Hump Yard Speed

nbrail Jul 30, 2001

  1. nbrail

    nbrail E-Mail Bounces

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    In a prototipical hump yard operation, how fast would a car be going when it makes contact with the stationary consist?
     
    nbrail, Jul 30, 2001
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  2. Eagle2

    Eagle2 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    From what I saw when I got to watch the Barstow yard, it looked to be about walking speed, so say about 3 miles per hour.
     
    Eagle2, Jul 30, 2001
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  3. Gregg Mahlkov

    Gregg Mahlkov Guest

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    There used to be a slogan promoted by the Freight Claim and Damage Prevention Departments on coupling speed: "No more than four". So hump coupling speeds would be considerably below that. :cool:
     
    Gregg Mahlkov, Jul 30, 2001
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  4. dbn160

    dbn160 Passed away January 16, 2004 In Memoriam

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    Hopefully as slow as possible, using the hump retarders, car brakes (applied by a brakeman) and/or rolling friction to slow things down.

    A modern loaded 100-ton car moving at 3-4 MPH
    has a whole lot of inertia and kinetic energy to dissipate.....

    UP and SP both had specially instrumented boxcars used by their training departments -- they had a clear plastic side wall so crews could see what happened when cars came together too fast.


    Don B
     
    dbn160, Jul 30, 2001
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