Patent ID: 7831342

Claim:
A method for assembling a train block in a railway switchyard that includes a section for holding a plurality of railcars including empty railcars and non-empty railcars to be classified into a plurality of classification tracks, the method including: a. electronically receiving data from a railway management system, the data identifying a train block to be assembled at the railway switchyard, the train block having a plurality of non-empty railcars and one particular empty railcar; b. on the basis of the data switching non-empty railcars that belong to the train block into a selected one of the classification tracks; c. switching an empty railcar from the plurality of empty railcars other than the particular empty railcar into the selected one of the classification tracks; d. generating and sending an electronic message to the railway management system, the electronic message including data conveying information that identifies the empty railcar other than the particular empty railcar.