July-August, 1969 - Milwaukee Road Archive

Both track laying and paving were in progress at the Kent, taken. Nearing completion are the facilities in the south sec­
Wash., automobile marshaling complex when this picture was tion of the convoy area.
Automobile Marshaling Yard at Kent Wash., Nears Completion
The new automobile marshaling complex
being constructd by our railroad at
Kent, Wash., midway between Seattle
and Tacoma, was nearing completion
and ready to handle new automobiles as
this magazine went to press the week of
Aug,4.
The first service will be conducted out
of the south section of the mile-long
yard. That area will be operated by the
Convoy Company of Portland, Ore., for
the loading and over-the-highway transporting
of automobiles brought into the
yard by rail.
It was expected that the north section,
to be operated by Transport Storage &
Distributing Company of Renton, Wash.,
in the same manner, would be in service
by mid-August.
Altogether, about 7 miles of track
have been laid. Most of the track was
pre-built in 39-foot panels and swung
into position by cranes, as a means of
expediting construction.
Trackage in the complex consists of
three holding tracks capable of storing
124 multi-level automobile cars; four
switching tracks which will hold 71 cars;
and 12 unloading tracks, six of which
will be located at either end of the yard.
Each of the unloading tracks will hold
six multi-level cars from which automobiles
will be driven down traveling mechanical
ramps and into the storage area.
Unloading can be done from either end
of the unloading tracks.
The storage areas occupy a total of 40
acres, which are now being paved in one
of the final phases of construction.
B. E. Daniels, principal assistant engi­
July-August, 1969
neer, Chicago, has been stationed in
Kent as project engineer, and K. E.
Hornung, the railroad's architect, is serving
as project coordinator with contractOrs
and consulting engineering firms on
various phases of construction. M. A.
Segale, Inc., of Tukwila, Wash., is the
contractor in charge of all grading,
drainage, paving and related work.
As the largest facility of its kind anywhere
in the Pacific Northwest, the Kent
marshaling complex is regarded as one
of the most important developments on
the railroad in many years. Rail haul will
be used for the movement of at least
75,000 automobiles and trucks into the
facility each year from assembly plants
throughout the United States.
Most of the automobile manufacturers
in the United States will use it exclusively
for their distribution to dealers located
in an area extending north to the
Canadian border, east as far as Ellensburg,
Wash., and south to the vicinity
of Chehalis, Wash.
B. E. Daniels, principal assistant engineer (left), on lacation at Kent as project enginp.er,
studies construction drawings with M. A. Segale, the contractor in charge of
grading, drainage and paving