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

[@charleswoods9938]

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

[@davidroberts7425]

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

[@LandNfan]

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

[@osrr6422]

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

[@stevenreynolds8393]

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]

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]

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

[@ohiorailfan124]

Also nice catch of the Csx operation lifesaver unit!

[@nkyrailfan]

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.

[@robertsullivan3877]

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

[@ronhill5118]

Erwin looks to have been a sizable yard at one time on Google Earth.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

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]

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

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

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

[@Jennifersykes76]

CSX

[@markandkiminnewzealand2702]

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]

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.

[@charleswoods9938]

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

[@truckertrev3837]

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]

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

[@BlackMan614]

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]

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.

[@CPAlburtisRailroader]

I’ll answer your question about why some cars are shoved in and not kicked. Hazmat… There’s a whole book on it, what cars can be next to others, etc. kicking and flat switching are in there too. Little different on each railroad, but mostly the same.

[@jerrysinclair3771]

Very nice video. very informative!

[@ThaSilentOne420]

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

[@discgolfillustrated2640]

Another excellent video, ty

[@nkyrailfan]

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

[@KimiWallrus]

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

[@nkyrailfan]

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

[@KimiWallrus]

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

[@bobjozsa5266]

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]

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

[@DavidMcClain-nm4hj]

I like to watch switch ING and yard work

[@wcucash8313]

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]

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.

[@trainsofmichiganproduction5418]

I see 4568 back there can't miss him😂

[@johnwhalen3037]

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

[@25mfd]

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!!!!

[@drc930]

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]

I shot this around mid-March of this year.

[@coxsj]

Thank you, thank you!!

[@Keikdv]

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]

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.

[@dallaswashington481]

If it's a blue flag up... they are supposed to have lock-out protection on the track. The term is blue flag protection. The Carmen can't work on the track without it. The track is locked out either by a 🔐 or but a remote computerized lock. No one else can operate it until the person gives up their blue flag protection

[@ohiorailfan124]

Awesome!😊 video

[@jefhow22]

Absolutely awesome and amazing....👍☕️

[@nkyrailfan]

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

[@jmchristoph]

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]

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.

[@25mfd]

*is there any data at all on whether flat or hump switching is more likely the culprit?* actually, the ENTIRE rail trip can be the culprit... if performed correctly both flat and hump switching will cause no damage... but any damage could have come from the mainline portion of the trip as well... there's a LOT of hard herky-jerky forwards and backwards movement from the train as it speeds up and slows down... you get a LOT of what's called BUFF and DRAFT (slack running in slack stretched out)... there is also a surprisingly high amount of bouncing up and down as well... vehicles inside auto racks can and have jumped the chocks causing damage the MAIN issue with rail loading to prevent damage is properly securing the load because there's just no 100% guarantee that there won't be some severe slack action that could damage contents that otherwise would not have been damaged had it been properly secured

[@shishkabob73]

Does someone need to confirm or finish the connections for the tank cars (or others)?

[@nkyrailfan]

I believe a person goes through and makes sure the connections are secure. But since a person isn't able to move the cars individually, my guess is they won't find any bad connections until they try to pull out the cars

[@shishkabob73]

@nkyrailfan there's a "pin puller". I assume there must be a "pin pusher" and someone to connect air hoses?

[@nkyrailfan]

Correct. Someone will go through and connect the air hoses when the cut of cars is complete.

[@trainsofmichiganproduction5418]

5:04 is that a sinkhole in the yard?

[@nkyrailfan]

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

[@trainsofmichiganproduction5418]

@@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]

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?

[@dallaswashington481]

Flat switching is the final level of being a switch person.... anyone can hump cars 😂😂😂 its a sweet science. Learning the yard knowing how much force is needed...

[@nkyrailfan]

It really is amazing to watch. I can't imagine how long it takes to get that touch for just enough speed to get the cars where they need to go but not do any damage when they get there.

[@lewisschrader1097]

Time is money hump yards are the best.

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@kens.3729]

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]

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