A Southern Railway train of local and interchange freight heads into Forrest Yard at Memphis, Tenn. (Above) East, north and southbound freight received by Southern at its Memphis gateway rolls out of town toward other points served by the railway. |
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Thousands of freight cars daily pass through the "gateways" of American railroads. What is a railroad "gateway"? Like Southern's Forrest Yard at Memphis, Tenn., discussed in this article, they are the interchange points where connecting railroads deliver or receive freight cars in providing a mass transportation service unequalled anywhere.
America's industry has often been likened to one giant manufacturing plant, with the continent's vast network of railroads serving as its main assembly line. Few word pictures could be more descriptive of a land of varied industry and commerce served by a form of transportation able to move-with efficiency and economy-raw materials to processing centers, goods and parts to assembly plants and finished products to consumer markets. .
In peace and war the achievements of this "factory" and its assembly line are a matter of record. Today, the assembly line is better able than ever to serve the needs of the factory.
A Southern Railway train of local and interchange freight heads into Forrest Yard at Memphis, Tenn. (Above) East, north and southbound freight received by Southern at its Memphis gateway rolls out of town toward other points served by the railway. |
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Many factors contribute to the effectiveness of present-day rail transportation modern motive power and equipment, improved yards and train control systems, to name a few. But one thing impossible to overlook is the way railroads work together to serve their customers. ,
Independent and competitive though they are, railroads join in a network over which a freight car can be routed across the continent and back, or into Canada or Mexico to serve a shipper's needs.
Freight loaded at a plant siding on one railroad may travel over several other railroads in the same car before it arrives safely at destination a hundred or a thousand miles away. Shippers know this, and the waybill that accompanies a shipment lists its exact routing. But few people except railroaders see the thing that makes it possible-the interchange of cars from railroad to railroad at points where the various rail lines connect.
Ceaseless shuttling of cars over a maze of tracks and switches makes one of Southern's terminal yards some thing of a puzzle to a casual observer. But what may look like a pointless game is in reality the important business of sorting cars for delivery to other railroads and combining the freight cars received from them into outbound trains arranged for convenient set-offs at cities along Southern's lines.
A portion of Forrest Yard at Memphis, one of Southern's five major gateways to the West and North tor interchange traffic with connecting railroads. |
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Where railroads connect (as do the Southern and several others at Memphis) , each railroad serves as an extension of another so far as shippers are concerned. For shippers on anyone rail line and for the railroads concerned such connections are gateways to a wider business territory.
Although Southern interchanges freight cars with other railroads at many of its yards, five major terminal points represent our gateways to the West and North. They are New Orleans, La.; Memphis, Tenn.; East St. Louis, Ill.; Cincinnati, Ohio, and Potomac Yard at Axexandria, Va.
The pictures illustrating this story were taken at Memphis, but they might just as easily have been taken at any of the other four. Details of yard operation may vary, but the principle is the same-keep freight on the move.
An Illinois Central engine stands ready to "break up" the cut of cars being delivered by Southern at IC's Memphis yard. |
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Railroads planned and invested for years to make sure that these railroad-to-railroad connections would be gateways for, and not barriers to, the free flow of commerce. It cost individual railroads millions of dollars to change to one standard track width ( or gauge) .Agreeing on and adopting standard equipment and setting up car records systems required not only money but cooperation. The fortunate result: a standard freight car can go anywhere on this continent that rails go.
Vital links in this assembly line of flanged wheels on rail are the terminal yards where cars are grouped for interchange among railroads.
What happens in a terminal yard? As soon as an incoming train off the main line sheds its diesels, the "breaking up" process begins. Cars are divided according to their destinations and routing instructions.
The Rock Island, another of the connecting railroads at Memphis, makes a delivery of traffic routed CRI&P and Southern. |
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Many cars are for local delivery, but the majority pass through the yard to fan out along the lines of connecting railroads.
Gateways swing in as well as out. and through our terminal yards comes the east, north and southbound traffic routed Southern. With its receipt, the job of "making up" trains for outbound movement begins an operation involving a certain amount of classification of cars so that those bound for the same general area will be coupled together in a train.
A string of freight cars spotted on an outbound track with road diesel units coupled to the head end and a caboose coupled on at the rear immediately becomes a part of America's main assembly line-another of the approximately 15,000 freight trains operated daily over the American railroads.
Missouri Pacific engine at Forrest Yard delivering freight cars from the West and Midwest consigned to points in the South. |
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Without railroads and their coordinated efforts to extend their service and transport products of the fields and factories, the history of the staggering industrial growth of America never could have been written.
In the more than a century and a half since the start of railway service on this continent, no assembly line has yet been devised to surpass them in this job of mass transportation they forged for themselves. o o o