What Is a Train Hump Yard

Hump yards, also known as classification yards, are generally segmented into three parts: the receiving yard, the classification bowl and the departure yard. A manifest train carrying mixed freight enters the receiving area and prepares for sorting by climbing a small artificial hill on the lead track.

What does a rail yard do?

A rail yard, railway yard, or railroad yard is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading railroad cars and locomotives.

Do not hump railcars?

“DO NOT HUMP” is a command that tells railroad employees in a freight yard not to send a freight car so labeled over a railroad hill called a “hump,” a man-made structure for sorting freight cars by gravity. … The impact of this coupling is too strenuous for certain types of loads and for some types of freight cars.