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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 3 (July 1, 1929)

A Model Marshalling Yard — Equipped with Hydraulic Rail Brakes

page 54

A Model Marshalling Yard
Equipped with Hydraulic Rail Brakes

To-day freight traffic handling calls for the utilisation of a score and more devices, undreamt of in pre-war days. In the remodelling of marshalling yards there is an especial opportunity for improving freight traffic working, and, in the Homeland, much has recently been done in this direction. Of particular interest is the opening, at March, by the London and North Eastern line, of a new marshalling yard, equipped with rail brakes and other “down-to-the-minute” devices for the speedy handling of freight traffic.

The new March yard has accommodation for something like 5,000 wagons, the lay-out including ten reception sidings each capable of holding eighty wagons, and sorting tracks accommodating 4,000 trucks. In addition, there is special accommodation for crippled wagons and brakes. The sidings are laid out on the “balloon” system, instead of the “ladder” principle common to most British hump yards, and “Froehlich” hydraulic rail brakes are installed at the foot of the hump where the sorting tracks open out. The operation of these rail brakes has proved a great success in Germany, while, more recently, the working of car retarders at the Markham Yard, Chicago, U.S.A., has brought the utility of equipment of this character to the front. Through the employment of the “Froehlich” rail brakes at March, the L. & N.E. line has materially speeded up the operation of sorting wagons, and has also been enabled to effect valuable staff economies. Locomotive costs, too, have dropped, while there has been a marked diminution in the number of cases where wagons and their contents have suffered damage through rough shunting. What is especially important, the utilisation of this new equipment has spelt vastly safer working conditions for one and all employed in shunting operations.

page break
“The soft sunshine, and the sound Of old forests echoing round …”—Shelley. (Govt. Publicity Photo.) A typical New Zealand bush railway.

“The soft sunshine, and the sound
Of old forests echoing round …”—Shelley.

(Govt. Publicity Photo.)
A typical New Zealand bush railway.

page 56