posted
Hi evryone. I have recently accuired some rolling stock (ho) from my neighbour for free! It is all CP rail though and I model CN. Do railroads exchange or share cars? And is there a special yard or track fro doing this? Do they use a specail locomotive to switch teh cars bettween the two railroads? Please help me
posted
Yes, railroads commonly share rolling stock. It is not uncommon to see a UP car on CSX, as CSX, on BNSF, a BNSF car on NS, and an NS car on UP. This sharing of cars is known as interchange. THere are many ways to interchange cars. In big cities, these cars destined for interchange are sometimes made up into whole trains destined for a single railroad and sent over. This is known as a transfer train. Most commonly though, interchanges are where two lines cross or connect. There is a special track where cars that are to be interchaged are set out and each of the railroads locomoves pick up and set out the proper cars. There are no special locomotives for this Job, though as a rule of thumb, if interchange is taking place in a city setting, an SW or similar swtiching loco handles the interchange traffic, while if the interchage is out in the country a ways, road power off the next through freight through the interchange handles it.
Posts: 315 | From: Lander,WY USA | Registered: Jan 2002
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