I have not worked at the BN Murray yd in Kan City since 1999 but when I was there they had a lead trk that changed #s three times. Hopefully that has since been corrected.
I would guess it has to do with which track was laid first.[?]
SFbrkmn - probably changes 4 times now…The same people that re-mileposted Pueblo-Denver after the merger?
Back in the days, Southern Pacifics Sanata Clara Yard had 38 tracks, numbered 1 to 38 away away from the main lines. Now there are less than 8. I do not know where the Union Pacific services the San Francisco peninusla to San Louis Obisbo industries out of. The big Bay Shore yard with the roundhouse and shops are long gone (Torn down by the UP).
The truth is simpler than that: it’s in the special instructions.
On main tracks running east and west the tracks are numbered from north to south; on main tracks running north and south they’re numbered from west to east. That’s “The UP Way”.
CNW was different–there was a time when all of their tracks had east-west timetable directions. Following a railroad convention (westbound trains had odd numbers, eastbound even numbers), the westbound track had the low number. So in those days, Track 1 was on the south side (the opposite of what UP did).
I always refer to October 1, 1995, as the day that UP turned our railroad upside down. That’s when the UP rulebook, timetables, and special instructions took effect on former CNW lines. The dispatchers for some tim
That’s interesting Carl. I have a 2000 CN/GTW track chart in which the tracks are not numbered. They are labeled as Westward Main (north track) and Westward Main (south track). OTOH, I have heard them referred to as track one and track two.
It’s fun to hear passengers at Utica wonder aloud why track 1 isn’t the one closest to the station…
Massey Yard in Watertown, NY is numbered away from the main - on both sides. East 1, 2, 3, 4 and West 1, 2, 3, 4.