Eastern Railroad Discussion > WSJ: A Revolution Sweeping RRs Upends How America Moves Its Stuff

Warning: Pay wall!

Wall Street Journal on 4/3/19 published a well written and illustrated analysis of PSR / Clean Sheeting application at NS (v. CSX) detailing the puzzle NS is attempting to solve wrt the timely movement of freight through its large Decatur flat-switched yard that handles 1200 to 1500 cars daily.

Opening paragraphs:

"Decatur, Ill. - Norfolk Southern Corp. executives, employees and customers holed up for five days recently to work on a complex puzzle. How could they unclog a sprawling freight yard in central Illinois without triggering chaos?They asked a multitude of small questions akin to word problems in a math class. Their answers point toward some of the most sweeping changes to the nation’s railroad system in decades.There are 19 railcars bound for Kansas City that reach Decatur around 7:10 a.m. most days, about two hours before their connecting train. That isn’t enough time to unhook the cars, which are loaded with freight like coiled steel and corn syrup, move them along a grid of tracks, then attach them to the outbound train. So they sit in Decatur for an average of 26 hours—well over Norfolk Southern’s goal of 20.Pushing back the Kansas City departure to 2:30 a.m. the following day would fix that problem but generate another: 21 cars from Conway, Pa., would miss the train to Kansas City. One fix would be to have the Conway train arrive later..."

Concluding paragraphs:

"...Norfolk Southern is holding its capital spending to between 16% and 18% of revenue, compared with less than 15% for Union Pacific and about 13% for CSX. It will be upgrading its locomotive fleet and adding equipment so that it can carry more trailers—a business thriving, in part, from more e-commerce packages crossing the country.Weeks after the clean-sheeting session in Decatur, the new plan is up and running at the yard. Mr. Reynolds, the regional manager, said most tracks are now used for the same purpose each day, simplifying operations. Railcars are making their connections more reliably and spending less time in the yard. And in a sign that customers are buying in, he said, fewer cars are sitting idle in the yard."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-revolution-sweeping-railroads-upends-how-america-moves-its-stuff-11554302583?mod=hp_lead_pos8

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/19 01:30 by JPB.

JPB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> "Decatur, Ill. - Norfolk Southern Corp.
> executives, employees and customers holed up for
> five days recently to work on a complex puzzle.
> How could they unclog a sprawling freight yard in
> central Illinois without triggering chaos?They
> asked a multitude of small questions akin to word
> problems in a math class. Their answers point
> toward some of the most sweeping changes to the
> nation’s railroad system in decades.There are 19
> railcars bound for Kansas City that reach Decatur
> around 7:10 a.m. most days, about two hours before
> their connecting train. That isn’t enough time
> to unhook the cars, which are loaded with freight
> like coiled steel and corn syrup, move them along
> a grid of tracks, then attach them to the outbound
> train. So they sit in Decatur for an average of 26
> hours

What idiots! If they had any railroad sense they would be embarrassed to 
ask such a question. I bet there are quite a few rails on here with experience 
on the ground who could get 19 hot cars ready to be picked up in two hours.

Instead of letting knowledgeable people on the ground handle it, call a meeting with 
the shippers. If the shippers have any sense they are arranging for truck transportation.

Easy task for the "old" Conrail.They knew how to keep yards fluid and trains moving.

That may be true, but the "old Conrail" did not go nearly as many places as NS or CSX, and in its day, it pulled up a lot of track and shortlined quite a bit too. It also wasn't very interested in low priced traffic in some cases.

The big 4 US RR's have a great physical plant, but they are faced with thorny problems like this. Somtimes there is not a good answer, other than "live with it and count your blessings," which all but BNSF seem loathe to do these days.

Two hours is not enough to make a connection? I'd be embarrassed to be called a railroader.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JPB Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > "Decatur, Ill. - Norfolk Southern Corp.
> > executives, employees and customers holed up
> for
> > five days recently to work on a complex puzzle.
> > How could they unclog a sprawling freight yard
> in
> > central Illinois without triggering chaos?They
> > asked a multitude of small questions akin to
> word
> > problems in a math class. Their answers point
> > toward some of the most sweeping changes to the
> > nation’s railroad system in decades.There are
> 19
> > railcars bound for Kansas City that reach
> Decatur
> > around 7:10 a.m. most days, about two hours
> before
> > their connecting train. That isn’t enough
> time
> > to unhook the cars, which are loaded with
> freight
> > like coiled steel and corn syrup, move them
> along
> > a grid of tracks, then attach them to the
> outbound
> > train. So they sit in Decatur for an average of
> 26
> > hours
>
> What idiots! If they had any railroad sense they
> would be embarrassed to 
> ask such a question. I bet there are quite a few
> rails on here with experience 
> on the ground who could get 19 hot cars ready to
> be picked up in two hours.
>
> Instead of letting knowledgeable people on the
> ground handle it, call a meeting with 
> the shippers. If the shippers have any sense they
> are arranging for truck transportation.

In defensed of NS in this example, yes, they could move these 19 cars over immediately to make their connections, though it would require a crew, lead time, etc to accomplish this.  However, the problem exists that this very scenario occurs, maybe hundreds times a day, so that would require many, many switch crews, yard leads, etc to be able to handle making specialized moves on numerous cars and blocks of cars a day.  That would not be practical, if not impossible to accomplish - the labor, locomotives, and yard size to accomplish that would be massively enormous!  You have to have some kind of cut off time for cars that are to make an outbound train that allows for the switching of those cars.  One can make exceptions for some specific "hot" moves, but for the most part, you can't keep pushing back a train's departure time just because some new cars have recently arrived in the yard that is for that particular train - they wait until the next train.  If you do push back a trains scheduled departure time for more cars, what does it do to down the road terminals in which that train serves - will the cars now sit at the next terminal because they now miss their connections there?  Pretty much the same scenario that people flying have to put up with when having layovers between planes at hub airport terminals.

However, this does show the problem with many of the new "PSR" plans where train size standards are now quite big.  You run bigger trains, and now there are fewer of them.  That means cars sit longer until the next train for that car's destination runs, or you run more blocks/destinations on the fewer bigger trains:  But then those trains now have to work many other yards enroute, thus adding more delays to the cars remaining on the train.  On the other hand, for most carload customers, you can't run a train just for one customer - that's what a truck does, and we all know how congested the highways are with trucks.  Some where in between these two extremes, there is an area of compromise that best addresses all situations, though doesn't work perfectly for everyone.

The article notes that "union people" join with customers, managers etc to develop clean sheet plans to make their railroad yard run more smoothly.  And the workers pointed out some issues about a proposal, as it allows no slack if two trains arrive at the same time.

More to the point, the article notes some tasks should be done faster. And that the railroad has done the same things, in the same yard, the same way for over a hundred years. Even very basic tasks like leaving the Kansas City cars on the same track every day qualifies as a major change.  The current focus on reducing dwell in the yards (which going from 26 hours to 2 hours for the KC cut will help), and improving velocity will improve service to customers.

FWIW, I suspect one problem is seeing improvements as something that you accomplish. DONE!  Do this, and things will be better, and dwell will be lower.  In some places, improvement is a constant process, always looking to cut cost / time / people  while improving productivity and customer service.  I don't think the railroads fully grasp that end of the business.

The ADM guy declined to comment on the process of clean sheeting, but he did note that some recent changes have been in the "Take it or Leave it" vein. Not, how can we help ADM serve its customers better?

Geez, sounds like something a decent hump yard would take in stride. Seems to be one of the problems of any level of
"progress", you throw out what's been working in the interest of "new and better". "New and better" is rarely proven and
like so many of the "Quality" and other programs shows zero long term return.

Out

There was a article in Trains a few months ago talking about the Santa Fe and how for a time they departed a train every few hours between Barstow and Galesburg. No matter the amount of cars the train would depart and work as needed all the way across the system. All worked well until a manager saw a short train on a holiday and the program was cancelled.


Don’t like 26 hour dwell? Run another train.
Not enough cars to justify a second train? Marketing opportunity.

Posted from iPhone

I think something that goes unstated in some of these discussions, it's not that something can't be done, it's that it can't be done PROFITABLY, according to the new standards of what that means (making the lower O.R. needed to satisfy Wall St.) 

Ah, all the experts ... BTW, Decatur is not a hump. 

And I'd hardly say that what's happening on RRs is "upending how America moves" its goods. If anything, the upending is that RR traffic is continuing its decline.
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/rail_industry_trends/news/US-carload-intermodal-volumes-fell-in-March--57258



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/19 19:00 by JGFuller.

spwolfmtn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the other hand, for most carload customers, you can't run a train just for one customer - that's what a truck does, and we all know how congested the highways are with trucks.  

The Santa Fe used to occasionally run a freight train from Kansas City to the Ford plant in Pico Rivera that consisted of just one car.  It was a "shut down" car that would cause the plant to shut down if it wasn't delivered at a prescribed time.  
So, it can be done.

Actually, as I recall the "manager" who saw the short train on a holiday was the president of the Railroad.

ABB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, as I recall the "manager" who saw the short train on a holiday was the president of the Railroad.

The ULTIMATE manager!  

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> spwolfmtn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On the other hand, for most carload customers,
> you can't run a train just for one customer -
> that's what a truck does, and we all know how
> congested the highways are with trucks.  
>
> The Santa Fe used to occasionally run a freight
> train from Kansas City to the Ford plant in Pico
> Rivera that consisted of just one car.  It was a
> "shut down" car that would cause the plant to shut
> down if it wasn't delivered at a prescribed
> time.  
> So, it can be done.

I should have said, FOR THE MOST PART, you can't run a train for every carload customer, was my intended statement.  Yes, railroads do run, from time to time, run a train for one specific customer, maybe even one car, like you said.  But there is no way they can do this all the time for every customer!  Over on the Western board, a few weeks ago, there is a discussion from someone who runs a short line in the Portland OR area that has had a couple times now, UP has really messed up - but he also describes how UP has also tried to make things right again, and on one occasion, they did run a special train just for him.

On another topic, someone has suggested it was a good idea to have a track assigned to one destination all the time (ie, say track 5 is for Kansas City cars for example).  That doesn't always work very efficiently as the number of cars change and vary from day to day.  I know when I was a yardmaster and I had to assign a track to a new block (group of cars for same destination), I'd try to look ahead and see what the forecasted amount of cars for that particular block was going to have, then I could choose a track that was closer to the fit I'd need into the near future.  In a perfect world, there would be tracks for everything, but that's definitely not the case in the real world, as yard capacity is often a very finite resource.  Even more precious in a rail yard is the leads that access the yard tracks!  There's never enough of those and where you need them.

I give NS credit for letting local "union workers", customers, and managers work out local solutions.

Avoiding the "rip out all humps" mantra.

Posted from Android

Which was my point before "Captain Obvious" Jack Fuller announced that Decatur wasn't a hump yard, well duh I think
we know that. Point is that well placed humps are an asset and locals and road switchers to smaller yards can still make
sense. This whole thing reeks of people who admire a tree and make it better by ripping out the roots. There is a lowest
common denominator to all this and maybe it is a PSR-centric tree with the shortlines forming the roots, I don't see the
shortlines building strategic hump yards but someone at the CSX level has to understand their value.

Out

"Captain Obvious" ... I like the ring of that! :)

Decautur is supposedly North America's largest flat yard - though I wonder how its productivity is doing in the era of "no kick - no drop - no on-and-off moving equipment. Interesting that WAB never built a hump there.

Flat yards are probably better set up to do hot moves like the one suggested. Humps, not so well. 

I think there are traffic-modeling computer programs that can look at an entire system's flows, and then assist in determing what should be switched where. Probably better than a group sitting around a table, with possibly less than complete knowledge of system traffic.

Trying to make a network more fluid while making the individual yards more efficient is not a game for amateurs.

Getting everybody in the same room in Decatur seems like a good start toward understanding the problems.

And the consequences of various fixes.

Posted from Android

howeld Wrote:

> Don’t like 26 hour dwell? Run another train.
> Not enough cars to justify a second train?
> Marketing opportunity.
>
> Posted from iPhone

howeld you have the correct answer.
I spent many years working in a large freight yard where management was continually attempting
to square the wheel by chasing false "metrics" (how silly a term)

For a few years the company religion was focused on keeping dwell time under 24 hours.
It was an impossible goal to meet which may be why it was chosen, the better to have something to
beat lower management over the head with. Cars on a train entering the receiving yard at 0800 were not
going to make a train departing at 1000.  The "captain obvious" solution would be to run two 6000'  trains 
out of the departure yard every day instead of one 12,000' train.  That however is heresy punishable by
expulsion.

It will probably take another generation (when all the told you so-ers are safely six feet under) before some
MBA genius decides that the thousands of miles of main line are under utilized.  It will be proclaimed in all
the trade whore journals how wonderful it is to run short (5,000' to 6,000' ) fast trains.  How wonderful to have the yards cleaned out
multiple times a day, short transit times, increased rolling stock productivity, better crew utilization ( enter the standard BS phrases here to
continue).