A manifest carries everything that does not move in its own dedicated train: boxcars of paper, tank cars of chemicals, covered hoppers of plastic pellets, lumber, steel and more, each car bound for a different shipper. Manifest trains run between classification yards, where they are broken up and rebuilt, and they rank between intermodal hotshots and bulk unit trains in priority. Some railroads call the whole category merchandise.
We're called for the manifest at 0300, 98 cars, three set-outs at Grand Island, so plan on a long day.
Also heard as
- merchandise train
- carload train
Do not mix it up with
- Unit train: A unit train carries one commodity in one car type between one origin and one destination, while a manifest mixes everything.
Related terms
Unit train
A train carrying a single commodity in identical cars from one origin to one destination.
Block
A group of cars bound for the same destination, kept together so they can be handled as one unit.
Hump yard
A classification yard where cars are pushed over a small hill and roll by gravity into sorting tracks.
Consist
The makeup of a train, listing its locomotives and cars in order with weights, loads and hazmat.