I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Linda Niemann’s absorbing article [:)] Wendy and the Lost Boys in April '05 issue of Trains mag. In her work as a boomer, she mentions sizing up bowl yards and hump yards. Hump yards I’m pretty clear on, but I’ve never heard of the term bowl yards…[:I] I guess a reverse to hump yards, with the lines feeding down into a yard that is lower than the surrounding area??? [:I] (hmm…would drainage be challenge in periods of heavy rain?) [:I]
Dave [:)]
Most humps feed into a bowl. The idea is for the energy coming off a hump to disapate in the main body of the yard (the bowl) before rolling out the other side.
Thanks Mudchicken - sort of a “combo” arrangement…I wonder if anyone’s modeled that - I guess it would need a decent sized layout and properly weighted freight cars to work well.
Dave
actualy… they are called bowl yards becouse the tracks are built in a “bowl” they are higher at both ends in elevation then in the middle…so the cars will not role out either end…cars will loss thier engergy when they start to clime the raised portion of track at either end…and will settle to the lowest point of the track…much like water dose in a bowl…
csx engineer
bu way of replying to kozzie: I built a model (HO) hump yard but made the mistake of NOT making it a bowl, as a result if a car gets by the retatders it’s into the switches at the lower end!
An older alternative to a bowl gradient is track skates. Special instructions governing the use of track skates in Bensenville yard were posted in Milwaukee Road employee timetables into the late 1970’s.
Track skates are metal devices that were placed on the rail in front of a rolling car and would stop the car by force of friction. They were common in the era of rider humps when retarders were not yet in use and cars were controlled over the hump by switchmen riding individual cars and controlling their speed by use of the hand brakes.
Thanks Paul and csxengineer98 for the info.
Jim, I reckon you’ve done well to attempt a hump yard at all, complete with retarders - I reckon that’s pretty good!
Dave
Mudchicken
This is not exactly about bowl yards but I enjoyed learning something new. I work in a shipyard and our company is trying to make safety its number 1 priority .
I would like permission to use your statement about safety in a letter to our company newspaper.
SrBldr
Don’t feel too bad. B&O made that mistake with their hump at Connellsville Pa. (or maybe they had to build it that way because of the terrain). There was always a man stationed at the lower end to put skates on the rail and hand brakes on the cars to keep them from rolling out of the tracks.
I like the way they do it here at Englewood…when the trim job drags a track out, they always leave two or three cars behind, about 3/4 of the ways down the track with handbrakes set, as a bumper.
We use the same routine when we flat switch here…
Ed
Track skates are still used in locations where the yard tracks are unavoidably on a grade. The first car set onto a empty track in this yard would be placed a sufficient distance into the track, and then rolled up onto the skate. That way, should any persons or mechanical defects cause the handbrakes to fail, the cars will not roll out of the yard. We always used them when working in the Farm yard on the KD Subdivision of the UP (CNW), which is on a .5% grade towards the lake.
Just a quick replay on Kozzie’s question as to whether anyone has built a model hump yard, Model Railroader Video Layout Tour #2 by Kalmbach Video shows a working HO hump yard Built by Don Santel on his Michigan and South Shore layout. It also has working air operated retarders. It looks as if the whole thing works very well. Also on the same video, Allen McClelland built one on his Virginian and Ohio layout. The copyright date on the video is 1984; I don’t know if it is still available. I watch the video often to drool over these two layouts.
Chuck
GR&M
Not mine…But I I subscribe to the principal whole-heartedly. Santa Fe has used the words and phrases in various forms for years. I suspect other railroads use it as well.
Don’t just try, commit to the concept.
That safety message is not only used by rail roads I was a truck driver for JB Hunt and a few other co.s since 1987 and most of the companys I worked for used almost the same safety slogans the railroads have. JB HUnt is a very safety oriented company drivers ther have manditory safety training quarterly and Must take on anual reveiw( yrly aniverary of hire) Smith System Drivers Training and Hazmat training along with injury prevention,and a road test.
Now about bowls LIRR rail yard was basicly a flat yard at one time, and finaly they made a small bowl in the 1890’s with men riding the cars to apply the hand brakes.
A lot of “flat” classification yards are bowl shaped.
Jeff