Maybe as a GN facility it was ok, but, I had a private tour in the early 70's
and a group tour again in the mid 70's. Both times it looked like a third to
half the bowl tracks were empty .And the yard master indicated this was as
usual. The mid 70's tour was after Northtown was open. About 5+ years ago I
went past Gavin on AMTRAK and the yard looked empty, could count the cars there
with out taking off my shoes. They were scattered around(not in one place).
--- On Sun, 3/6/11, Steve Haas <Goatfisher2@comcast.net> wrote:
From: Steve Haas <Goatfisher2@comcast.net>
Subject: RE: [CBQ] Re: Minot, ND Hump Yard
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 5:05 PM
Bill responds:
<<The yard in Minot, ND is Gavin Yard on the Great Northern. The yard was
not fully used to its maximum potential.>>
I've never heard this statement made before with respect to
Gavin during the GN era. Can you provide pointers to documents that can
collaborate this? I'd be most interested.
I'd be interested in any leads or links where this is
discussed as I've not seen this comment made before about the yard during
it's GN days, when it was serving the traffic patterns it was designed for.
<<I heard reports that is has been returned to a flat yard of a smaller
size.>>
>From what I can tell via Google earth, it's definitely
smaller, doesn't look like the hump is there anymore either. But that in
and of itself doesn't suggest that building the yard was a bad thing in the
first place.
All railroads reorganize their physical plants from time to
time to react to changing traffic patterns, volume, and changes in modality.
Gavin was built at a time when the primary unit of transportation was by
carlot. Individual shipments originating at multiple locations, destined for
multiple receivers. That mix of traffic requires a lot of class work, class
work that the originating terminals didn't have the capacity to effectively
perform. Gavin was built to facilitate that kind of traffic.
Very large amounts of today's traffic is modular, or unit
trains, including the stack trains. This type of traffic requires far less
classification than individual car lots did in their day.
Post merger, the BN had a need to rationalize their
operations and their physical plant. Between the combined physical plants
and the changes in the modes of transportation, things did change - less
class work to do and more yard space to do it in. Traffic patterns, real
estate expense and other variables went into the equation. Based on
projected traffic patterns, types and volumes at that time, downsizing Gavin
was the thing to do. Now sense in paying taxes and maintaining a physical
plant you are not using.
<<I had tours of the yard twice back in the early and mid 70's. Quite the
place back then. Nearly every train stopped in for a quick reshuffle,
after the BN merger Gavin became an also ran with Northtown doing most of
the work. More than a few times I saw the yard nearly empty while passing
by on the westbound AMTRAK Empire Builder.>>
I've seen some of the promotional movies made about it, and
have read about operations in and out of the yard at its heights. I've never
had the opportunity to see it in person.
I don't see where GN made a bad decision in this case. They
conceived and built Gavin to reduce terminal congestion and reduce travel
times. It accomplished these goals very well. In the sixty plus years,
railroading and railroad traffic has changed - BN (and all other railroads)
are constantly changing/upgrading their facilities in anticipation of/in
reaction to the realities of their markets. One of the "casualties" of
these changes and upgrades is the downsizing of Gavin.
Best,
Steve Haas
Snoqualmie, WA
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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