11-30-2009, 02:26 PM
Stein, the railroad you described is very much like the Los Angeles Junction Railway. The LAJ is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BNSF, formally owned by the SF. They service industries in the cities of Vernon and City Of Commerce, and historically received cars from the UP, SP, and SF. Now of course they receive cars only from the BNSF or UP. I would just mention that they do not use an interchange track. The class one railroads all had yards nearby, and the UP and BNSF currently have yards located on either side of Washington Blvd in Vernon or L.A., I'm not sure exactly where the border is. The LAJ will bring a cut of cars to go out on the BNSF to Hobart Yard or a cut of cars to go out on the UP to the Washington Blvd Yard, and pick up cuts left for them by the class one railroad. They will take the fresh cars back to one of their yards to sort them and work them. They drop the cuts off at the class one yards without sorting them allowing the class ones to classify them as needed. Such an operating scheme could free up another track for more industries or make more room at an already existing industry.