life which was a treat to see in a video.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for all the great info and pointing things out. I do appreciate it. I'm hoping to get to Enola and Altoona and Horseshoe Curve this spring. Is there anywhere else you think is worth a visit in PA?

[@thomaskerley1388]

How do they know how much push to give the cars going over the hump? What happens if it is too much or too little?

[@nkyrailfan]

So, there's actually no push given at the end. The cars are pushed up the hump hill and then uncoupled at the crest. Gravity then pulls the car down the hill. There are three sets of retarders that slow the car down. The retarders know the weight of the car and how much speed it needs to get to its destination track. They work by applying a clamping force to the when to slow it down to the needed speed. The whole system really is incredible.

[@thomaskerley1388]

@@nkyrailfan It must be pretty incredible to keep track of all those cars. I'm sure it is all computerized but how did they do it before computers? That would make your head spin!

[@nkyrailfan]

It amazes me they have been using hump yards for 70+ years. My guess is they weren't nearly as efficient as they are now. I'm sure there had to be a significant number of cars needing to be re-sorted.

[@csxnspittsburghdivision8580]

I wish I could railfan that yard again and see Norfolk Southern slug.

[@Schmitty-zm7fz]

What kind of radio do you use?

[@nkyrailfan]

It's a Uniden BC 75 XLT. I'm looking to upgrade because I'm not too happy with the overall reception.

[@dknowles60]

the wick more man yard is a lot biger then con way

[@nkyrailfan]

If you're interested, here's a video I did on Moorman Yard in Bellevue: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH6UZ5tqd8mGfrM

[@mhawk71]

i work here ugh

[@treos17]

would be nice if they could block my inbound trains bit better