A freight train is pushed uphill. A worker uncouples the cars. Then gravity takes over, sending them rolling downhill onto different tracks.

It sounds simple until you have to decide where to uncouple, when to tell the driver to slow down, and how to coordinate with the locomotive crew.

I built a 3D browser game where you can try the job yourself — solo or with a friend. One player works as the yard conductor, while the other drives the locomotive.

It's based on my experience working at a real hump yard in Uzbekistan.

🎮 Play in your browser: https://gorka1520.vercel.app?lang=en

Hey y'all, wasn't there a letter that a union sent to a railroad telling them that they will not be performing any roll bys or passing train inspections from the ground anymore?

I'm trying to find it because my railroad has gone bat shit crazy with roll bys.

The Oct. 13 Federal Register notice names BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific as revenue adequate for 2025. The test is whether return on net investment reaches the industry’s cost of capital; the notice gives that benchmark as 9.79%.

That is a company-level annual finding. It does not tell us whether a particular shipper’s rate is reasonable, what crews should be paid, or how much capital should go into maintenance. Those arguments need their own evidence.

My question for people working in the industry: which operational measure would you put beside this financial benchmark to judge whether a railroad is actually investing enough in the service it sells?

Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/13/2026-20878/railroad-revenue-adequacy-2025-determination

I've watched a hump yard in action on YT. One silly question though. When cars are not hooked up to the brake lines don't the brakes apply? Is there a way to lock out the brakes so it can coast freely?