The Frontier Yard Computer System - The room for controlling the switch sorting in the yard. The top half controls the logic of the switches while the bottom half is the memory. Each switch uses on/off logic just like 1s and 0s, so each switch is one bit. In 1957, this computer system was custom made for the yard at a cost of $10.5 million. It cut the average yard time by two-thirds. The system is 3 stories of a 4-story tower. CSX has remained so pleased with the system that it has never modified it or replaced it. It's the original 1957 system in working order with parts carefully maintained. While there used to be three full-time people working as the operators of the computer, two have retired leaving only one person left who actually knows the ins and outs of the system. He has been working on it since 1968. It estimated that CSX has enough parts to keep the system going another 10 years, but the plan is to replace the system entirely before the last operator retires (likely in the next couple years). Image building a computer system that runs so well that the users never change a thing for over 40 years! This was my coolest computer experience ever!! I was walking thru what I though could only be read about in books ... really was a trip back in time.
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