Chuck,
As I read through the various posts on the issue of Gavin Yard's
viability and purpose, I think the basis for my comment had more to
do with the construction of the hump there, not the existence of the
yard, itself. As I said in my post, yesterday, the comment came from
a Bn employee in the mid 1980's. I think his reference was really
about the hump. (By the way, I finally recalled his name. The Air
brake superintendent was Art Fiddler, a crusty old gentleman who had
years of experience in air brake systems and railroading in general.
Guess my Alzhiemer's hasn't fully set in!)
Looking at many of the recent posts, it appears that the primary
function or use of Gavin may have been grain car sorting. If that
were the case, grain car switching is usually a flat yard operation,
not requiring a hump because the cars are generally sorted by grain
type, quality and demand, not destination only. Even today, most RRs
switch and block grain cars, empty or full, in flat yard operations.
My conductor son on the U.P. does that frequently at Osawatomie, KS.
In retrospect, I think Mr. Fiddler's comment at the time was that the
hump, not the yard should not have been built.
Bill Barber
Gravois Mills, MO
On Mar 8, 2011, at 2:43 AM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> Re: Minot, ND Hump Yard
> Posted by: "Chuck Hatler" gnhistory07@live.com
> charles.hatler@sbcglobal.net
> Mon Mar 7, 2011 12:25 pm (PST)
>
>
>
> One of the jobs that Gavin performed was holding grain loads while
> the grades were shipped to the grain exchange in Minneapolis. Once
> the grades were established, and the grain sold, then Gavin had to
> dig the random cars out of the grain tracks and put them on trains
> going to destination. That was not its primary function, but a very
> important one in the days of loose-car grain railroading.
>
> None of that is required anymore, and so the number of storage
> tracks needed was reduced.
>
> Chuck Hatler
> KC MO
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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