As part of a recent study of railroad switchyard technology, SRI determined that the design of classification yards significantly influences the effectiveness of yard operations. For example, we found that the number and/or length of yard tracks are a major problem at more than one-third of all classification yards. The study projected that as many as 200 classification yards will have to be built, rebuilt, reequipped or otherwise modified between now and the year 2000. In addition, the SRI study and other studies have identified classification yards as the major source of other significant railroad problems, such as delays, delivery time unreliability, and low utilization of freight cars.
Because of these and other factors, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Transportation Systems Center of the Department of Transportation are sponsoring a research project to investigate the design of railroad classification yards. The objective of this project is to establish practical guidelines, procedures, and principles that will facilitate the design and engineering of classification yards. It is intended that the project results will include engineering data and methodology in handbook form. The handbook will be used to make informed choices among alternative capital investments by railroads, suppliers and public agency personnel.
As part of a recent study of railroad switchyard technology, SRI determined that the design of classification yards has a significant impact on the ef...
This report covers the work done during the development of efficient schemes of car sorting and train formation in a hump yard. Various schemes were s...
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United States Department of Transportation
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