Western Railroad Discussion > UP and BNSF Hump Yard Questions

Good Evening:

With UP implementing PSR, how many hump yards remain on their system?

By comparison, how many hump yards does BNSF have?

Also, considering BNSF has not implemented PSR, does UP or BNSF do a better job of moving merchandise traffic across their system (car velocity)?

Thank you in advance.

I  may as well keep the rumor mill going. . .

There was an upper level manager in Rosville last month stating there will only be three yards activly humping on the UP by the end of the year.

portlander Wrote:
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> I  may as well keep the rumor mill going. . .
>
> There was an upper level manager in Rosville last
> month stating there will only be three yards
> activly humping on the UP by the end of the year.

And those are???

PHall Wrote:
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> portlander Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I  may as well keep the rumor mill going. . .
> >
> > There was an upper level manager in Rosville
> last
> > month stating there will only be three yards
> > activly humping on the UP by the end of the
> year.
>
> And those are???

If I were to guess, I'd wager North Platte, Englewood, and North Little Rock.

Andrew

PRR_4859 Wrote:
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The following are the active hump yards for both UP and BNSF.  And to be clear, the following yards are "Network Yards" with automated retarders and builds long distance road trains for the system.

> With UP implementing PSR, how many hump yards
> remain on their system?

Bailey Yard  North Platte, NE
Englewood Yard  Houston, TX
Livonia Yard  Livonia, LA
North Little Rock Yard  North Little Rock, AR
West Colton Yard  Bloomington, CA

Davis Yard in Roseville, CA may still have its hump active, but originating / terminating road trains are down to 9 total a day.  And as the owner of Alton & Southern, there's also Gateway Yard in East St. Louis, IL.

> By comparison, how many hump yards does BNSF
> have?

Argentine Yard  Kansas City, KS
Barstow Yard  Barstow, CA
Cherokee Yard  Tulsa, OK
Galesburg Yard  Galesburg, IL
Hobson Yard  Lincoln, NE
Northtown Yard  Minneapolis, MN
Pasco Yard  Pasco, WA
Tennessee Yard  Memphis, TN

> Also, considering BNSF has not implemented PSR,
> does UP or BNSF do a better job of moving
> merchandise traffic across their system (car
> velocity)?

According to the last week's report on the STB site, BNSF and UP's manifest velocity is averaging 22.7 mph.

Andrew
 

UP is an owner of the BRC in Chicago too.

jtwlunch Wrote:
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> UP is an owner of the BRC in Chicago too.

Yes, but the Alton & Southern is a wholly owned subsidiary of UP.  

Andrew

I understand some of the long UP westbound GSL trains are assembled in the Herington, KS flat yard.

rrman6 Wrote:
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> I understand some of the long UP westbound GSL
> trains are assembled in the Herington, KS flat
> yard.

Those trains are as follows:
MASHN East St. Louis, IL (ALS) - Herington, KS daily
MDMHN Des Moines, IA - Herington, KS daily 
MHNHN Herington, KS - Topeka, KS turn daily
MHNTU Herington, KS - Tucson, AZ daily 
MHNWT Herington, KS - Wichita, KS daily
MWTHN Wichita, KS - Herington, KS daily

Andrew

Livonia yard is not the type of hump yard associated with the words.  It is a "mini" hump that does not have air operated retarders..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/20 21:38 by tomstp.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Livonia yard is not the type of hump yard
> associated with the words.  It is a "mini" hump.

It's still a "Network Yard" for UP.  It's one of few yards in the country that's equipped with Dowty retarders, which don't require a high profile hump.  So yes, it has a low profile hump, but it's still a fairly large yard.  It has 10 arrival tracks, a 35-track classification bowl, and 8 departure tracks.  Its output rivals that of Englewood Yard, which is physically nearly twice as big as Livonia.  Livonia Yard originates / terminates 31 road trains a day plus it serves a heavy industrial base.  It's a beast.

When I think of a "mini hump", I think of UP's Strang Yard (13 track bowl), Beaumont Yard (12 track bowl), and BNSF's Balmer Yard (16 track bowl).

Andrew



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/20 21:54 by florida581.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> portlander Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I  may as well keep the rumor mill going. . .
> >
> > There was an upper level manager in Rosville
> last
> > month stating there will only be three yards
> > activly humping on the UP by the end of the
> year.
>
> And those are???

I'm sorry, he didn't say. I would assume the three with the most traffic over the hump.

florida581 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rrman6 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I understand some of the long UP westbound GSL
> > trains are assembled in the Herington, KS flat
> > yard.
>
> Those trains are as follows:
> MASHN East St. Louis, IL (ALS) - Herington, KS
> daily
> MDMHN Des Moines, IA - Herington, KS daily 
> MHNHN Herington, KS - Topeka, KS turn daily
> MHNTU Herington, KS - Tucson, AZ daily 
> MHNWT Herington, KS - Wichita, KS daily
> MWTHN Wichita, KS - Herington, KS daily
>
> Andrew

I'm guessing much of this work has to do with the closing of Neff Yard in Kansas City?

wyeth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > MASHN East St. Louis, IL (ALS) - Herington, KS
> > daily
> > MDMHN Des Moines, IA - Herington, KS daily 
> > MHNHN Herington, KS - Topeka, KS turn daily
> > MHNTU Herington, KS - Tucson, AZ daily 
> > MHNWT Herington, KS - Wichita, KS daily
> > MWTHN Wichita, KS - Herington, KS daily
> >
>
> I'm guessing much of this work has to do with the
> closing of Neff Yard in Kansas City?

Yes.  MASHN, MHNWT, and MWTHN started running after the Neff hump closure.

Andrew

From a trusted coworker that sees more things than I do, there are plans already drawn for zero active hump yards on the system, if needed.

Each yard is scored daily and by shift to a plan. Keep not meeting that plan, and away goes the hump activity.

They already have given the ok (actually some time ago) that if any yard can prove that a three man crew is more efficient than RCO operations, they can convert a job back to conventional.

The humps and jobs must show a value and fit into the established metrics. Don’t meet them, and senior management will replace or move the field managers and middle management and redefine the yard plan.

Unfortunately, some of the things they are doing is creating results - just not all of it. Where I work is mostly bridge traffic so to speak, and the yards we have are under daily scrutiny for production - and the 100 year old infrastructure and geographic/property constraints are not helping.