Penn Central opened Buckeye Yard, on the west side of Columbus, OH, in 1970. The 453 acre yard can hold 4,510 cars at any one time, and has seven receiving tracks, 40 classification tracks, and eight departure tracks, with a classification capacity of 2,400 cars per 24-hour period (but achieving only 1,800 cars a day in 1997. The yard is oriented north-south, between the Columbus-Toledo and Columbus-Dayton lines, and is crossed by five road overpasses, including two carrying I-70.
The Diesel Facilities are on the west side of the yard, with an engine turning loop at their south end, followed by the Receiving Yard, the Car Shops, the Classification Yard (with the hump at the south end), and the Departure Yard on the east side.
With the change in routes during the Conrail years (particularly the closure of the former PRR lines to Pittsburgh and Indianapolis as through routes), and especially with the split of those routes between NS and CSX with the end of Conrail in 1999, the need for classifications of cars at Buckeye has declined substantially, and was terminated completely on May 1, 2009.