Industrial spur

An industrial spur is a type of secondary track used by railroads to allow customers a location to load and unload railcars without interfering with other railroad operations.

Background

Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and railcar capacity depending on the requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialize areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple sidings to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to a larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destine to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than a mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards.

Today

Before the rise of the automobile in the early 1930s (specifically long distance trucking), railroads were the primary means of transportation around the world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, often times only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacity were a common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As automobile and roadway technology improved through out the early and mid 20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of the greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads a year.