Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 9 (February 25, 1927)

Method of Operating a Hump Yard where — Points are Electrically Controlled

page 49

Method of Operating a Hump Yard where
Points are Electrically Controlled.

On the arrival of a train in the reception sidings the engine is released and sent to the loco. depot or to the departure sidings as the case may be. Shunters uncouple the wagons where cuts are to be made and chalk either on the front of the leading wagon of each cut or on the back of the last wagon (according to the method of working) the number of the Toad to which the cut is to be shunted. The “pusher” or hump shunting engine then backs on to the train and, at a given signal, proceeds to push the wagons over the hump at a speed of about 2 miles per hour. The signalman operating the points by means of push buttons—as shown in Illustration No. 1—presses the button corresponding to the number of the road he sees chalked on the wagons as they pass him. Some railways prefer the number on the trailing ends of the wagons to ensure that the signalman is always looking towards the yard.

In the event of wagons not running down and thereby fouling other roads an indication by means of tract circuiting is immediately given to the signalman and he can stop the hump engine by means of Claxon horns, by loud speakers situated at various convenient points, or by electrically operated signals giving different aspects indicating go slow, stop, go ahead, etc.

Feltham Marshalling Yard, England. Wagons running from the “Hump.”

Feltham Marshalling Yard, England. Wagons running from the “Hump.”

The last wagons having passed over the hump, the hump engine either returns back over the road upon which it has been working to the other end of the reception siding—preparatory to pushing another train over the hump—or it continues over the hump in order to “trim” the marshalling sidings—that is to say, to close up all the wagons in each road and thus make room for more.

In the American yards where car retarders are now increasingly used, the operators receive shunting lists which show them the nature of each cut, whether loaded or empty wagons, the gross load, and the road into which they are to be shunted. This enables the operators to adjust their brakes to a nicety and with practice the bringing of a “cut” to a standstill against other wagons without shock is reduced to a fine art. In England the practice up to the present has been to use the brakesman to drop the brakes as required. In some yards brake shoes are used. These are placed on the rails and carried along by the wagons. As a stopping device they are extraordinarily effective. In the latest hump yard in France (at Lille) there is installed a very ingenious device and one much less costly than track retarders. This is, in effect, a brake-shoe, but page 50 is so arranged that it travels on a guide parallel to the rails and, after braking the wagons a certain distance, becomes detached from the wheel and returns to its starting point ready to brake another wagon.

As an illustration of the economics to be effected by hump shunting the case of Wath, England, is of interest. This yard handles with two engines, each working 24 hours per day, 13,000 wagons per month over two humps, one for the “up” traffic and one for the “down.” As many as 6,000 wagons have passed over the two humps in one day. The shunting staff for each hump consists of three head shunters, twelve shunters, three signalmen and three inspectors. The multiples of three indicate that the yard works 24 hours (three eight hour shifts). The marshalling is of such a nature that all work is done from the hump end of each yard. No sorting or making up of trains is required. This therefore serves as a good instance of the output per man and per engine when shunting with the aid of a hump.

Elevation Signal Cabin, Middleton Yard, Canterbury, South Island.

Elevation
Signal Cabin, Middleton Yard, Canterbury, South Island.