YARDS AND TERMINALS.
1701. This subject includes the laying out and maintenance
of the extensive railway yards which are found at all terminal
and division points.
A terminal to be effective must provide ample track room for
all cars being stored, unloaded, or exchanged, with the tracks
so arranged that terminal business may be transacted with facility
and dispatch. To save time is to save money in all departments
of a railroad. Much time is unavoidably consumed in transferring
cars to foreign lines, making up trains, and shifting cars to
freight depots or side tracks for unloading; but a badly arranged
yard involves waste of time and increased forces of
men and engines. Hence, the laying out of yards and terminals
should be placed in the hands of men of judgment and large experience.
Furthermore, a railroad company can well afford to incur large
expenditure in first cost if they thereby avoid the continual
extra expense due to badly arranged yards and terminals.
A well-arranged terminal is shown in Fig. 547, in which practically all the
requirements for local and through traffic
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and for traffic exchange, both by rail and water, are fully
met.
The railroad has a double track, a a' and b b'.
The passenger station A is placed where two important streets
intersect, and should be as near the center of population and
business as is practicable. This station combines two buildings,
the one c in front, containing the passenger, baggage,
and express rooms on the first floor and the general offices of
the company on the upper floors. The rear building d is
a train shed, and contains six tracks, with platforms between.
These platforms should be from 8 to 10 feet in width, so that
passengers need not crowd each other while taking the cars. In
many of the best stations, these platforms are of concrete, finished
smooth with Portland cement. This makes an excellent walk, is
fireproof and enduring. The roof should be of iron, and the entire
station made fireproof, if practicable.
Empty passenger coaches are stored on the tracks e,
convenient to the station. The freight station and offices are
shown at B. This station is in four parts. The first part
f, in front, contains the freight offices, and is usually
two or three stories in height. The parts g and h
are freight rooms for receiving and discharging freight. The part
k is a train shed, containing six tracks, allowing three
rows or banks of cars for each freight room. The cars are backed
into the train shed with the car doors on each track on line with
those on the adjoining tracks. Bridges of either planks or sheet
iron extend from car door to car door, so that two or three rows
of cars may be loaded at the same time. By this means a way freight
train for a long line with numerous stations may be loaded with
dispatch and without confusion.
The freight rooms have no outside platforms. Drays loaded with
outgoing freight back up to the doors of the freight room; the
freight is discharged directly into the freight room, and often
is carried by trucks directly from the drays to the car. This
saves the delay and expense of rehandling, which would result
from discharging from
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drays to a platform. Trains of local freight are stored on
the tracks l while awaiting their turn for unloading, and
cars laden with outgoing freight may be stored on the tracks in
until a train is made up.
It will be observed that the main tracks a a' and b
b' are comparatively free from switches, excepting at the
passenger train yard and station. All tracks entering the passenger
station A connect with the outbound track b b'. All
the tracks connecting with the freight station B are thrown
from the main stem track n, which connects with the outbound
main track b b'. The streets o and p, adjoining
the freight station, are extended to accommodate drays or other
vehicles while unloading freight in car lots from the adjoining
sidings.
The track q r is sometimes called a ladder track. It runs
diagonally across the yard, intersecting all tracks and connecting
with each by means of slip switches, shown in detail at A'
and B'. This track extends to the steamship wharves C
and D. Two tracks run alongside each pier, the tracks being
depressed so as to bring the car floors nearly on a level with
the deck of the pier. The passenger room and steamship offices
are at E. Additional side tracks for local freight in car
lots are shown at s and t. Additional railroad wharves
are shown at F, G, and H. Wharves should
be covered with strong sheds, and when the pier foundation is
of stone or creosoted piles, it is economy to build the shed of
iron. Grain elevators are shown at I and K. The
tracks, five in number, run between the elevators, giving abundant
dockage for ships on either side.
The wharves L, M, N, O, P, and Q are for coal
traffic. The piers support coal pockets, which have sufficient
elevation to cause the coal to run by gravity into the holds of
vessels lying alongside. The track v, connecting with the
main track b b', has an ascending grade not to exceed 2
per cent., which gives sufficient elevation to the spur tracks
running on to the coal wharves.
Track x, connecting with the elevated track v,
leads to a coal chute R. The buildings shown at S, T,
and U are
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warehouses, where freight is stored in bond or otherwise for
future delivery. A foundry is represented by V, a car shop
by W, a machine shop by X, a round house with turntable
by Y, and a chute for coaling engines by Z. The
engine and boiler house y is so situated that it can supply
steam to foundry, car, and machine shops. Track z, as well
as q r, is a ladder track. The tracks C' are for
outgoing trains and for cars to be transferred to foreign lines.
Tracks D' are for storing local and steamship freight.
Tracks approach the turntable at Y from both directions,
which saves time and switching. Cross-overs are placed at the
points where there is frequent shifting of cars from one track
to another. The slip switches, shown at A' and B'
in detail A, combine economy of space with great flexibility
and greatly simplify the work of shifting cars and making up trains.
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