(Source: Trains.com, December 4, 2024)
The number of hump yards operating in North America has dropped precipitously over the decades. Today there are 36 active hump yards operated by the big six Class I systems and terminal and switching railroads. That’s down from 59 in 2002, 72 in 1993, 122 in 1985, and 152 in 1975. Yet hump yards, which use gravity to classify freight cars, remain enormously important to the carload network. They are the most efficient way to classify high volumes of carload traffic into destination-based blocks and, ultimately, merchandise trains. The typical hump yard classifies between 1,500 and 3,000 cars per day.
Full story: Trains.com