Station Yard Shunting.

Station yard shunting consists, mainly, of breaking up strings of empty and loaded wagons into groups to the various parts of the yard, i.e. team tracks, cattle dock, sheds, wharves, private sidings, weighbridge roads, etc., or gathering them together and putting them in station order, preparatory to being picked up by passing trains, or taken to a marshalling yard for disposal.

In this country, due to the comparatively light traffic it is the practice for all such operations to be carried out in one yard page 26 together with the ordinary terminal and subterminal work—marshalling, receiving and despatching trains, etc. This is unsatisfactory in many ways, and the time has now arrived when, in some of the larger centres, it is obviously advisable to separate them or, at least, give sufficient accommodation and the neccessary facilities to enable the various movements to be carried out without interference from each other

As regards team tracks, cattle docks, crane roads, weighbridge roads, etc., considerable economy in engine hours and wagon user, can be effected by being able to place or draw wagons quickly. This can be accomplished only when the facilities are such that the shunting engines engaged on preparing and receiving main line traffic in no way interfere with the engines engaged on station yard work.

In addition to the use of capstans for assistance in this work, overhead travelling cranes straddling two or three roads considerably reduce the shunting movements in yards dealing with heavy lifts, motor cars, machinery, etc. In most of the yards, at the present time, all wagons with heavy lifts have to be shunted out and put in a separate road to be placed one by one opposite the hand crane. This causes a lot of unnecessary shunting and, in addition, considerable delay to wagons must necessarily occur as loads are left on the wagons to avoid double handling. Overhead travelling cranes are now recognised as necessary appliances and have become part of the standard equipment of modern yards. Where there is an amount of stock traffic capstans can be usefully employed, but a more economical method is to lay the feeder roads on a slight grade so that the shunters can let the wagons down as required. Unfortunately there are few places where advantage can be taken of this practice owing to the nature of the ground. Horses are still used extensively and, in certain circumstances, are more economical.