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Railcar 101 The Basics of Railcars: Car Types, Components and Rules

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Presentation on theme: "Railcar 101 The Basics of Railcars: Car Types, Components and Rules"— Presentation transcript:

1 Railcar 101 The Basics of Railcars: Car Types, Components and Rules
How the Railroad Works Carol Scarborough

2 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
Railroad Operations Data Flow Train Operations Overview Terminals Network Operations Interchanges May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

3 Railroad Operations Data Flow
It all starts with a bill of lading Railroad Customer Service Center Movement Waybill BOL Instructions to pull car Incorrect BOL information will be carried throughout the movement Railroad Rating System Freight Bill May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

4 Railroad Operations Data Flow
Origin Switch List Train Consist Inbound Switch List Delivery Instructions May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

5 Railroad Operations Train Operations Overview
Pull car from plant Local Yard Road Train Intermediate Classification Yard Road Train Local Yard Place car at Consignee May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

6 Railroad Operations Terminals
Origin Terminal Work Order to Pull Car Industry Crew Pulls Car Crews usually work programmed shifts Except for very large facilities, plants are usually switched once/day. Generally, multiple plants and industries are switched by each crew Railroad usually cannot easily return for late cars, mistakes or special movements Local serving yard is often some distance from the plant requiring transit over main line or heavily used secondary tracks Return to Local Serving Yard May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

7 Railroad Operations Terminals
Origin Terminal Local Crew Yards Train Train is inspected, bad orders marked for shop Based on waybills, switch list is produced May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

8 Railroad Operations Terminals
May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

9 Railroad Operations Terminals
Origin Terminal Yard Crews switch inbound local Yard Crews Make up Outbound Train In a very small yard, industry local may switch their own train Most small yards are “flat switch” facilities Blocks are combined on outbound train and set in departure track Bad orders switched out of train Train Inspected May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

10 Railroad Operations Terminals
Origin Terminal Bad Order Cars Repaired or Switched Out Road Power and Crew Ordered Train Departs With Permission from Dispatcher May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

11 Railroad Operations Terminals
A “No Bill” car is handled differently Wait Pull car Arrive local yard Switched to “Hold” track Wait Car gets switched to outbound track and back in normal service “No Bill” track is generally switched at most once/day Lack of billing will delay a car at least oneday “Hold” track switched Billing Received NB Charges May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

12 Railroad Operations Terminals
A “Bad Order” car is also handled differently On inbound inspection car is bad ordered Pull car Arrive local yard Switched to shop for repair Yard crew spots cars in shop or Riptrack Yard crews will generally spot the shop or RIP track with new cars once/day May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

13 Railroad Operations Terminals
A “Bad Order” car is also handled differently Car is repaired and released by shop Yard crew pulls cars from shop When shop is pulled, cars may be added to another track to be switched instead of switching directly to outbound track Car gets switched to outbound track and back in normal service May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

14 Railroad Operations Terminals
Destination Terminal Train Arrives Destination Yard Arrival Track Switch List is Prepared From Inbound Consist Industrial serving yards’ process is to switch inbounds during a certain shift. Larger yards will work 24 hours and sometimes 7 days/week Trains are switched to make up industry switch locals or yard transfer locals if the serving yard is different from linehaul destination yard Yard Crew Switches Inbound Train May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

15 Railroad Operations Terminals
Destination Terminal Yard Crew Makes Up Industry Local Industry Local Switches Plant Spots Load Yard crews generally work specific shifts Many yards can only switch inbounds or make up industry locals or outbound trains during one shift/day. Industry locals or local transfer jobs will also often only operate once a day May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

16 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Terminals are generally scheduled operation Arrivals and departures at major yards are coordinated so inbound cars can be switched and depart on outbound trains in hours Most blocks will depart once/day “Schedule” is a rough plan but the network is constantly subject to daily variations May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

17 Railroad Operations Network Operations
All mainline tracks are under control of dispatcher Arranges train “meets” and issues instructions and permission for trains to occupy tracks in their assigned territory Corridor manager, chief dispatcher or director of operations controls overall flow of traffic and makes decision on priorities Dispatcher controls switches to sidings May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

18 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Road trains generally have an engineer and conductor Both must be “qualified”on the territory they operate over Crews usually change at 100 mile or 200 mile intervals Road trains receive inspection every 1,000 miles Unit trains file a waiver for inspection every 1,500 miles Hours of service laws limit on duty hours and specify minimum rest period before they can be on duty again. 1,000 mile inspection includes set up and release of breaks, cars with shifted loads, etc. In general road train operations are not significant sources of delays May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

19 Railroad Operations Network Operations
May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

20 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Train Symbol HOWCM BLOCKING DEPARTING HOUSTON – ENGLEWOOD YARD 1 San Antonio 2 El Paso 3 W. Colton May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

21 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Time Day Dep. Houston-Englewood Ar. San Antonio Set out 1 Pick up 2, 3 in block Dep. San Antonio Ar. El Paso Set out 2 Pick up 3 Dep. El Paso Ar. W. Colton First connection WCEUM 2100 May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

22 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Classes of road trains Intermodal Automotive High Priority Manifest Unit Trains (coal, grain, etc.) Manifest Local Intermodal and automotive generally have highest priority High priority manifest include backup service for automotive, run through trains, etc. Amoco traffic would generally move on high priority manifest or manifest trains May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

23 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Intermediate Terminals Hump yards or large classification yards Make blocks for other yards in system and interchange connections Make up trains from various blocks These yards can be significant sources of delay May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

24 Railroad Operations Network Operations
May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

25 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Intermediate Terminals Train arrives in arrival yard Carman, bleeds air, inspects cars General yardmaster schedules train for humping May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

26 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Intermediate Terminals Hump engines pull train out of arrival yard and push over hump At cutoff time, general yardmaster instructs “Trim” engine crew to set blocks to departure yard Trainman uncouples cars and they flow into classification tracks (bowl) Trim engine crew couples cars and pulls from classification tracks and set in block order on departure track Carman will fix any defects they can in the departure yard. Serious bad orders are marked for switching out before departure Carmen lace air hoses, connect to air supply and inspect train May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

27 Railroad Operations Network Operations
Intermediate Terminals Road power and End of Train Device connected Crew departs with train at appropriate time May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

28 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

29 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
Hump Yards The world's largest classification yard is a hump yard Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska Other large hump yards are: Kansas City- Argentine - 2nd largest (BNSF) Chicago - Clearing (BRC) Houston- Englewood (UP) May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

30 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
Hump Yards The gigantic Bailey Yard covers a total expanse of 2,850 acres and is over 8 miles in length and 2 miles wide. The yard is made up of 315 miles of track, including 18 receiving and 16 departure tracks. Bailey Yard handles over 10,000 cars every day. Approximately 3,000 cars are sorted daily in the yard’s two humps. May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

31 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
Hump Yards Using a mound cresting 34 feet for eastbound trains and 20.1 for those heading west, these two hump yards allow four cars a minute to roll gently into any of 114 "bowl" tracks where they become part of trains headed for dozens of destinations. Together these two yards have 18 receiving and 16 departure tracks. May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

32 Railroad Operations Interchanges
Data Flow Local transfers Run-through train operations Interchanges are often sources of delay and problems May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

33 Railroad Operations Interchanges
Data Flow RR 1 Waybill RR 2 Waybill RR 1 will automatically transmit advance copy of waybill when it is created RR 1 will transmit interchange delivered CLM when car is transferred RR 2 will match car record up with waybill when car arrives RR 2 generates interchanged received CLM Process usually works differently with shortlines that don’t have reporting capability EDI Transfer May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

34 Railroad Operations Interchanges
Local Transfers RR 1 Interchange Yard RR 1 Local train places cars on interchange track RR 2 Local train pulls cars from RR 2 Interchange Yard Interchange yard acts similar to a local switch yard, switching cars for local industry and to various connections Interchange track could be a track within one of the railroad’s yard Two railroads will sometimes operate out of the same yard. Interchange tracks are in a designated section of the yard May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

35 Railroad Operations Interchanges
Run-Through Train Operations CSX Indianapolis St. Louis ALS UP CSX Interchange locations are often congested with inadequate facilities Interchange must also often be accomplished through an intermediate carrier (ex. IHB, BRC, ALS) Railroads cooperate to eliminate the interchange delay and make blocks for interior points on each other’s systems Train is interchanged whole at point remote from congested areas, often with run through power St. Elmo Houston UP May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar

36 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar
May 21, 2008 DTE Rail Services, Inc. Maintenance Management Seminar


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