Saw my first yard yesterday--Dang!

[SpaceMouse]

I went to a train show and on the way back I decided to bypass a toll road to save 50 cents and got lost. So instead of back tracking I just kept going in the general direction I was going since it I was heading toward Pittsburgh where I was to meet my wife. I was ahead of schedule so when a train when by I changed directions to follow it and ended up on the Monongahela River. This was good because as long as I headed south and stayed between the Monongahela River and the Allegany River and headed south I'd hit Pittsburgh.

Anyway I look toward the river below me and I could see four tracks. This was a good sign for railfanning I thought. I didn't even blink and it was 8 tracks. And it was full of freight cars. These cars were loaded because several had lumber loads wrapped in paper. And it was densly packed with these cars. Next thing I knew, the yard was maybe a 1/4 mile across and 50 or more tracks wide. And jammed with rolling stock. A sea of rolling stock. It seemed odd that nothing was moving even though it was Sunday. And there were no engines in sight. Finally, I saw a small group of ConRail engines, maybe 50 or so, and one switcher. As I was nearing the end of the yard, it was down to a mere 20 tracks or so, A double headed Conrail was pulling out. By the time I passed it, it was down to a 5 or 6 rail main. I honestly couldn't count it as I was on the same level pretty much and the tracks blended together.

The yard was 5 to 10 miles long. I didn't keep track. There was a sign on a signal light structure that said East Conway.

Was this a major hub or are there lots of yards like this?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse
... Next thing I knew, the yard was maybe a 1/4 mile across and 50 or more tracks wide. And jammed with rolling stock. A sea of rolling stock. . .The yard was 5 to 10 miles long. . .
Was this a major hub or are there lots of yards like this?

Chip,
That is a prototype staging yard, you're not supposed to actually be able to see it.[swg][(-D]

Seriously though...that is a 'major' yard and there are lots of them scattered throughout North America (but nowhere near as many as 30 years ago [sigh]). Most modelers need to use selective compression to mimic something like this. My visible yard only contains 6 tracks for car storage.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen


Chip,
That is a prototype staging yard, you're not supposed to actually be able to see it.[swg][(-D]

ROFLMAO!

[tstage]

Chip,

I LOVE those sorta road trips: Just get on a road, head off in the direction where you need to be going, and...see where it leads.

A few Saturdays ago, I was coming back from the LHS and decided to drive through the old neighborhoods that are situated above the steel mills. The road wound around and through the neighborhood and eventually it went down into the area where the steel mills are located, known in Cleveland here as "The Flats". The Cleveland Port Authority (CPA) runs it's operations in that area, right along the Cuyahoga River. There's petroleum storage and foundry operations going non-stop.

As I began to emerge into the area, over to the right was a petroleum distribution center with several 20K+ gallon tankers lined up in the bays. Right after that, there were about 8 or so "S-type" switchers from a variety of railroads (UP, ATSF?, and others). Tracks and piping were going in all different directions beneath me and above me. One of the many vertical lift bridges spanning the Cuyahoga (there's close to a dozen or so in The Flats) was in the up position.

As I passed the under a massive set of pipes, I slowed down and watched one of the switchers bring up some of the oldest, rustiest, most beat up, graffiti-clad set of gondolas you'll ever see into the yard area - about 8 tracks wide and opposite the steel mill - so that they could eventually be filled up with scrap. To my right, at one end of the steel mill, were 2 or 3 hot metal cars parked and awaiting there next assignment. If you looked up, you could see the "eternal flame" burning brightly above the steel mill - the natural gas byproduct of the steel manufactuing process. (It burns day and night and is visible for several miles.)

The switcher parked the beat up gondolas and headed back to wherever he was going. I had parked my car along the side of the road by then and watched him head off. Both the engineer and flagman kept looking back at me, probably mutter to themselves something like, "Uh oh, Vern. Take a look! Yep! It's another one of them train geeks gawkin' again." Ahhhh, I didn't care. I was enjoying the action and making observations.

Anyhow, I love those kind of discoveries from impromptu road trips - however long or short. My wife has learned to just "go for the ride" and trust my good sense of direction. Actually, I drove my wife through that same area just a couple of weeks ago and she even thought it was pretty cool. Her grandpa and some of her relatives used to work in the steel plants in North Braddock, PA - just outside Pittsburgh. The smell of the foundry brought back memories of playing at Grandpa and Grandma's old house, on top of the hill.

Chip, was there a good place to park the car and just watch any action that was going on?

Tom

[cwclark]

If you want to see a big yard then you'll have to travel to Kansas City ..the yard there is the largest in the United States...We have a big one in Houston also..the Englewood yard is real big...it consists of actually three yards that eventually merge into one...the first yard is towards the downtown area for sorting and eventually brought to the big yards...the SP and the UP used to meet there and exchange cars but now it's all UP tracks...one part of the yard runs north and south under the other which runs east and west...there's a spectacular hump yard there on the old SP side also...Chuck

[mustanggt]

QUOTE: If you want to see a big yard then you'll have to travel to Kansas City ..the yard there is the largest in the United States

Would that be the UP yard? I've seen pics of it in TRAINS and is that thing HUGE! Anyone wan't to model it?[:p]

[SpaceMouse]

This was my first yard of any size. I thought it was semi-big.

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Chip wrote:
Finally, I saw a small group of ConRail engines, maybe 50 or so, and one switcher.

You call "50 or so" engines a small group!? The yard here in Pensacola sees maybe fifty loco's
a week[%-)][:)]. Dave

[fiatfan]

Is the KC yard recent? I thought the UP's Bailey Yard in North Platte, NE was the largest.

Tom

[GMTRacing]

Must have been a good weekend for yardwork. Since Rt84 parallals the old Maybrook run of the New Haven, I kept a look out for track sidings and yards on the way to Pocono this weekend. Most of what was a double mainline has been reduced to just one, and I suspect the second half of the Beacon/Newburgh highway bridge is built where the old rail bridge across the Hudson was, so no sign of that or the Maybrook yards either. I didn't get off to look (not towing a 45ft trailer anyway), but i wonder if any of it is still there? Plenty of north/south branchlines though. do people actually go out looking for this stuff? Might be fun.[:)]

[BR60103]

Chip:
Last Monday we were coming back from visiting my nephew-in-law and we took Hwy 15 up through the Susquehanna Valley. Just opposite Harrisburg, we drove past Enola yard, another one claimed to be the biggest somewhere. No place to stop though (and my wife was driving) so no pix.
Consider having a look the next time you go to the capital to pay your taxes.
(did you get the pix of Kings Cross? Not sure if the e-mail went out.)

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BR60103

Chip:
Last Monday we were coming back from visiting my nephew-in-law and we took Hwy 15 up through the Susquehanna Valley. Just opposite Harrisburg, we drove past Enola yard, another one claimed to be the biggest somewhere. No place to stop though (and my wife was driving) so no pix.
Consider having a look the next time you go to the capital to pay your taxes.
(did you get the pix of Kings Cross? Not sure if the e-mail went out.)

I did get them. Thanks. My daughter is pulling out of the project so there will not be more than a nod to Hogwarts. Except the Hogwart's Freight and Ferry prototype. I'll be able to expand on the 1890's era. I've painted too many engines and too many pieces of rolling stock to turn back now.

[bogp40]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dave9999

QUOTE: Chip wrote:
Finally, I saw a small group of ConRail engines, maybe 50 or so, and one switcher.

You call "50 or so" engines a small group!? The yard here in Pensacola sees maybe fifty loco's
a week[%-)][:)]. Dave

Maybe CSX is waiting to paint the rest of their haul. Next time you might see CSX colors.
Bob K.

[ericsp]

I found this picture on UP's website at http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/bailey/graphics/3_main.jpg .
Also try http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/facilities.shtml .