1.6. OTHER YARD FACILITIES
In addition to the tracks and leads necessary for receiving and
classifying cars, numerous others are required in largescale yard
operations. These include tracks for repairing rolling stock (cars)
and servicing motive power (locomotives), and those for miscellaneous
use; they are discussed in the subparagraphs that follow.
a. Repair track. In a large yard, numerous tracks are required
for repairing cars. Light and heavy repairs are made to loaded and
empty equipment passing through the yard, and complete rebuilding
facilities are usually maintained by railroads for their own
equipment. Generally, light repair tracks (rip tracks) exist, in
addition to transfer tracks where the freight is transferred to other
cars to prevent lengthy delays caused by heavy repairs.
b. Tracks for servicing locomotives. Tracks necessary for
servicing locomotives include inspection tracks and pits, and tracks
leading to the turntable and roundhouse, sand house, fuel and water
stations, and ash pit if steam locomotives are used. After being
serviced and supplied with all needed equipment, locomotives are
placed on a ready track to await their turn to take a train out on
the road.
c. Miscellaneous tracks. A rail yard may contain tracks for
cabooses and wreck trains, live and deadcar storage, and worktrain
equipment. Also, often necessary are tracks for storing fuel and
sand, and ties, rails, and other maintenance of way equipment. If a
railroad handles livestock and perishable freight, it must have
facilities for feeding, watering, and resting livestock, and for re
icing refrigerator cars containing perishable shipments.
1.7. USE OF PROGRESSIVE AND COMBINATION YARDS
The layout of a progressive yard of a large rail terminal, shown
in figure 1.1, incorporates some of the desirable tracks previously
mentioned. Both east and west yards are divided into receiving,
classification, and departure yards. In the combination yard shown
in figure 1.2, the receiving, classifying, and departure tracks are
incorporated into one yard. The following subparagraphs illustrate
how these yards can be used and the advantages they offer.
a. Through trains. In most yards, there are occasions when
inbound trains do not have to be switched. Such trains require only
an inspection, the usual clerical work on waybills, and a change
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