Selkirk hump to shut down?

Unlike my ""Abandon CSX Through Rochester?" thread, this one is NOT an April Fools Day post.

Hearing unofficially that withing about 2 weeks Selkirk's hump will be shut down, and operations will be performed by flat switching. There will reportedly be an increase in block swapping at various places including Dewitt. Also all remote control jobs will end with two man crews on everything.

Supposedly Selkirk is considered an Intermediate Yard and was too expensive to operate as a hump operation.

Anything is possible. Believe nothing until it actually happens.

I read a memorandum in Facebook group yesterday that supposedly came from a union employee who works at Selkirk, stating Selkirk's hump would close in favor of flat switching. Like you, I'm not sure whether it's fact or hogwash... so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I have heard it from multiple sources but they all seem to trace back to that same alleged memo you cite. Hence my disclaimer at the bottom of my first post. Further verification necessary but it's not impossible.

Could it be that if Selkirk is going down, it is likely etched in stone that Frontier will never return to a hump operation?

How does Amazon receive its inventory at the giant fulfillment centers? Any rail activity? How much effect does Amazon have on current rail activity? The "old days" inventory gets loaded into a box car and heads to its destination. Seems like Amazon operations take away the need for rail.

With the downsizing of manufacturing and a large increase in online shopping [centralized inventory control] the rails take another hit and downsize.....again.

I have a question: Are hump yards still an efficient method of sorting cars? You'll note that Selkirk Yard itself is not closing, so they still need the sorting and classification function.

-otto-

I've read both pros and cons for hump yards. It is interesting to note that NS added a 2nd hump at Bellevue, OH just a few years ago.

Yes, instead of looking at the problem (why their hump yard dwell times are so high) and fixing it, he is using the nuclear option to reduce costs and improve the operating ratio.

If hump yards are set up efficiently (you have crews bleeding/inspecting inbound cars the minute they arrive, and you have switchers making up outbound trains with the classed cars immediately), they are the most efficient form of switching in nearly every aspect except large blocks, which should get set out immediately either by the inbound train upon arrival, the hump switcher, or another flat switcher.

If Selkirk closes the hump yard, another yard is simply going to have to pick up the slack. Not every car can be flat switched, only big blocks. Flat switching anything but big blocks is asinine.

My guess is they'll learn how stupid it was and re-open it soon after closing. NS has closed hump yards and opened them after they learned this. Their hump yards are operated very efficiently now. The technology isn't broken, but its implementation can be.

newpylong wrote: My guess is they'll learn how stupid it was and re-open it soon after closing. NS has closed hump yards and opened them after they learned this. Their hump yards are operated very efficiently now. The technology isn't broken, but its implementation can be.

Witness the re-built west hump at Enola that restarted a few years back after being out of operation for quite a few (20?) years.

Poppyl

Unfortunately they won't learn anything. EHH is on a tear to cut costs in any way possible to drive down Op ratio and up stock price and he is a total arrogant my way or the highway, I never make a mistake jerk to be honest. It is outside the realm of anything rational. He hates hump yards, closed Atlanta in March and CSX service in the Southeast went into a tailspin, then Toledo, then Hamlet, Birmingham this week, Selkirk was rumored to close, just surprised it took this long. Major changes with little apparent planning for their implementation has been the norm and the next major change is implemented before the system recovers much from the previous one. EHH is ONLY looking to line his pockets and the investors as quickly as he can. They are selling off major bunches of cars (1000 in a group) and hearing of real estate sales, very few experience people left to get anything done. EHH rarely goes in to Jacksonville and has rumored to have Emphasyma, why he felt the need to at nearly 73 and poor health he had to go in and do this to csx. It will be left a smoking shell if he keeps it up much longer. CP is a linear railroad and he did much damage there, ADM even sued them in 2015 due to service delays rooted in cost cutting. We have already pulled 350 carloads a year from CSX and are working at another 400 cars diverting to NS or truck, next year with some infrastructure changes another 400 cars off csx, and we won't even discuss it with them, they will not be able to buy our volume back.

Yeah. EHH's MO is to cut capacity and costs so that his RR can handle *exactly* the amount of traffic they have, with no room for growth aside from unit train type stuff, then dump it and leave the next guy to clean up after him. We saw this at CN, and now at CP. Poor CSX...

We can hope that there's enough of CSX left after the looting for someone to come in rebuild after EHH and his raiders leave.

rr503 wrote:Yeah. EHH's MO is to cut capacity and costs so that his RR can handle *exactly* the amount of traffic they have, with no room for growth aside from unit train type stuff, then dump it and leave the next guy to clean up after him. We saw this at CN, and now at CP. Poor CSX...

Just like what Snow did and how Ward had to clean up the mess.. but probably at fraction of what EHH going to do...

tree68 wrote:We can hope that there's enough of CSX left after the looting for someone to come in rebuild after EHH and his raiders leave.

In addition to being bad for shippers and connecting RRs, this policy will be tough for long term investors. Sure, dividends will look good for the short term as EHH slashes his way to higher profit margins. Once he's gone, the next CEO will have to spend capex funds to rebuild the physical plant... which will decrease the value of CSX stock.

Either that, or come hat in hand to the government for some handouts of some sort or other. (I would violate numerous guidelines here if I said any more... )

Maybe a totally unrelated event, I noticed dump trucks unloading stone near the dead-ended class tracks at Dewitt?

Never see activity there?