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Shunt (rail)
Shunting, in railway operations, is the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete trains, or the reverse. In the United States this activity is known as switching. Motive power Motive power is normally provided by a locomotive known as a ''shunter locomotive'' (in the UK) or switcher locomotive (in the US). Most shunter/switchers are now diesel-powered but steam and even electric locomotives have been used. Where locomotives could not be used (e.g. because of weight restrictions) shunting operations have in the past been effected by horses or capstans. Hazards Coupling The terms "shunter" and "switcher" are not only applied to locomotives but also to employees engaged on the ground with shunting/switching operations. The task of such personnel is particularly dangerous because not only is there the risk of being run over, but on some railway systems—particularly ones that use buffer-and-chain/screw coupling systems—the shunters have to get between the w ...
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Railway Capstan
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and rail freight transport, freight transport globally, thanks to its Energy efficiency in transport, energy efficiency and potentially high-speed rail, high speed.Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower friction, frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by Diesel locomotive, diesel or Electric locomotive, electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital intensity, capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or an ...
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Buffers And Chain Coupler
Buffers and chain couplers (or couplings) – also known as "buffers and screw", "screw", and "screwlink" – are the de facto International Union of Railways (UIC) standard railway coupling used in the EU and UK, and on some railways in other parts of the world, such as in South America and India, on older rolling stock. Buffers and chain couplers are an assembly of several devices: buffers, hooks and links, or turnbuckle screws. On the modern version of the couplers, rail vehicles are mated by manually connecting the end link of one chain which incorporates a turnbuckle screw into the towing hook of the other wagon, drawing together and slightly compressing the Buffer (rail transport), buffer pairs, one left and one right on each headstock. That limits slack, and lessens Shunting (rail), shunting shocks in moving trains. By contrast, vehicles fitted with the semi-automatic Janney coupler, Janney Type E coupler can experience significant jarring during mating and shunting. V ...
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Switching And Terminal Railroad
A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It generally consists of making up and breaking up trains, storing and classifying cars, serving industries within yard limits, and other related purposes. Those movements are made at slow speed under special yard rules.Bureau of Transportation StatisticsDictionary, accessed November 2008 A terminal facility may include a union freight station, train ferry, car float, or bridge. Its purpose is to connect larger carriers to other modes of transport or other carriers. Those companies may be jointly owned by several major carriers, as are the Kansas City Terminal Railway, Belt Railway of Chicago, Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, Galveston Railroad, and Conrail Shared Assets Operations. The Internal Revenue Service provides tax i ...
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Switcher Locomotive
A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distances. Switchers do not usually move train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...s over long distances. Instead, they typically assemble trains in order for another locomotive to take over. Switchers often operate in a railyard or make short transfer runs. They may serve as the primary motive power on short branch lines or switching and terminal railroads. A hybrid type known as a road switcher can both shunt and haul trains. Switchers are optimized for their role, being relatively low-powered but with a high starting tractive eff ...
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Classification Yard
A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway yard used to accumulate railway cars on one of several tracks. First, a group of cars is taken to a track, sometimes called a ''lead'' or a ''drill''. From there, the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ''ladder'' onto the classification tracks. Some larger yards may put the lead on an artificially built hill called a ''hump'' to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder. Freight trains that consist of unrelated cars must be made into a train grouped according to their destinations; this shunting is done at the starting point. Some trains drop and pick up cars along their route in classification yards or at industrial sidings. In contrast is a unit train that carries, for example, automobiles from the ...
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Rail Yard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or unused locomotives stored off the main line (rail), main line, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic. Cars or wagons are moved around by specially designed yard switcher locomotives (US) or shunter locomotives (UK), a type of locomotive. Cars or wagons in a yard may be sorted by numerous categories, including railway company, loaded or unloaded, destination, car type, or whether they need repairs. Yards are normally built where there is a need to store rail vehicles while they are not being loaded or unloaded, or are waiting to be assembled into trains. Large yards may have a Centralized traffic control, tower to control operations. Many yards are located at strategic points on a Main line (railway), main ...
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Shunting Pole At The National Railroad Museum
Shunting may refer to: * Ribosome shunting, a mechanism in protein biosynthesis * Shunting (rail), a rail transport operation * Shunting (neurophysiology), a concept in neurophysiology * Shunting (sailing) The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples by at least 2000 BCE. It is sometimes known as the Oceanic lateen or the Oceanic ..., a maneuver for sailing upwind See also * Shunt (other) {{disambiguation ...
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Toton TMD
Toton Traction Maintenance Depot or Toton Sidings is a large traction maintenance depot located in Toton, Nottinghamshire. The TOPS depot code for the depot is TO. Before TOPS, the shed code was 16A (18A prior to 1963). Prior to the 2021 Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands, the site was the proposed location of the East Midlands Hub railway station on the Leeds Branch of High Speed 2, HS2. History The history of the development of Toton is highly associated with the history, development and decline of the coal industry in England. The Midland Railway had developed the Midland Main Line from the 1860s, and had a developing revenue from coal traffic from both the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire coalfields to the power stations of the industrialised West Midlands. This traffic was added to by the fact that most towns also had their own gasworks, with coal delivered by rail to their own private sidings, and the rapidly developing domestic use of coal for heating and cooki ...
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Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It amalgamated with several other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Railways Act 1921, grouping in 1923. The Midland had a large network of lines emanating from Derby, stretching to St Pancras railway station, London St Pancras, Manchester Central railway station, Manchester, Carlisle railway station, Carlisle, Birmingham Curzon Street railway station (1838–1966), Birmingham, and Bristol Temple Meads railway station, Bristol. It expanded as much through acquisitions as by building its own lines. It also operated ships from Heysham in Lancashire to Douglas, Isle of Man, Douglas and Belfast. A large amount of the Midland's infrastructure remains in use and visible, such as the Midland Main Lin ...
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Capstan (nautical)
A capstan is a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to multiply the pulling force of sailors when hauling ropes, Nautical cable, cables, and hawsers. The principle is similar to that of the windlass, which has a horizontal axle. History The word, connected with the Old French or , from Old Provençal , from "pulley cord", from Latin , a halter, from , to take hold of, seems to have come into English (14th century) from Portuguese or Spanish shipmen at the time of the Crusades. Both device and word are considered Spanish inventions. Early form In its earliest form, the capstan consisted of a timber mounted vertically through a vessel's structure which was free to rotate. Levers, known as bars, were inserted through holes at the top of the timber and used to turn the capstan. A rope wrapped several turns around the drum was thus hauled upon. A rudimentary ratchet (device), ratchet was provided to hold the tension. The ropes were always wound i ...
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Eastleigh Locomotive Depot Heavy Shunting 0-8-0T Geograph-2686473-by-Ben-Brooksbank
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, one of England's premier chalk streams for fly fishing, and a designated site of Special Scientific Interest. The area was originally villages until the 19th century, when Eastleigh was developed as a railway town by the London and South Western Railway. History The modern town of Eastleigh lies on the old Roman road, built in A.D.79 between Winchester ''(Venta Belgarum)'' and Bitterne ''(Clausentum)''. Nicola Gosling: 1986, Page 4 Roman remains discovered in the Eastleigh area, including a Roman lead coffin excavated in 1908, indicate that a settlement probably existed here in Roman times. A Saxon village called 'East Leah' has been recorded to have existed since 932 AD. ('Leah' is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'a clearing in ...
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