Trains.com

Conway Yard

8584 views
17 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    February 2009
  • 402 posts
Conway Yard
Posted by BT CPSO 266 on Monday, October 12, 2009 9:01 PM

 When did Norfolk Southern shutdown the eastbound classification Yard at Conway and Why? I was just looking at it on bing.com maps and it looks like some of the tracks were taken out on the hump and the bowl tracks are being used for storage.

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:35 AM
It was at least 3 years ago. The main reason was the capacity wasn't needed. Upgrading Enola and the presence of Bellevue meant that Conway did not need to hump as many cars as it did in the Conrail era.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    February 2009
  • 402 posts
Posted by BT CPSO 266 on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:15 AM


What is at Bellevue? 

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Along the Big 4 in the Midwest
  • 536 posts
Posted by K4sPRR on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:37 AM

Bellevue, located in north central Ohio was the main yard facility for the Nickel Plate Road, subsequently taken over by N&W (NS).  Found there is an engine facility, hump yard and a roundhouse that still stands but used mainly for storage.  Great railfanning area.

  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 7,486 posts
Posted by ndbprr on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:27 AM

Didn't they shut down Enola too?  Did they change their minds?

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:52 AM
ndbprr

Didn't they shut down Enola too?  Did they change their minds?

Conrail had pretty much stopped using Enola, originating most of the area locals out of Harrisburg in the mid-90s and doing most of the heavy-duty classification work at Allentown. With more north-south traffic, NS started doing some classification work there, and finally, rebuilt the hump.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:54 AM
K4sPRR
Bellevue, located in north central Ohio was the main yard facility for the Nickel Plate Road, subsequently taken over by N&W (NS).  Found there is an engine facility, hump yard and a roundhouse that still stands but used mainly for storage.  Great railfanning area.
BIG hump yard. Allowed NS to shut down Buckeye during the recession, too.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    February 2009
  • 402 posts
Posted by BT CPSO 266 on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 11:06 AM

 You would think they would just keep both west and east bound humps at Conway to make traffic flow easier.

 Possibly if the traffic picks up they may rebuild the eastbound yard at Conway or invest in a state of the art intermodal terminal because it is probably easier for trucks to get into Conway than it is to get into Pitcairn. 

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:45 PM
BT CPSO 266
You would think they would just keep both west and east bound humps at Conway to make traffic flow easier.
Actually, the directional humps make it worse. Even with the best system blocking plans, about 5-10% of the traffic handled there wants to "change directions". That is, it comes in on an eastbound train and wants to leave on a westbound, or arrived on a westbound and wants to go east. In order for this to happen, the traffic has to be crossyarded. It's humped into a "crossyard" class track and then shuttled over to the other receiving yard a couple times a day - at the most. This generally delays that traffic 12-24 hrs or so. Going to a single hump eliminated these delays.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 7,486 posts
Posted by ndbprr on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 1:47 PM

I can't comment on traffic density or direction but wasn't Conway used for westbound traffic reclassification in addition to eastbound?  The old PRR main out here in the Chicago area does not exist anymore so no traffic is heading out of Chicago in that direction. It goes over the old NYC route probably to Cleveland and  who knows where so Conway may have been isolated to some degree.

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • 2,505 posts
Posted by caldreamer on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:21 PM

 When Norfolk Southern rebuilt Enola yard they changed the yard throats at both ends to allow easier access and movement between the upper and lower yards.  Every time I run up there (about 26 minutes north), the yard is ALWAYS full of cars and the service facilities are loaded with motive power.

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Along the Big 4 in the Midwest
  • 536 posts
Posted by K4sPRR on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 5:02 PM

The connection at Cleveland from the NYC main to the PRR's Cleveland to Pittsburgh line (C&P) was a direct route to Conway, therefore the yard was not isolated.  During Conrail days it was quite busy.  

At Alliance OH the C&P connnects to the Ft. Wayne Line east to Conway.  The C&P south of Alliance goes to PA via Mingo Junction. 

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: MP CF161.6 NS's New Castle District in NE Indiana
  • 2,148 posts
Posted by rrnut282 on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 5:17 PM

ndbprr

I can't comment on traffic density or direction but wasn't Conway used for westbound traffic reclassification in addition to eastbound?  The old PRR main out here in the Chicago area does not exist anymore so no traffic is heading out of Chicago in that direction. It goes over the old NYC route probably to Cleveland and  who knows where so Conway may have been isolated to some degree.

Don't forget about the yard in Elkhart, though I think it does more Westbound humping to make trains for the connecting roads in Chicago than it does for Eastbound traffic.

Mike (2-8-2)
  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 7:36 AM
rrnut282
Don't forget about the yard in Elkhart, though I think it does more Westbound humping to make trains for the connecting roads in Chicago than it does for Eastbound traffic.
Both Conway and Elkhart handle lots of eastbound and westbound traffic. Elkhart's main job is to classify traffic to and from the Chicago gateways, so they have a good balance of east and westbound traffic. Conway classifies traffic going to and from eastern points including traffic needing further handling at Enola, Allentown and Oak Island. It's pretty well balanced east/west, too. Conway used to classify quite a bit of traffic to and from Buffalo for Conrail, but much of this is handled at Bellevue these days.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    February 2009
  • 402 posts
Posted by BT CPSO 266 on Monday, April 18, 2011 1:45 PM

Now how is traffic governed in Conway? Does the Fort Wayne Line dispatcher handle all the movements in and out of Conway? Just how much movement authority does the yard tower at Conway have?

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • 913 posts
Posted by mersenne6 on Monday, April 18, 2011 2:29 PM

  If you want to get some idea of the scene at Bellevue go over to Railpictures.net and select Ohio for state and Bellevue for City and you can see what the NS facility looks like looking both east and west from the Rt. 4 overpass.

  • Member since
    March 2011
  • 58 posts
Posted by DavidP on Thursday, April 21, 2011 8:04 AM

Pittsburgh Division dispatching is in Greentree PA.,southwest Pittsburgh. I work west of Conway,We talk to 3 dispatchers out of the Crestline District. From Bucyrus to Alliance, Ohio its "Pittsburgh West" From Alliance, Ohio to Rochester PA. its the "Cleveland Line" dispatcher, and at the West Conway signals we talk to the "Conway Terminal Dispatcher" . On approach to Conway yard on "signal indication" You talk to" Conway Control" located in the large tower in the middle of the yard. 

  • Member since
    February 2009
  • 402 posts
Posted by BT CPSO 266 on Thursday, April 21, 2011 3:28 PM

DavidP

Pittsburgh Division dispatching is in Greentree PA.,southwest Pittsburgh. I work west of Conway,We talk to 3 dispatchers out of the Crestline District. From Bucyrus to Alliance, Ohio its "Pittsburgh West" From Alliance, Ohio to Rochester PA. its the "Cleveland Line" dispatcher, and at the West Conway signals we talk to the "Conway Terminal Dispatcher" . On approach to Conway yard on "signal indication" You talk to" Conway Control" located in the large tower in the middle of the yard. 

Thanks for the info.

So the yard tower at Conway has full control of the Conway hub including the mainlines through the yard? Then what did East Conway do? Was it just a trim tower?

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy