With the arrival of the CHI-CLE run, we are now back in action in Cleveland for the last part of this crew's day.
The CHI-CLE run arrives...
The Baldwin switcher grabs the end of the string and sorts the cars. We have one empty box for the storage track, one empty box with a bad order (coupling problems of some sort) that will go to the shop's RIP (repair in place) track, three covered grain hoppers for the brewery, a box full of boxes headed to the port, and four cars headed on to Pittsburgh: an empty reefer, a reefer with food from Delta Foods in CHI, a box with food from Windy City Biscuit (probably crackers or other non-perishables) and a covered hopper with grain leftovers bound for a feed mill (animals aren't as picky as people).
Overall, it's an easy sort. The four Pittsburgh cars join a B&O box we sorted earlier, the three brewery-bound cars get their own track and everything else gets sorted accordingly, including the box bound for the RIP track. Once the track is clear, the GP heads to the barn.
The GP ends a busy day with a well-deserved rest...
The five cars headed for Pittsburgh later...
The RIP track...
Layout rules state that all trains leaving Cleveland will be 10 cars (helps keep the yard busy and creates switching complications). Outbound to CHI is filled with coal cars that have no car cards. They are "filler" cars that get emptied once they reach KC and then return to be filled again. Once there are 15 coal cars in Cleveland, a "coal drag" is ordered as a special train to clear out the bulk.
This train is bound offboard for Pittsburgh, so we use empty cars from the storage track to fill out this train. These represent empty requests or other general car movements.
The switch crew places the five Pittsburgh cars on the outbound track and tacks on five from storage -- two boxes, an autorack, a flat car and a hopper. With these placed, the Cleveland portion of our railroad day is over.
The night train from Pittsburgh will pick up our outbounds and drop off deliveries for tomorrow...
Next up: CNW action in Kansas City and Chicago
The CHI-CLE run arrives...
The Baldwin switcher grabs the end of the string and sorts the cars. We have one empty box for the storage track, one empty box with a bad order (coupling problems of some sort) that will go to the shop's RIP (repair in place) track, three covered grain hoppers for the brewery, a box full of boxes headed to the port, and four cars headed on to Pittsburgh: an empty reefer, a reefer with food from Delta Foods in CHI, a box with food from Windy City Biscuit (probably crackers or other non-perishables) and a covered hopper with grain leftovers bound for a feed mill (animals aren't as picky as people).
Overall, it's an easy sort. The four Pittsburgh cars join a B&O box we sorted earlier, the three brewery-bound cars get their own track and everything else gets sorted accordingly, including the box bound for the RIP track. Once the track is clear, the GP heads to the barn.
The GP ends a busy day with a well-deserved rest...
The five cars headed for Pittsburgh later...
The RIP track...
Layout rules state that all trains leaving Cleveland will be 10 cars (helps keep the yard busy and creates switching complications). Outbound to CHI is filled with coal cars that have no car cards. They are "filler" cars that get emptied once they reach KC and then return to be filled again. Once there are 15 coal cars in Cleveland, a "coal drag" is ordered as a special train to clear out the bulk.
This train is bound offboard for Pittsburgh, so we use empty cars from the storage track to fill out this train. These represent empty requests or other general car movements.
The switch crew places the five Pittsburgh cars on the outbound track and tacks on five from storage -- two boxes, an autorack, a flat car and a hopper. With these placed, the Cleveland portion of our railroad day is over.
The night train from Pittsburgh will pick up our outbounds and drop off deliveries for tomorrow...
Next up: CNW action in Kansas City and Chicago
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