Buckeye Yard Memories
by Russ Thompson
Part-2 - The Hump
The hump itself was 22 1/2 ft. high, and electromechanical, built by the General Railway & Signal Company. It consisted of a pin pull retarder 5 sets of master retarders, and 2 sets of retarders for each of the 4 groups.
After a train arrived in the receiving yard, it would be pulled out by a hump crew, pulling south, then many times going back north again in another track to couple onto another run of cars, finally pulling south then west to get aligned for the hump lead. Sometimes these cuts would be so long as to block Hilliard Rome Rd, while being switched over It then would head north, toward the hump. In the early days of the yard, along the south side of the crest, there were pits on both sides for car department crews to visually inspect the cars, and to oil the friction-bearing axles which were still being used. Also, there was a flange detector to look for bad wheel flanges. Once friction-bearing cars were no longer allowed, these locations were removed.
The speed of the cars coming off the hump was controlled by a computer, with the operator of the Retarder Tower having manual control if needed. This also gave him a side-angle view of the cars. Each track was electrified with voltage. A current was sent down one rail, passed through the car’s axle to the other rail, and returned to the hump computer. The time it took for this signal to return set the distance for the car to go, and the car's speed, which was adjusted by the group retarders for a roughly 4 mph or less coupling.
As with any automated yard, close calls of cars, or minor derailments were common. It was the retarder operator's job to override the computer and stop these things from happening. Every once in a while, a glitch would happen.
One day, all was going well. No concerns. A heavy car had just been uncoupled at the top of the hump when all power went out. What happened had to be a rarity. The pin puller and the master retarder were at full open. The switches at the bottom of the hump were lined. The class yard switches were lined. The class yard retarders were on full open. The class yard track it was lined for was unoccupied. The switches in the puller yard were lined for the departure track. There was no traffic at Buckeye. It was lined for CP Darby. The car made it to CP Darby before stopping on its own. There were no concerns, except for the 40 or 50 people holding their breath for quite a period of time.
It was an interesting place for both the public and those that worked there. With the exchange of power from the various railroads and the never-ending pieces of rolling stock from everywhere, boring workdays always had something to look at.
Click for Part-3