Patent ID: 6418854
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: B61B,B61L

Abstract:
A method of sorting a plurality of rail-cars into a plurality of outbound trains on a plurality of tracks, comprising the steps of:(a) initially arranging said railcars on a plurality of said tracks in a predetermined mathematical sorting pattern such that said railcars of more than one train or block may be intermixed on any single said track in a first stage sort, (b) offsetting and overlapping the mathematical sorting pattern of track assignments of said railcars for different trains or blocks in said first stage sort, for enabling the sorting method to be sustained on a continuous basis, (c) collecting said railcars on said tracks for an interval of time until the first outbound train must be readied for departure, (d) retrieving said railcars from said tracks in a predetermined sequence, and (e) rearranging said railcars on said tracks one or more additional times as required by the predetermined mathematical sorting pattern, such that said railcars are no longer intermixed but are separated into distinct trains which may have more than one block on a single track, whereby said railcars will be arranged into trains ordered in a proper block sequence for departure and the sorting method can be sustained on a continuous basis.