Marshalling yards

[doanster]

What are they exactly???

I hear that term often but am clueless as to wat it actually means.

Thanks for helping!

[DSchmitt]

One definition is a yard where trains from various origins are taken apart and re-assembled into trains to various destinations. A classification yard.

A train from point "A" will have cars destined to "B", "C' and "D"
A train from "B" will have cars for "A", "C" and "D" etc.
The cars for each destination will be put on separate tracks to build new trains.

[spbed]

Usually a hump yard such as No Platte or similar type yards where cars are reclassified to their final billing destination.

[spbed]

Here is a example for you.

A car is picked up at a makers siding in Chicago. The makers is on the UPRR & chooses the routing of UPRR to his customers facility in Oakland. The UPRR will then move that car west to there classification ( marshalling) yard in No. Platte which is there major yard for the overland route. At No. Platte the train from Chicago will be humped & the our car will be guided to a track being made up of cars destined for Oakland or points in between No. Platte & Oakland. Once it reaches Oakland it will be broken out of the train & delivered to the billing address on the bill of lading. [:o)]

QUOTE: Originally posted by doanster

What are they exactly???

I hear that term often but am clueless as to wat it actually means.

Thanks for helping!

[tree68]

My "American Heritage Dictionary" has among the definitions for "marshal:" To arrange, place, or set in methodical order.

Rather like most yards used to sort cars, be they flat or hump. That's pretty much how I recall seeing the term used in the past.

[doanster]

OK, that makes sense. I thought that there was some special meaning in the term 'marshalling'.

As a side question about Hump Yards:
I have seen a video clip of a boxcar in action before... it seems that the impact when the car gets coupled after rolling down the hump is huge... wouldn't that damage the goods inside?

[edblysard]

A marshalling yard is often located in or near a group of industries.
It is used to gather up all the cars from those industries in one central location.

We have one, located in Deer Park, central to Dow, Solvay, AutoFina and Oxy Chemicals.
Because these companies run 24/7, they have their own in house switchers, and when they empty or fill cars, and run out of space inside the plants, they pull or spot a cut of cars in the marshalling yard.

Twice a day, we run a train out to there, pull and deliver thre cars for those industries.
This cuts down a lot on the need for us to work each one of these industries.

Each one of these industries have a few assigned track in this yard, and their in house crews will cut all of thier pulls out to one track, and leave a empty "spot track" for us to deliver their inbounds to.

Marshalling yards can also be used as small SIT yards, where these industries can keep a ready supply of whatever product they make, and can cut a outbound into their pull track for us to pick up.

They also use the marshalling yards to hold empties for loading at a later date.
No real switching occures in these yards, all that is done in plant, before the industrie's house crew move cars to the yard.

Example of our marshaling yard...track A is Dow pulls, B is Solvay, C & D are for Fina pulls, E, F &G are for us to deliver trains for each of these industires, H through M are SIT for Dow and Solvay, N thru P are SIT and empty hopper storage for Fina.
Track Q is a run around, and R is a small rip track.

Because all of these industries use the same basic products, and often need to interchange cars between each other, and use each others products, we can pull cars from one companies track, and spot them in the inbound track of the industry that needs that paticular car, with out having to do a lot of switching.
Say Dow needs a tank of peroxide made by Solvay, and that tank is ten deep in Solvays SIT track.
When we deliver the daily train to track E for Dow, we can reach into Solvays SIT track, grab that car, and spot it in track E for Dows house switcher to grab when they come to pick up their train.

The whole concept is to marshal up all the cars from these industries in one central location for easy of handeling.

Not limited to chemicals, you will find marshalling yards near groups of smaller grain elevators, steel mills and small industrial parks.

Ed

[spbed]

Thank U for info. [:o)]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

A marshalling yard is often located in or near a group of industries.
It is used to gather up all the cars from those industries in one central location.

We have one, located in Deer Park, central to Dow, Solvay, AutoFina and Oxy Chemicals.
Because these companies run 24/7, they have their own in house switchers, and when they empty or fill cars, and run out of space inside the plants, they pull or spot a cut of cars in the marshalling yard.

Twice a day, we run a train out to there, pull and deliver thre cars for those industries.
This cuts down a lot on the need for us to work each one of these industries.

Each one of these industries have a few assigned track in this yard, and their in house crews will cut all of thier pulls out to one track, and leave a empty "spot track" for us to deliver their inbounds to.

Marshalling yards can also be used as small SIT yards, where these industries can keep a ready supply of whatever product they make, and can cut a outbound into their pull track for us to pick up.

They also use the marshalling yards to hold empties for loading at a later date.
No real switching occures in these yards, all that is done in plant, before the industrie's house crew move cars to the yard.

Example of our marshaling yard...track A is Dow pulls, B is Solvay, C & D are for Fina pulls, E, F &G are for us to deliver trains for each of these industires, H through M are SIT for Dow and Solvay, N thru P are SIT and empty hopper storage for Fina.
Track Q is a run around, and R is a small rip track.

Because all of these industries use the same basic products, and often need to interchange cars between each other, and use each others products, we can pull cars from one companies track, and spot them in the inbound track of the industry that needs that paticular car, with out having to do a lot of switching.
Say Dow needs a tank of peroxide made by Solvay, and that tank is ten deep in Solvays SIT track.
When we deliver the daily train to track E for Dow, we can reach into Solvays SIT track, grab that car, and spot it in track E for Dows house switcher to grab when they come to pick up their train.

The whole concept is to marshal up all the cars from these industries in one central location for easy of handeling.

Not limited to chemicals, you will find marshalling yards near groups of smaller grain elevators, steel mills and small industrial parks.

Ed

[BR60103]

Down the tracks into the hump yard's "bowl" are retarders -- large air operated lengths of steel that rise up and clamp onto the car's wheels. These are matched to the car's weight and speed to try to make the coupling soft enough. When I was in a hump tower (as a guest) the operator fed in a load (light, medium, heavy) for each car, but could override the retarders for extra or less force.
The actual coupling speed needs to be over 3 mph so that the couplings couplr, but under 7 mph (? someone will tell us) to avoid damage.
Really fragile loads have a "do not hump" sign.

[edblysard]

Most autoracks have a sign on the side, coupling speed not to exceed 4mph...
Flat switching we hammer some cars, float some, depends on the car and its contents...some we shove to the joint.
Hump yards, due to opperating differences from flat switching, need to make "soft" joints most of the time, because of the length of the trains they build, and the forces used to get the cars to the joint....you would be amazed at how fast a lose car going down a small grade can get going!

Ed

[Anonymous]

Marshaling yards in Virginia used to collect the coal hoppers from the mine runs until a full train is made up and sent to Norfolk Va seaport. There they sit until they can be loaded onto steamers for export. This was back in the days where coal was very heavily in use.

The yards also collected empty hoppers until enough can be made into a mine turn to send them up into the mines to be loaded.