Maxim crane in place for retarder replacement at Conway Yard in Conway, PA ....once the largest classification yard in the world.

Read more about Maxim Crane at Maximcrane.com

In rail transport, a retarder is a device installed in a classification yard used to reduce the speed of freight cars as they are sorted into trains. Each retarder consists of a series of stationary brakes surrounding a short section of each rail on the track that grip and slow the cars' wheels through friction as they roll through them. Modern retarders are computer controlled to apply a precise amount of pressure on the wheels so that cars rolling down a yard's hump are slowed to a safe speed for coupling with cars already standing on the yard's tracks.