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historical step in the development of classification yards and were later judged as inferior to hump yards, because it became clear that shunting engines were needed anyway (at least in inclement weather like strong winds or icy temperatures when the oil in the bearings became thick), and because manual labour was getting relatively more and more expensive. Thus, only a few gravity yards were ever built, sometimes requiring massive earthwork (one example is the first German gravity yard at
Dresden). The historic technique of a gravity yard is today partly presented in
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capacity, often several thousand cars a day. They work similarly to gravity yards, but the falling gradient is limited to a small part of the yard, namely the hump. It is the heart of the yard—a lead track on a small hill over which an engine pushes the cars. Single cars, or a block of coupled cars,
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Classification bowls in Europe typically consist of 20 to 40 tracks, divided into several fans or balloons of tracks, usually with eight classification tracks following a retarder in each one, often 32 tracks altogether. In the United States, many classification bowls have more than 40 tracks, which
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was manually (or, in rare cases, mechanically) placed on one or both of the rails so that the treadles or rims of the wheel or wheels caused frictional retardation and resulted in the halting of the railway car. In the United States this braking was done by riders on the cars. In the modern retarder
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The speed of the cars rolling down from the hump into the classification bowl must be regulated according to whether they are full or empty, heavy or light freight, varying number of axles, whether there are few or many cars on the classification tracks, and varying weather conditions, including
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were invented in the 19th century, saving shunting engines and instead letting the cars roll by gravity was seen as a major benefit, whereas the larger amount of manual work required to stop the rolling cars in the classification tracks was judged to be not that important. Gravity yards were a
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are uncoupled at or just before the crest of the hump, and roll by gravity onto their destination tracks in the area of the yard where the cars are sorted, called the classification bowl. The first hump in
Germany (Leipzig) was built in 1858 and in France (Saint-Etienne) in 1863.
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435:, Belgium. Most hump yards are single yards with one classification bowl, but some, mostly very large, hump yards have two of them, one for each direction, thus are double yards, such as the Maschen, Antwerp, Clearing, and Bailey yards.
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are constructed on flat ground, or on a gentle slope, not enough to allow a free-fall operation without locomotives. Freight cars are pushed by a locomotive and coast to their required location.
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Freight trains that consist of isolated cars must be made into trains and divided according to their destinations; thus, the cars must be shunted several times along their route in contrast to a
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Not all cars can be sent over a classification hump. This Union
Pacific track maintenance vehicle is permanently labelled "Do not hump", because it is not designed to withstand hump sorting.
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yards this work is done by mechanized "rail brakes" called retarders, which brake the cars by gripping the wheels. They are operated either
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temperature, wind speed and direction. In regards to speed regulation, there are two types of hump yards—with or without mechanisation by
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391:, United States, the world's largest classification yard, is a hump yard. Other large American hump yards include Argentine Yard in
321:. In the old non-retarder yards braking was usually done in Europe by railroaders who laid skates onto the tracks. The skate or
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is done partly at the starting and final destinations and partly (for long-distance hauling) in classification yards.
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onto the classification tracks. Larger yards tend to put the lead on an artificially built hill called a
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Almost all gravity yards have been retrofitted with humps and are worked as hump yards. Examples include
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onto one of several tracks. First, the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a
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769:(vol. 62) 2002. Part I: VI/02, pp. 46–67; part II: VII/02, pp. 36–47.
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are often divided into six to ten classification tracks in each balloon loop.
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are the largest and most effective classification yards, with the largest
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509:, Netherlands, seen from 1,000 feet (305 m). Hump is at upper right.
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Denkmalpflege in
Sachsen, Jahrbuch 2019, Sandsteinverlag, Dresden, 2020.
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St. Paul (US): Motorbooks
International (MBI Publishing Company) 2003.
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Most gravity yards were built in
Germany (especially in the kingdom of
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683:. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. June 1991. p. 22.
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to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder.
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towerman R. W. Mayberry operates the retarders at
Proviso Yard in
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626:
James T. Kneafsey (1975). "Major
Problems of Railroad Service".
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grip the sides of the wheels on passing cars to slow them down.
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Rail yard used for sorting and assembling rail cars into trains
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334:. Pneumatic systems are prevalent in the United States,
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Time-lapse video of German hump-shunting yard operation
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Special editions about hump yards in various countries:
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172:. From there, the cars are sent through a series of
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732:(4th ed.). Omaha, Nebraska: Simmons-Boardman.
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475:pushing a car over the hump at Kornwestheim yard.
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54:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
720:International Railway Journal (IRJ), New York.
664:aus dem Bereich des englischen Eisenbahnwesens
494:Hump yard operation in Vienna, Austria (video)
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677:"ABC's of Railroading: Terms of the Trade".
556:, a typical U.S. classification yard in 2009
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85:Learn how and when to remove this message
446:), Dresden Friedrichstadt and Nürnberg (
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782:Classification yards. Map of the Month.
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730:The Railroad: What It Is, What It Does
705:. Berlin: VEB Transpress-Verlag. 1986.
661:
454:, "classification yard"), in Germany.
350:, while hydraulic systems are used in
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246:-Hilbersdorf gravity yard (museum).
763:The Yard: Railroading's Hidden Half.
26:
784:In: Trains IV/2003, pp. 42–43.
24:
724:issues II/66, II/70, VI/75, II/80.
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569:Chicago and North Western Railway
540:" allow fine adjustment of speed.
632:. Lexington Books. p. 138.
629:Transportation Economic Analysis
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666:. Leipzig: Der Civilingenieur.
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662:Köpcke, Mitteilungen (1890).
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588:Nanxiang Classification Yard
419:, and Waycross Rice Yard in
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728:Armstrong, John H. (1998).
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1560:Cross-platform interchange
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1034:ground-level power supply
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789:North American Railyards.
122:Canadian National Railway
1667:Railway stations by type
146:Canadian Pacific Railway
40:This article includes a
1019:Railway electrification
522:Mannheim Rangierbahnhof
395:, Robert Young Yard in
280:
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69:more precise citations.
389:North Platte, Nebraska
381:
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158:freight train stations
152:(Central Europe) is a
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1158:Platform screen doors
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275:Boston, Massachusetts
263:Warsaw–Vienna Railway
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1626:Minimum curve radius
1593:Zig Zag / Switchback
1108:Anti-trespass panels
444:Saxon Railway Museum
411:, Englewood Yard in
1565:Interchange station
1470:Facing and trailing
1437:Classification yard
955:Classification yard
571:'s Proviso Yard in
473:switcher locomotive
442:Hilbersdorf (today
393:Kansas City, Kansas
160:, used to separate
114:classification yard
1495:Swingnose crossing
1214:Motive power depot
1168:Signalling control
602:List of rail yards
590:in Shanghai, China
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142:Australian English
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42:list of references
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1041:Railway turntable
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787:Rhodes, Michael:
746:Rhodes, Michael:
739:978-0-911382-04-4
703:Rangierdienst A-Z
573:Chicago, Illinois
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421:Waycross, Georgia
378:Chicago, Illinois
144:, as well as the
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16:(Redirected from
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1555:Spanish solution
1545:Terminal station
1518:Railway platform
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758:. Out of print.
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287:
278:
276:
272:
268:
264:
260:
256:
252:
247:
245:
240:
239:Gravity yards
231:
229:
220:
218:
214:
210:
206:
202:
198:
194:
190:
185:
183:
179:
175:
171:
167:
163:
159:
155:
151:
150:shunting yard
147:
143:
139:
135:
131:
127:
123:
119:
115:
107:
102:
89:
86:
78:
68:
64:
58:
57:
51:
47:
43:
38:
29:
28:
19:
1580:Hillclimbing
1550:Balloon loop
1436:
1422:Pocket track
1412:Balloon loop
1404:Rail sidings
1384:Double track
1379:Passing loop
1374:Single track
1193:Wayside horn
1143:Interlocking
1123:Catch points
1083:Water trough
985:Passing loop
965:Pocket track
954:
950:Balloon loop
914:Ladder track
788:
781:
762:
747:
729:
721:
702:
697:
678:
672:
663:
657:
648:
628:
621:
451:
450:) Rbf (Rbf:
437:
383:
364:
315:
293:
292:
248:
238:
237:
227:
226:
186:
181:
177:
169:
165:
162:railway cars
154:railway yard
149:
125:
113:
111:
81:
72:
61:Please help
53:
1616:Track gauge
1475:Grand union
1118:Buffer stop
1078:Water crane
990:Track gauge
929:Tie/Sleeper
536:Hydraulic "
385:Bailey Yard
380:, May 1943.
360:Netherlands
323:wheel chock
213:power plant
193:automobiles
67:introducing
1657:Rail yards
1651:Categories
1291:Industrial
1275:Water stop
1236:for trains
1228:Roundhouse
1202:Structures
1188:Train stop
1138:Guard rail
1113:Block post
1101:and safety
1098:Signalling
1029:third rail
1002:Rail track
995:dual gauge
879:Baulk road
639:0669932116
613:References
294:Hump yards
257:yard near
228:Flat yards
189:unit train
75:April 2022
1447:Junctions
1432:Rail yard
1417:Headshunt
1394:Crossover
1241:for goods
1183:Tell-tale
1014:Rail yard
980:Guide bar
960:Headshunt
943:Trackwork
909:Fishplate
899:Date nail
860:(history)
775:0041-0934
689:0041-0934
448:Nuremberg
319:retarders
310:retarders
273:south of
259:Zawiercie
195:from the
176:called a
134:Hong Kong
108:, Germany
1510:Stations
1296:Military
1253:building
1223:Platform
1133:Derailer
1051:Roll way
970:Junction
869:Axe ties
596:See also
507:Kijfhoek
440:Chemnitz
409:Illinois
358:and the
298:shunting
244:Chemnitz
217:shunting
174:switches
1357:Railway
1306:station
1301:Private
1248:Station
924:Profile
874:Ballast
433:Antwerp
429:Hamburg
425:Maschen
413:Houston
405:Chicago
352:Germany
340:Belgium
261:on the
234:Gravity
215:. This
211:to the
207:from a
130:British
106:Cologne
63:improve
1598:Spiral
1528:Island
1068:Switch
1056:Siding
856:Tracks
795:
773:
767:Trains
754:
736:
687:
680:Trains
636:
344:Russia
336:France
267:Poland
251:Saxony
178:ladder
140:, and
138:Indian
1538:Split
1284:Types
1263:ghost
1258:clock
1232:Shed
846:Rail
427:near
417:Texas
356:Italy
348:China
203:, or
199:to a
197:plant
170:drill
168:or a
148:) or
48:, or
1631:Cant
1533:Side
1311:list
1268:list
889:Cant
793:ISBN
771:ISSN
765:In:
752:ISBN
734:ISBN
685:ISSN
634:ISBN
346:and
308:The
281:Hump
265:(in
255:Łazy
223:Flat
209:mine
205:coal
201:port
182:hump
166:lead
1523:Bay
1485:Wye
1088:Wye
403:in
387:in
374:CNW
330:or
124:),
1653::
471:A
415:,
407:,
399:,
362:.
354:,
342:,
338:,
277:.
136:,
132:,
112:A
52:,
44:,
1349:e
1342:t
1335:v
1216:/
839:e
832:t
825:v
799:.
777:.
742:.
691:.
642:.
128:(
116:(
88:)
82:(
77:)
73:(
59:.
20:)
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