An Analysis of a Railroad Classification Yard

Abstract

A freight car in the United States spends approximately two-thirds of its time stationary; a significant portion of this time in hump classification yards is spent in queues waiting to be inspected and classified into outbound trains. This paper describes the development of a model for these queues and the application of the Monte Carlo method to the analysis of these queues for a particular classification yard. An elementary form of feedback is included in the model. Using the model of yard operation, certain methods of improving yard operation are determined. Operations Research , ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.