JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX is flattening the hump and demolishing the hump tower at its yard in Cumberland, Md., and building a classification yard ladder to make flat-switching more efficient.
Similar moves are under way at the railroad’s yards in Hamlet, N.C., and Willard, Ohio, where the humps were decommissioned in 2017 as CSX shifted to a Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model under then-CEO E. Hunter Harrison.
“The Cumberland yard is critical to the CSX freight transportation network, connecting the northeast corridor and midwestern territories,” Chief Operating Officer Mike Cory said in a statement on Wednesday. “The work taking place at Cumberland will increase capacity, allowing railcars that previously couldn’t move through that yard to do so. The infrastructure enhancements will ensure a safer work environment for our ONE CSX team and enhance the customer experience. By increasing the network’s capacity and improving the flow of freight-rail traffic, we can eliminate thousands of touches and millions of out-of-route miles for Midwest-bound traffic.”
The Cumberland changes, which are currently under way, will reduce car handlings and double the yard’s production capacity. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
“These improvements are going to allow us to take advantage of the existing footprint here in Cumberland by having jobs switching on a double switching lead that is automated at the same time as we’re having crews pulling,” says Blair Johnson, the assistant yard superintendent at Cumberland.
The switches on both ladders will be automated, CSX said.
CSX ultimately idled the humps at six of its dozen classification yards as part of its shift to PSR, which concentrated classification work at six humps: Avon, Ind.; Birmingham, Ala.; Cincinnati; Nashville, Tenn.; Selkirk, N.Y.; and Waycross, Ga.
