Humping Cars?

[DaveR1]

I don't know if this belongs in the section of the forum. If not, my apologies.

Do they still hump freight cars? I remember in the Pig's Eye area near St. Paul, there's a hump. It stills shows on GE. In fact you can see it in this image from 2006. Click on the picture for a larger version. the hump is nearly centered in the image.



So is this still done commonly? Has anyone ever modeled this sort of thing? My understanding is that breaking on the cars is done with some sort of rails that kind of clamp the inside of the wheels. The hump in the photo is quite high but I wonder if you could get away with a lower hump with one of Mike Fifer's uncouplers mounted at the crest.

[seanm]

I see UP doing it ALL the time at the Rosevill Yard here in CA.

[spam1234]

Dave there is another hump yard on east river rd at 43rd whichis a bnsf yard. 43rd goes over the yard you can walk if you want and stay all day. If you get on the northystar our new commuter rail line it goes right by the hump.they break up some trains but most keep going east. Jay

[seanm]

There are problem with modeling a hump in N-scale. It is possible to do, but it is very hard to do so that it looks prototypical. There is a slow grace to the cars as they roll and roll and roll which does not scale well. I believe it has to do with mass not scaling well. In order to get the cars rolling you need an unrealistically steep grade. One of the better solutions was to use air pressure to retard and assist the cars as they roll down the hump.

[jpwisc]

So is this still done commonly? Has anyone ever modeled this sort of thing? My understanding is that breaking on the cars is done with some sort of rails that kind of clamp the inside of the wheels. The hump in the photo is quite high but I wonder if you could get away with a lower hump with one of Mike Fifer's uncouplers mounted at the crest.

This is still very common. You can drive down Hwy 61 and watch the action at Pigs Eye or head down East River Road into Minneapolis to watch the BNSF hump at Northtown. These are two very typical hump classification yards. This can be scaled, but you need to tune your rolling stock to your hump.

Check out THIS VIDEO

[DaveR1]

Thanks all.

I used to live in St. Paul and once in awhile I would see them humping cars at Pigs Eye. Never stopped to watch but I probably should have since I wasn't paying as much attention to driving on Hwy 61 as I should have been.

I'm waiting for the video to load. I'm sure it will be interesting. Thank you.

On a slightly different topic, back in the 80s there was a locomotive repair shop in "nord east". Had a roundhouse and a turntable. There was an old streamlined diesel (F7?)in tough shape parked out across the turntable from the roundhouse. If I'm not mistaken, the remains in the center of this GE view. I don't remember what railroad owned it.



Do any of you folks from the Twin Cities area remember that? Do you have any photographs of that old roundhouse and the turntable?

I was there with a friend on a nice winter Sunday morning once. We were out making photographs. A fellow opened the doors on one of the bays, rolled a locomotive out onto the turntable and then asked us where we wanted him to put it. I was kind of stunned by the question but my friend had the presence of mind to ask him to put it out on a bit of open track. Not the mainline but it was open enough. Then my friend asked if we could take a look inside the cab. Next thing you know we're running the locomotive up and down the track.

Unfortunately the only photo I still have is a black and white image of the back of my head while at the controls.

[NH2006]

It's fun to watch from the Golden Spike tower at Bailey yard, North Platte Nebraska too.
http://www.goldenspiketower.net/

[paddy78]

Haha! That tower wasnt there when I worked in North Platte. I dont think there is anything one can "enjoy" about the sound of cars hitting the retarders....it will peel the skin out of your inner ear.

regards,

Pat

[paddy78]

Just watched that video, lol...that dude must not be able to read the "Do Not Hump" placards on those. You have any idea what happens to the cars inside a loaded autorack when it makes a joint like that? Parts dealers love it; the consignee...not so much.

Cool that they got that to work though, looks awesome.

regards,

Pat

[MetroRedLn]

I was there with a friend on a nice winter Sunday morning once. We were out making photographs. A fellow opened the doors on one of the bays, rolled a locomotive out onto the turntable and then asked us where we wanted him to put it. I was kind of stunned by the question but my friend had the presence of mind to ask him to put it out on a bit of open track. Not the mainline but it was open enough. Then my friend asked if we could take a look inside the cab. Next thing you know we're driving the locomotive up and down the track.

Wow! A 1:1 scale operating session!

[musicman]

Haha! That tower wasnt there when I worked in North Platte. I dont think there is anything one can "enjoy" about the sound of cars hitting the retarders....it will peel the skin out of your inner ear.

regards,

Pat

Not to mention (as Pat said) what it does to the freight. CN had to stop doing it in their Moncton yard in New Brunswick because they were getting too many complaints from businesses on the receiving end of freight ... too many claims.

[DaveR1]

Wow! A 1:1 scale operating session!

It was pretty cool even though we didn't really go very far nor very fast. I think that if the mechanic did that today, he'd be fired before he got out of the cab.

It's too bad that shop and turntable are no longer there.

[paddy78]

Not to mention (as Pat said) what it does to the freight. CN had to stop doing it in their Moncton yard in New Brunswick because they were getting too many complaints from businesses on the receiving end of freight ... too many claims.

Yeah, it can make a mess. You get a nice 18-car pile-up in a 85-foot package. They do get over the hump sometimes; when you have an 80 car humper to work, and there are a few stray autoracks in it, sometimes you just let them fly and hope for the best (if the yardmaster isnt watching!). Problem with these cars is the drawbar more than the load. They have really long, cushioned drawbars that pull off-center. When this happens, the knuckle turns into a battering ram that will knock cars (including the autorack itself) off the tracks in the bowl. The big no-no cars are steel coil cars...they rocket down the hump, peel through the retarders, and are guaranteed to carve a path of destruction in the bowl. Letting one of these get over the hump is a good way to earn a trip to the nurse's office to donate some urine (because you must be high...)

And if we want to get really picky here, you would not hump two cars in sequence into the same track; you would leave them coupled. The guy working the hump has a list that tells him which pins to pull. Most of these jobs are 6-axle RCO jobs (2 remote SD-40's or 1 unit and a slug), so he has the blue box to contend with too. Fun stuff, for about a day...then it gets old real quick. Fortunately I was only in North Platte for training stints, I would hate to work the hump there in Feb...no trees....40mph wind...-30 wind chill....you are on the only "hill" for miles around) But I digress, this is a little "rivet-ish" for even me to take seriously! Its a cool hump they did there, I am officially jealous....next layout...


And dave, check this out:

http://www.nscale.net/forums/blog.php?b=272

Look up "Run"....

regards,

Pat

[quietstorm]

Yep, recently just caught NS at Bellevue, Ohio, humping some cars at their yard. Neat to watch. It was a SD40-2R with a slug unit. Love all the foreign power that surrounds the engine facility too. Got the Horseheads with some old big blues lurking, and a lot of BNSF, CN, CP, and UP. Even caught an ex BC Rail unit i think its CN power now.

[DaveR1]

And dave, check this out:

http://www.nscale.net/forums/blog.php?b=272

Look up "Run"....

regards,

Pat

Whatever.

Didn't know it was a big deal.

[paddy78]

lol dave, just giving you a hard time, dont take me too seriously (I certianly don't!). Glad you got some throttle time, it is a unique experience and I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I knew a guy once who wanted to retire and set up a gig for railfans. Sounded like a great idea, folks could get some time behind the stick, ride cars, work switch lists...He had a piece of rail the UP was willing to part with, but I think he just couldnt get the money together to cover the insurance. Shame, everyone should get a chance to do that at some point in their lives.

regards,

Pat

[code40]

I knew a guy once who wanted to retire and set up a gig for railfans. Sounded like a great idea, folks could get some time behind the stick, ride cars, work switch lists...He had a piece of rail the UP was willing to part with, but I think he just couldnt get the money together to cover the insurance. Shame, everyone should get a chance to do that at some point in their lives.

Engineer experience programs: http://www.railroaddata.com/rrlinks/...ence_Programs/

[jpwisc]

On a slightly different topic, back in the 80s there was a locomotive repair shop in "nord east". If I'm not mistaken, the remains in the center of this GE view. I don't remember what railroad owned it.
Do any of you folks from the Twin Cities area remember that? Do you have any photographs of that old roundhouse and the turntable?

That is the BNSF ex-BN ex-GN Minneapolis Junction. The Locomotive maintenance building currently houses the remnants of the Milwaukee Road 261. There are pictures of the area on the web.

Like this one CLICK HERE

[DaveR1]

Thanks Karl,

I wonder if it was 9788 that I saw back in the 80s. I remember one of the round port hole windows on the left side was broken out. As I remember, it was sitting out of the way on the south edge of that area. You can see in that photo I posted, the remains of the track just north of the northwest corner of the L-shaped building.

I wish I still had the photos I took that day.

The Locomotive maintenance building currently houses the remnants of the Milwaukee Road 261.

I'm new to this. Is it being restored?

[jpwisc]

The 261 was being run for quite a few years by the "Friends of the 261". They tore it down for maintenance and their lease on the engine expired. Soon it will be heading to another home and the Friends are looking for another engine to take its place. If you stop in and drop a few bucks into their fund raising box they will usually show you around the building. They also maintain and lease out a fleet (34 cars I believe) of mostly Milwaukee Road Hiawatha cars, including a full length dome and the rear observation car Cedar Rapids. All the cars are Amtrak certified.