Odd hump yard action

[edahrenhoerster]

On 3/20 I was watching the switching at the UP hump yard in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and saw the hump engines come in over the hump and take what appeared to be an entire train back out over the hump. This struck me as odd as I have always seen cars in hump yards pulled out the other end of the yard, opposite the hump. Is this something that happens regularly and I have just never seen it before or something peculiar to this yard?

[spekarik]

I live by Norfolk Southern's Bellevue Hump Yard, and they also do that same practice. Sometimes they pulled cuts of cars out because of congestion at the end of the bowl. This would save them time from having to pull a train out of the bowl, and then run it around the bowl to go east. At least that is what they do up here. I may be wrong.

[Anonymous]

I am a conductor for CSX in Louisville. Usually when that takes place it is a track that has to be rehumped. This is usually due to congestion in a track where those cars would normally go or there was a mistake made by the hump operator. Eric Armstrong.