Selkirk Yard

Selkirk Yard is a large freight railroad yard located in Selkirk, New York, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) south of Albany. The yard is owned by CSX Transportation and is its major classification yard for the northeast United States and the gateway to points east of the Hudson River, including New York City. It is situated just west of the Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge on the railroad's Castleton Subdivision and is the eastern end of the Selkirk Subdivision.

East end of Selkirk Yard, with classification yard on the left, north departure yard in center, and yardmaster tower on the right.
Selkirk Yard

History
A freight train in the receiving yard is being pushed over the hump. Cars are separated (uncoupled) on the hump and sorted in the classification yard beyond.

Selkirk Yard was built in 1924 by the New York Central Railroad on a 700-acre (280-hectare) site. Initially it had two hump classification yards with a capacity of 11,000 cars, and typically handled 8,000 cars per day.[1]

1968 rebuild

The facility was rebuilt in 1968 as Alfred E. Perlman Yard on an expanded site of 1,250 acres (510 ha). It features a 70-track classification hump yard, several support yards and servicing facilities. The yard can process over 3,200 cars per day using computerized controls that originally employed a GE PAC 4020.[2]

Selkirk Yard seen from above

Recent improvements

Improvements in 2011 include an automobile transload facility and a genset switching locomotive to improve air quality by reducing emissions from yard operations.[3]

Since 2017, Selkirk features a two-track mainline that runs east to west on the south side of the yard, allowing many run-through trains to swap crews more quickly and easily. Before, these trains ran through the body of the yard.

See also

References
  1. Rhodes, Michael (2003). North American Railyards. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press. p. 148. ISBN 9780760315781.
  2. Consolidated Rail Corporation (undated)."Conrail's Selkirk Yard, A Visitor's Guide." Brochure.
  3. CSX introduces GenSet at Selkirk Yard Sophia Sofferman, WNYT Web Producer, June 30, 2011

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