No abstract

Executive Summary:This Transportation Energy Project is comprised of four unique tasks which work within the railroad industry to provide solutions in various areas of energy conservation. The NIU Engineering and Technology research team examined these areas and provided current solutions which can be used to both provide important reduction in energy usage and system efficiency in the given industry. This project also sought a mode in which rural and long-distance education could be provided. The information developed in each of the following project tasks can be applied to all of the rail companies to assist in developing efficiencies. Energy Reducing Yard Related Decision IssuesDistribution yards are the nerve center of the railroads, where trains comprised of hundreds of railcars arrive each day, get served (e.g., loading, unloading, sorting, inspection, etc.), and depart for their destination. Thus, the efficiency of these yards dictate the general efficiency of the entire railroad company. There are of three types of yards, namely, industrial yards, side yards, and classification yards. Industrial yards are used to distribute railcars to local industries and side yards are primarily used for storage of excess cars. The most important of the three yards is the classification yard, whose primary function is to receive inbound trains and sort (reclassify) the cars into outgoing trains for various destinations. There are two kinds of classification yards: flat and hump yards. In a flat yard, locomotive power is used to switch (or sort) cars onto the outgoing or classification tracks, whereas, in a hump yard, the force of gravity is used to move the cars during the sorting process. The reclassification process is both labor-and capitalintensive and has the potential to delay the movement of shipments if the process is not efficient.