Freight Yard

a part of a railroad station featuring a complex of equipment and structures for the receiving, loading, unloading, and sorting of cargo and its short-term storage. Depending on the volume and structure of the freight flow, a freight yard may be either general or specialized according to the type of freight that can be accommodated. The complex of structures found at a mechanized freight yard includes shed-type warehouses served by railroad lines, mechanized open shops for the handling of containers and other cargo, trestle approaches, and elevated rail lines for the handling of bulk loads. A freight yard has equipment for determining the weight of a load, checking the dimensions of a shipment, communications facilities, water supplies, lighting, and fire-fighting equipment. At large stations the optimum spacing of rolling stock for loading and unloading and also of motor vehicles for centralized cargo handling is carried out with the aid of computers. A freight yard’s facilities include a store office; an information office; a freight-yard office; employee facilities; repair shops; garages; gantry, overhead, and jib cranes; electrical and motorized loaders; and other equipment for mechanized freight-handling and warehousing operations.