Description:

"Located about eight miles south of Albany, NY, Selkirk Yard is a modern facility for classifying freight cars carrying a variety of commodities shipped by rail to and from the Northeast region of the United States. Selkirk is the gateway between all points on the Conrail system and New England, New York City, and other points east of the Hudson River. Stategically located at a convergence of main routes, Selkirk is connected with the entire Conrail system by direct train service to and from principal points throughout the Northeast, Midwest and the Province of Quebec.

"Built in 1968, Selkirk incorporates all of the features of modern yards and was the first yard designed to operate exclusively with a digital computer control system."

- From "Selkirk Yard: A Visitor's Guide," published by Conrail

Selkirk Yard was opened on November 20, 1924, as the centerpiece of the New York Central's "Castleton Cutoff," a 27.5-mile-long freight bypass of the congested Albany terminal. It was built just west of where the Cutoff crossed the New York, West Shore & Buffalo's branch to downtown Albany; the Cutoff itself crossed the Hudson River on the mighty, mile-long Alfred H. Smith Memorial Bridge, whose primary spans of 600 and 400 feet soared over 150 feet above water level.

Constructed with both eastward and westward humps, the original yard was capable of holding over 8,000 cars. During the late 1940s, it classified an average of about 4,000 cars daily. However, in the mid-1960s, realizing both the inefficiency of a dual-hump system and the advantages of computer-controlled classification, the Central completely rebuilt the yard. The essentially brand-new Alfred E. Perlman Selkirk Yard was opened in the summer of 1968.

In the mid-1980s, Conrail decided that Selkirk would be a natural location for the railroad's Northeast Region headquarters. In a curious deal, land south of the Fuel Plant was leased to a local developer, who constructed the Regional Building according to plans furnished by Conrail, and then subsequently leased the building back to the railroad. The western half of the building was added on at a later date, primarily to accomodate a consolidated dispatching facility.

Yard statistics from "Selkirk Yard: A Visitor's Guide"

Total area of Yard	1,250 acres
Height of Hump		26 feet

Trackage		  No. of Tracks	    Car Capacity
Classification Yard		70		3,680*
Receiving Yard			11		1,716
North Departure Yard		 9		1,484
Fast Freights			 2		  332
South Departure Yard		 5		  550
Car Repair			 4		  113
Car Cleaning			 4		  124
Auto Unloading Site		 8		   80
Local Yard			10		  395

(At the time of publication, a small TV ramp was located where the Top End Yard is now located.)
*Due to program limitations, only 63 class tracks could be included.

Operating notes:

• Track 11 is used for through freights
• Inbound manifest freights from the west enter directly into the Receiving Yard
• Inbound manifest freights from the east enter the Receiving Yard via the Inbound Lead; the Hump Tunnel is used to allow arriving trains to access the north side of the Receiving Yard while a train is being humped.
• Receiving Yard Tracks 1 & 11 are always left clear to allow through movements.
• Locomotives work through the Fuel Pads eastward:
  • Arriving locomotives off eastbound trains: After cutting off, run the power towards the tunnel (or the Escape Track from the south side of the Receiving Yard, and then reverse through the tunnel), then run west on Track 1 to the Fuel Plant turnout, and finally eastward onto the Fuel Pad
  • Arriving locomotives off eastbound trains: After cutting off, run the power west to the end of the Receiving Yard, then reverse down Track 1 and into the Fuel Plant.
• After being serviced at the Fuel Plant, locomotives are stored on the Ready Tracks until needed for outbound service.
• Cars in need of repair work through the car shop westward, and are re-humped once repaired.
• When not in use, hump engines are stored on the Escape Track below the Hump Tower.

Selkirk: 42.558, -73.840

Connections:
1: 9632:6 CP-FB
2: 9632:5 CP-FB
3: 9632:4 CP-FB
4: 9632:3 CP-FB
5: 9631:1 CP-SK
6: 9631:2 CP-SK
7: 9631:3 CP-SK
8: 9631:4 CP-SK

Version History:
v1: Added to server (Do not delete.)