I was watching a mixed freight train go by earlier and noticed some oddities that I hope someone can explain. At the end of the train there were three log (pulp) wood cars, a tank car, another log car, then two more tank cars which were the last cars on the train. What is the purpose of splitting up that one log car from the others? I have seen this on many occasions even when loaded. These cars all go to the same place when loaded, but I’ve seen them broken up into several blocks of three or four separated by other car types. If they are all going to the same industry why not keep them all together?
They could have been loaded at different sites. When the local picked them up it visited other sites between the log loaders. Or they could have come to the yard from completely different locals on different branches.
These cars were emptys. They were all unloaded at the same plant.
Odds are the flats and the tank all came out of the same yard, and are all headed to the same place…where they will be blocked, classified and sent on to the final destination.
In a small or local yard, they wouldnt bother to add in the extra move to cut the tank out, wasted effort if the entire cut is going to be re-switched.
Bet on a local gathering them up, taking them to a local yard, where they blocked the cars out for re-switching at bigger yards.
If I am building a train that is going to be working industries on it’s way, pulling and spoting them, then I line up the cars accordingly.
But if I am building up, say the Port-Tulsa for the BNSF, and everything in that train is headed to Tulsa to be switched by BN there, all we worry about is is making sure everything for Tulsa goes in that track, then making sure the train is in compliance, hang the marker, check the brakes and get 'em outta here…
Ed
There are about as many reasons for you observation than there are cars. The most likely reason is when the original cut was put into the train, it had to be done in more than one section. Perhaps the cut was too long for the tail track. Perhaps a HAZMAT load needed to be isolated. The point is, for some reason, somewhere along the line, your solid cut of empty log flats became two or more cuts.
Now, since any switchman or brakeman is not going to make any more moves than absolutely required (extra work and extra time (figure 10 mins per move for a rule-of-thumb)), the switching moves to put all of those log cars back together will not be made until they are switched out for spotting.
If it were more economical to keep the cuts together in the block, believe me, they would have stayed together.
With the exception of required placements on HAZMAT. The order of cars in a train are ‘luck of the draw’ in the actions of switching the required classifications, be it a flat switch yard or a hump yard.
I flat switching, the train crew on the ground will see switching patterns in the track order of the cut they are switching that will minimize their efforts to complete the assigned switching that are not directly appearant just looking at the switch list.
In humping trains there are aspects to the switching of the train that are not appearant when just watching the cars go over the hump…shops, how many cars can be hump together etc. etc.
Crews involved in switching do everything they can to minimize their efforts and still have the cars end up on the required tracks and it doesn’t make sense to an outsider, unless you actually watch the entire operation.
Thanks for the info guys. That makes more sense now.
Derrick
The other exception to"luck of the draw", I think, is weight. Really heavy stuff has to be 15+/- deep, at least on BNSF.