Justin Hardecopf

Senior

Business

I am writing in regards to a photo that appeared on the back page of the July 19 Daily titled “Its purpose, the world may never know.”

I assume that title refers to the lettering “Do not hump” on the car. Probably only a miniscule portion of the population knows what that interesting statement refers to. Many large railroad yards are equipped with humps, small artificial hills, that function to take advantage of gravity. A train is pushed, car by car, over this hump and each car is uncoupled. When the car(s) roll down the hill, they are automatically routed to one of many tracks at the bottom of the hill, where they are assembled into new trains.

Humping cars is one of the most efficient ways to classify large amounts of cars in a railroad yard. Some cars are not designed to go through the devices in hump yards, and are lettered in a manner like the pictured coal hopper. Now readers can say they do know what that amusing “Do not hump” script means.