A short film set in the big Proviso hump yard, Chicago. It actually has a good overview of freight yard sorting and classification in general, but the use of the hump is covered in the first 10 minutes. Nothing was automated back then--cars are uncoupled on the move by men walking alongside the train, while diverting them to the correct track was done by men in control towers as the cars rolled downhill. Clearly not work for the faint of heart. It's fascinating stuff. The Proviso hump itself was only shut down very recently, in July 2019. Yard itself is still active AFAIK.
This should be made functional in-game. I actually have two European Hump Yard proposals OBB Wien Klederling & Deutsche Bahn Hagen Vorhalle. For Proviso Yard switches are controlled by the dispatcher only seen in-game at Hagen Gbf Ruhr Sieg Nord. The locomotive used is a steam locomotive and this is in the middle of Dieselisation of US Rail Roads
Fascinating video! Thanks for posting that. Remembers me when we were kids and watched the action on the humps (summer and winter hump) on my home yard. I´ve found a video from GDR 1984. These guys really had cohones. They operated with steel levers and manual brake shoes to get the job done. The german center couplers did not have the comfort to be uncoupled from the wagon side. You had to go in between, loosen them and then apply leverage to uncouple . Ffff .....me.....brrrr. It´s in german, though. At the and as a short resume: "Dresden-Friedrichstadt, 300 rail workers handle more than 4200 wagons per day, means 114 trains. While we shot the video in February 1984 ......... in one shift 1600 wagons have been uncoupled and newly arranged."
One thing which has always puzzled me about hump operations- how did they prevent the wagons' brakes from clamping down as soon as the hoses separated?
We could have Dresden Friedrichstadt in Riesa-Dresden if DTG had built the missing section which is Coswig Dresden Friedrichstadt Branch to use the Triangle Junction North of Dresden Hbf. In that 1984 Deutsche Reichsbahn DDR film you're going to see DR V100 the DB BR204 others are DR BR106 DR V60. You can also look at my post to why DTG hasn't made the DR V100 West German equivalent while DR V60 = DB BR363
Would make sense- but in the video above you can see the hoses popping free as each car is uncoupled.
I assume that the anglecocks must have been closed before the humping procedure. As you pointed out yourself, the brakes would snap on otherwise.
Okay, found it. Each car's brake cylinder is equipped with a bleed rod, which is used to evacuate it. Ergo, no pressure with which to actuate the brakes when the pipe is disconnected.
Awesome video! Hump shunting does have a wired fascination associated with it. Here's how we did it in the UK
