HUMP YARD in ACTION at BNSF GALESBURG YARD! Trains shoving the hill and drone views!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มิ.ย. 2023
- 06/17/2023 Galesburg, IL. Took a road trip on the bike to check out the BNSF's second largest railyard! Lots going on that day along with train traffic. With the drone it's easy to see them pulling the pin and sending cars down the hump and through the retarders. The retarders help to keep the car speed around 4 mph for coupling. Great town to visit for an enormous amount of railroad activity!
It certainly makes one ponder how we were ever capable of getting birdseye footage like this long before drones..lol, this is amazing.
Yes Lynne, I guess airplanes in the old days. Drones are quite a bit handier👍
locomotive engjineer for bnsf for 32 years, worked 20 years out of galesburg yard, then 12 years out of ft madison ia terminal! retired in 2018, thank's for the memories!
You're welcome Robert D! Glad I could bring back some memories👍
That’s was great seeing the hump in action. Thanks for the video!
You're welcome JOC!
I could watch overhead views of yard action all day long. Thanks for posting.
You're welcome Alex! Check out my "kicking cars" video in Marshalltown. Good overhead yard action.
Hello, thank you very much for this video. Kenneth
You're welcome Kenneth!
The logistics involved in putting together a train is mind boggling.
Great Video! Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome Big Rod!
I have Never seen the Hump part of this Yard in Action. Thanks for covering this Action by Ground and Drone because you Can’t Beat the Views. Thanks Red. 👍🙏
You're welcome kens!
There may be other videos on TH-cam that show how the cars get pushed up the hump before they're released, but this is the only one I've ever seen. Great job! Very informative.
Thanks anacoman!
I asked a friend “what is a hump yard?” And when he sent me this video, I expected to watch two minutes of it. 20+ minutes in and I am still sitting here totally loving it! Now I want a hump yard of my own… I’m sure I could find a room in the house somewhere…
Glad you're into it GearsAndBricks! I could have hung out there all day. Went until the drone batteries were done👍
Nice control on the drone
Thanks jb!
Thanks Red! That sure is a big hump yard. Love BNSF loco colors.
You're welcome John A! Saw some old BN green there too.
Wow, this yard is HUGE!! I don't remember ever seeing one as big as this. And I just love the drone work. I can watch this all day long. I don't know much about this but I have learned a lot since I came on TH-cam. Have a nice day and a happy fourth of July
Thanks Georgette! I could have hung out all day too. Very interesting to watch. I have a video posted of a hump yard in Houston too. That yard in Houston is massive too!
this is the 3rd largest sorting yard in the USA and was on hitlers list of priority targets for nuclear weapons
@@jeremy_brent That's interesting. I'm actually currently reading a D Day book.
Nice catches!
Looks like a model train yard from that height, cool.
I worked the hump at UP’S Neff Yard in KC for many years until they cancelled hump operations there in 2019 as a result of PSR.
Cool video thanks for sharing Have a safe day ✌️ 🇺🇸 USA 🇺🇲 USA 🇺🇲
You're welcome Jack!
This is simply amazing, had it not been this post I would never thought such a process exit. Really appreciate, thanks.
You're welcome Ataur!
Pretty cool love it from Indiana love train 🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂
Glad to hear it Terry!
Massive yard and magnificent drone camera capture. Never seen like this before. Wondering how each car gets detached and rolls on the track intended for them. Thanks Red keep posting amazing stuff like this
You're welcome Arumugham! The cars are detached when a person manually pulls the coupler pin at the top of the hump. Computers control switches from there.
I live probably a little over a hour from here and really never knew about this place
shunting is fun-a good learning tool for train lovers
Awesome Video = Thank You!
You're welcome apmazurka!
Cool yard action by drone from Galesburg,Illinois Red. Nice work .
Thanks Nancy!
Great video!👍
Thanks Timothy!
I was in north platte a few years ago. Pretty fun watching them hump cars. The drone makes a huge difference
I was in North platte a few years ago too. East and West hump yards.
Cool footage of the railyard. It's amazing they keep it all straight! 😊😊
Thanks Gary!
Thanks for a very good video 👍👍. Greetings from Sweden.
You're welcome Per Lindberg! Greetings to you👍
Mind blown! Thank you!
You're welcome disclosure!
Great video. That center unit is actually a calf, powered cabless unit.
Thanks SP! Had to get some more BNSF action after my La Plata experience👍
Worked at Proviso,IL Hump in 2017....amazingly you cant hear those cars creep past you after the retarders .....
This hump yard station is look nicer than the other, good show 👍👍.
Pretty cool video. I did not know they still did this practice so thanks for sharing!
You're welcome Mark S!
Was always my dream to be point man on a hump yard .
You’d have to watch your back.
@@dudley56589
The place is bigger than most town/cities and there are more units than there are people in those towns. Impressive!
Very impressive! The UP Bailey yard in North Platte Nebraska is even larger.
Hi Red, Great video nice action. That's a big YARD. 👍🚂🚂🚂
Thanks Anthony! Yes, a big one for sure👍
Smartly designed.....👍👍👍👍
This is pretty cool. I used to live in Burbank, Illinois just a few miles from Belt Railway Of Chicago, although I never just sat and watched the action. Thanks for doing this.
You're welcome Rob A!
Outstanding video.❤
Thanks Harold!
Mister Man I really like your vids. Thank You.
You're welcome Richard!
Thanks so much for this video! I grew up in Galesburg and moved to FL in 1987, and I’ve never seen a birdseye view of these yards before. What a treat! Nice work!
Thanks voiceoverdave! A very impressive yard indeed. Glad you could get a taste of back home👍
That's a flamin big yard! Great action in the Hump yard there, Red! There must have been some relics about as well. BNSF slug I never seen one before so Thanks for another great video, mate! 🚂🇦🇺🇺🇸🇦🇺🇺🇸
You're welcome Agent Mulder! There was a lot going on all at once. I'm sur
I'm sure there were a lot of hidden relics. Probly some Santa Fe stuff around too!
Great video! Love seeing a hump yard in action as well as the rare 6-axle b-units
Thanks fallingup90!
What are rare 6-axle b-units, so I will understand.
Excellent road trip video Red!
Thanks Michael B! That was a pretty long one, but I've done longer!
Great video of the hump yard Red. 👍
Thanks olddogg60!
It would be cool to see a whole day of operation speeded up.
Awesome video Of Red! 😊😊 Thanks! 😊😊
You're welcome Gary!
Wow , never knew about the hump yard , It’s a big mechanical demultiplexer
Amazing
Very cool! Very nice video!
Thanks RatMouse55! Big block small block👍
switched midnights at Shortline years ago. every now & again send a autorack a little hard, when they would couple you’d see brake lights light up.
I did a video awhile back of kicking cars at the Marshalltown yard. I can see it being pretty tricky with the speed.
Red Iowa! Thanks!!
You're welcome Freddee!
Super coooool !
Get bored?? Never going to see anything this impressive in New Zealand.. Can only thank you here...fantastic.
You're welcome Shane! Lots of train action here in the Midwest👍
One of my favorite town and yard to visit. I recommend The Packing House Dining Company, on Mulberry St across from public parking near The Galesburg RR Museum.
Thanks for the info Oliver! We ended up going to Perkins.
Brutal, nice video
I never knew about hump yards today there quite fascinating
Yes they are! A lot of automation going on.
Don’t forget, really massive yard in Nebraska to
Bailey yard! Saw it a few years ago.
Great video! I was there for railroad days and got a tour of the tower. Argonne in KC used to be their largest yard but now Galesburg is. Galesburg was also the first yard on their system to introduce remote control units. In the tower is a yardmaster, trainmaster and a guy dispatching trains in and out of the yard. Remote control units being powered by a guy on the ground, sometimes they are actually controlling it with a pack while inside the engine too.
Thanks TMB! I'll bet the tower was a great experience. I noticed a strange alarm that went off once in awhile at the yard. I'm guessing it was for when the remote control engines were engaged?
Correct. Galesburg is currently humping much more carload traffic than *_Argentine,_* although Argentine has the highest carload processing capacity on the BNSF system. Galesburg's classification bowl has 48 tracks (6 fans x 8 tracks per fan), while Argentine's classification bowl has 60 tracks (6 fans x 10 tracks per fan). Both terminals have 10 receiving and 10 departure tracks. During peak or surge traffic periods due seasonal/cyclical carload movements, weather (flooding, hurricanes, etc), or during major corridor track maintenance projects, either terminal can shift some carload processing to the other as a contingency. Recently, Galesburg has been far busier February to August, while Argentine occasionally humps more carloads September to January. Argentine no longer handles unit commodity train staging nor intermodal lifts, switching, or block swapping onsite, as those activities shifted to other dedicated KC area terminals at *Murray Yard* (former BN) and the *BNSF Logistics Park KC,* respectively.
Cool video, the drone footage is great.
Thanks David C!
Cool as can be
Thanks Podunk!
My God thats some marshalling yard! We used to have big hump yards in the UK eg. at Whitemoor Tinsley, Kingmoor, Tyne Tard, Colwick, Toton, etc etc but now that most of our freights are fully air braked block trains they became a thing of the past. Pity really that we dont seem to have 'mixed freights' anymore here. It used to be great watching wagons going over the retarders and being channelled down different roads in the yard then the clanking and crashing of the buffers on the wagons when trains were made up. Happy days!!
Sounds like happy days Sugar B! Hopefully we keep up with the hump yards here across the pond👍
Well done here Red! Over 400k views! Awesome 👍🇦🇺🇺🇸👍
Thanks Agent Mulder! Strange how certain videos get big views😃👍Blizzard warning here in Iowa for tomorrow.
@redsiowatrainvideos6645 Stay warm & stay safe, mate! Just about to watch the new RITV upload 👍🚂🇦🇺🇺🇸😎
Very nice video! I grew up about a mile and a half from there and used to run Amtrak though Galesburg as well.
To answer a couple questions you mentioned, the whistle sound you heard is to alert people that the humping process is about to begin so that cars rolling into the bowl don’t catch any employees off guard.
The train you saw at the end is an empty taconite train that was heading to Minnesota. The southbound loads go to Granite City, Illinois. Taconite is used for making steel.
Thanks warbonds! That's great information about the whistle. I thought it might be related to the remote control engines. Just visited Duluth and did some drone footage of the taconite loading docks. Very impressive looking structures and engineering!
Wish you could zoom in on a retarder, so I could see what's happening to make that noise like no other!
Great to have that bird's eye view of all that organized chaos. The still shot on your title card is breathtaking.
Those retarders have a noise of their own. They squeeze on the outsides of the wheels. Glad you liked my intro!
Great drone footage!
Thanks MIM!
14:28 *BNSF 301* is a cabless SD40-2 or _B-unit._ It still has its prime mover and radiator intact. This unit simply had its cab removed, so it is similar in function to a cabless _booster_ like the carbody units of old, such as the EMD F7B.
A *slug* is a former locomotive with its prime mover and radiators _removed,_ and whose traction motors are energized by a master locomotive that is semi-permanently attached to the slug unit (with a solid drawbar instead of a coupler).
*Spotting tip:* If you see working radiator fans and vents, the unit is _not_ a slug. However, if the radiator panels have been plated over and/or the radiator fan housings have been removed, it _is_ a slug.
Excellent video and camerawork. Cheers
Thanks Oubrioko! Appreciate the details about the slugs. I have a lot of examples of slugs with the Iowa Northern near my home town. That railroad uses old F40 Amtrak locomotives to power the slugs. The F40 has a higher output generator than the GP38 they commonly use.
That was very enjoyable to see how they shuffle the long trains . Massive yard . Great to have the drone over head do to the sheer size ! The only thing that would top this is inside the control room that the computer tolls the cars and load then manufacture( prints ) the list of cars for where they will be going .
Glad you liked it John! Yes seeing the control room would be awesome 👍
that nb train at 23:00 is actually an empty taconite going back to the minnesota iron rang.
I have always wanted to see how this was done!! Thank You!
You're welcome Granny!
Thank you 🙏 I’m thinking 🤔 maybe they need more rails soon ☝️👍🎥👏👏👏
You're welcome Mike S! Busy place for sure👍
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 have a joyful day and thank you 🙏 about nice 👍 Illinois part of it 👍👏👏👏
Great to watch hump yard sorry for you drone out of power
Glad you liked it Ronald!
Fantastic video. Appreciate you sharing this with us. I got a couple tours of the CSX Rice Yard in Waycross GA. Love hump yards.
Thanks cnwtrain! Love your choice of railroads. My Dad worked for the CNW until the UP merger. Then retired from the UP.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 Well I kind of figured you would. Thanks for the reply. I miss that railroad. But it lives on, in my attic model railroad. I used to live close to Ft. Dodge IA. You have any videos posted in that area. I haven't been back in over twenty years.
@@cnwtrain I have a large HO scale layout in my basement. It's pretty much all CNW. I have a couple videos posted of my layout. Fort Dodge is kind of tough to railfan. I have a Tara Sub video posted. That's just West of Fort Dodge.
I just watching your video been away for a week and it is nice to see the railyards with the trains all ready to go out to other places and railyards to pick up some more feight yards how is your dogs doing and I had a nice time away thanks
Yes Elaine, a lot can be learned from the hump yard. Seems to be a good way to organize cars. Dogs are just fine👍
Thanks for a great video. Mid engine in first hump set is not a slug. It is a powered SD40-2 without a cab, designated an SD40-2B.
You're welcome Paul P!
Interesting/informative/entertaining.
I never would have thought they sent a power over the hump
My Dad said that same thing. He did 42 years with the railroad.
Your drone videography skills are impressive. You should have another channel teaching us how you work this magic!
Thanks Dale! I gjve a lot of the credit to the dji air 2s drone.
Cool nice
Thanks Phillip!
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 your welcome and I did subscribe to your channel
The UP Proviso yard in Berkley, IL - 15 miles west of Chicago, was a hump yard from before the war. 2 years ago they switched it all to flat car loading. They demolished the original hump tower and the new one. Nothing but containers now.
That's too bad to hear. In the CNW days that was an impressive yard!
23:05 engineer had that Green light. Its insane that dispatch controls all of these trains and they still manage to get where they need to whether its traffic signals, derailments blocking lines, and controlling the electric switches, they still manage man. Really glad that they get good pay for what they do because this video really shows how hard they work especially local crews!
For sure CFG! A lot going on at once. Then throw in a crew that dies with the train and is blocking a main. The dispatcher has to line up a relief crew and try to keep everything moving!
Wow what a huge yard, very very interesting to watch Red. Just makes me wonder where each car is headed keep up the good work .
Thanks David P! It's amazing how the computers organize the yard.
Dios!... qué magnifico es EEUU, gracias.
Nice road trip, Red! I loved watching the cars rolling down, wandering which line they were going to end up, like a video game, lol. Remember a couple weeks ago, you filmed a train kicking cars & one slammed very hard into the parked cars? This is much safer this way
Thanks Bekleidung! I do remember the kicking cars video. No computer control with that method. The hump looked like a well oiled machine. Retarders sure were loud!
I was at Galesburg a about 10 days ago. First time being there for me also. It is a huge place. Talking to some of those familiar with the yard, they gave me 3 locations to watch the action. But no matter where you go, you'll see action, but miss some action on other lines. I believe 4-5 subdivisions converge on Galesburg.
Nice drone video showing the layout.👍🇺🇲
Thanks John W! Yes, I believe 5 subs converge there. The only thing busier I've seen is the UP Bailey yard in Nebraska.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 Agree, Bailey's Yard in North Platte is an awesome place. Been there a number of times. Most recently about 5 week ago. They did a great job building the Golden Spike Tower. 👍🇺🇲
Take a road trip to North Platte Nebraska. Go to Bailey yard. It makes this look like a local yard
It sure does! I went out to the Golden Spike Tower a few years ago. I didn't get any footage at that time.
Not boring at all. Brings back memories of sound from my childhood. When visiting my grandparents and relatives in Barstow I would hear that all night long. My grandad worked for the Santa Fe there. I never knew (or cared back then) the technical stuff like retarders and such. We visited a platform in North Platte, NB many many years ago and watched trains being made up. I am confounded about the process, tho. I see trains that make no sense to me about why they are made up the way they are. Like cars are sometimes together, and then there's this kind and that kind and a bunch of like cars together again....I know you liked mixed trains and so do I .....I just don't get the logic of how they are made up. Enjoyed watching this one, tho. Thanks Red!
Trains in large yards such as Galesburg are made up into blocks that are bound for different gateways, or smaller yards, which are forwarded to different destinations, and then eventually to the customers.
Glad you liked it softkitty! It is interesting how they organize all of that. Computers control switches and retarders to make it all happen. Living close to this yard and hearing the retarders all the time might be tough!
Never seen this before, ty
You're welcome Robert!
Watching hump operation is like watching paint dry🥴😳. Just joking. It was one of my 1st jobs at 18 years old as the pin puller at the crest of the Milwaukee Road hump in Bensonville, IL. The other end of the yard I worked the skate job placing the heavy metal wheel chocks on the rails of the empty tracks to stop cars from rolling out the east of the yard and all the way down the grade to Union Station Chicago🤪.
I went over to the ATSF in 1965 then BNSF in 1996. I did some work out of this yard.
I think the Burlington Route built the original hump as a double hump back in the 1950 era? The CB&Q historians can correct me.
Yes, remote control switchers are run by the yard conductor from the ground. The tower handles the switches with retarders activated by radar speed detectors.
I’m surprised the BN gum shoe didn’t show up to ask you to leave. I was going to work one day and the gum shoe tried to throw me out. I had a bumper sticker that said “I brake for trains” on the crossing safety promotion sticker.
I retired from BNSF in 2007.
Sounds like you had a good run with the railroad railscenes4959! My Dad did 42 years between the CNW and UP. Fun yard to video, sounds like I got lucky with the gumshoe! No one seemed to give me a second look. Next time I'll fly from aways out. Thanks for the details of the operations👍
🤩👍
Very nice video. A smaller scale would be fun to model on one wall. Thanks for recording this. The drone is a nice compliment to the ground video.
Thanks Chuck! A hump yard on a model layout would be quite impressive👍
Hey Red, I got thrown out of that parking lot about 5 or 6 yrs ago by a couple guys in a BNSF pickup truck!!! 😕😕😕
Thank you for posting this TERRIFIC video. As a former Conrail employee, aka ‘Ex Con’, I really appreciate and enjoy watching this video. Thank you for your efforts!
You're welcome Vincent! I could watch a hump yard in action all day👍 I like the "Ex Con" title!
👍@@redsiowatrainvideos6645
most trains about little over an hour that other set of power when it gets close to the end of the humping of that train it will grab the next round of cars the units that r humping at the 1st will go to the top wait then pass over empty the next set will be set up
Wow, that is one MASSIVE rail yard! How ya doing Red. Cool video as always Sir! Love the drone veiws.
Yo Phantom! I could have pulled up a lawn chair and watched all day. Hung out as long as the batteries wanted.
@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 lmao I got my own chair, I take it everywhere I go. I would have wheeled right up beside you and watched all day 🧑🦽🧑🦽🧑🦽
Not sure you been there but north Platte Nebraska union pacific is the largest in the world 10 miles long and 1 mile wide, definitely worth seeing
Yep went there a few years ago. Golden Spike tower.
I counted 63 tracks across, including the 6 on the far right 😱
My daughter lived in Galesburg for a number of years. Always took the grandson down to watch the action. Great times and memories !!
For sure, most kids dig trains👍
"YUP"🍻
That yard is probably as big as a 14 lanes interstate highway, wherever one like that would be.
the horn is to let them know they r ready to start or stop humping. sometimes they do it 2 times in a row I live half mile from this place i hear it every night see on the racks it told the train to stop. I st at night if i cant sleep on that service road watch them.
Thanks for all the info Marvin! I'll bet you can probably hear the retarders screeching from your place too.