Rail yard facts for kids

A rail yard, also called a railway yard or railroad yard, is a special area with many train tracks running side-by-side. It's like a big parking lot for railroad cars and locomotives (train engines).

Rail yards are used for:

• Storing train cars when they are not being used.
• Sorting cars to send them to different places.
• Loading and unloading goods from freight cars.

Having many tracks in a yard helps keep the main train lines clear. This way, trains can move smoothly without getting stuck behind parked cars. Special small locomotives called switchers move cars around the yard. Train cars are sorted based on things like their railroad company, if they are full or empty, where they are going, or if they need repairs.

Most rail yards are built where trains need to wait, be loaded, or be put together into new trains. Very large yards might even have a control tower to manage all the activity.

How Rail Yards Work

Rail yards are often found along a main train line. They can have different sections depending on how they are built and what they are used for.

Types of Freight Yards

Freight yards are designed to sort freight cars (cars that carry goods). Here are the main types:

Hump Yards

A hump yard has a small hill built into it. Yard locomotives push freight cars up this hill. Once at the top, the cars are uncoupled and roll down the other side using gravity. They are then guided onto different sorting tracks. It's like a giant sorting machine for train cars!

Gravity Yards

A gravity yard is similar to a hump yard but uses a natural slope instead of a built hill. Locomotives push cars to the top of the slope. Then, the cars are uncoupled and roll downhill onto their correct tracks.

Flat Yards

A flat yard does not have any hills or slopes. In these yards, locomotives must push and pull every car to move it to the right track. This type of yard relies completely on the locomotives for all car movements.

Images for kids

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  A coach yard in Shanghai, China

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  A hump classification type of yard. This view shows where cars are uncoupled and start rolling downhill past a scale. Special devices called retarders help control the car's speed.

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  Smaller hydraulic "dowty retarders" fine-tune the speed of a car as it approaches a switch or other cars it will join.