Enola Yard
Enola Yard is a large rail yard located in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, along the western shore of the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was the world's largest freight yard through 1956.[1] The yard continues to operate today at lower traffic levels. Coordinates: 40°17′41″N 76°55′31″W / 40.294666°N 76.925336°W
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[edit] History
The yard was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1905 with two hump classification yards.[2] Initially the yard processed 7,000 cars per day. The westbound complex had a receiving yard with 20 tracks, and a 25-track classification yard. The eastbound complex had a 21-track receiving yard and 17 classification tracks. There were no separate departure yards.[1]
The PRR rebuilt the yards and installed automatic retarders, starting with the eastbound hump in 1938. The westbound complex was rebuilt in 1944 with 16 receiving tracks and 35 classification tracks, followed by the eastbound complex, reconfiguring to 15 receiving tracks and 33 classification tracks. The average daily traffic load in 1939 was 11,207 cars, and this average increased during the approach of World War II, with 14,100 daily cars in October 1941. The record traffic level at the yard was 20,660 cars in one day during June 1943.[1]
In 1953 the yard handled 11,000 cars per day,[1] and the yard comprised 145 miles of track and 476 switches.[3]
Conrail took over operation of Enola Yard in 1976. Traffic levels at the yard declined as more trains were routed by Conrail over nearby tracks of the former Reading and Lehigh Valley rail lines.[1] Conrail removed electrification equipment and closed the eastbound hump yard in 1983, and closed the westbound hump yard in 1993.
[edit] Current operation
The yard is currently owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), which has operated a flat classification yard and increased operations since taking over from Conrail in 1999. In 2003 NS announced plans to resume hump yard operations.[4] As of 2005, the yard was operating 79 tracks and handled 275,000 tons of freight a day.[5]
[edit] Facilities (at peak operation, mid-20th century)
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This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (December 2009) |
- Engine house with 46 stalls and 2 turntables
- East-bound classification yard: hump yard with 2,668 car capacity
- West-bound classification yard: hump yard with 2,668 car capacity
- East-bound receiving yard: 1,948 car capacity
- West-bound receiving yard: 1,721 car capacity
- Container yard: 140 car capacity[2]
[edit] See also
- Enola Branch (Norfolk Southern Railway)
- List of rail yards
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Rhodes, Michael (2003). North American Railyards. Minneapolis, MN: MBI Publishing. p. 165. ISBN 9780760315781.
- ^ a b Alexander, Edwin P. (1967). The Pennsylvania Railroad: A Pictorial History. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 133.
- ^ Kraft, Edwin (June 2002), "The Yard: Railroading's Hidden Half." Trains Magazine, Vol. 62, No. 6, p. 48.
- ^ Harrisburg's historic Enola Yard is railroad hub Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, press release. 2003-10-13. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Doody, Angela (2005-01-21). "Enola Yard still strong". Central Penn Business Journal (Harrisburg, PA: Journal Publications). ISSN 1058-3599. http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-pennsylvania/962217-1.html.
[edit] External links
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