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Subject:
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APOLOGY
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Mon, 8 Feb 1999 07:31:35 GMT
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Reply-To:
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keilers@uswest.*antispam*net
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Viewed:
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628 times
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(canceled)
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Steve Barile wrote:
> Are you guys done yet?
Not really. Let me clarify my position. I don't feel it's appropriate to
suppress information sharing, and I don't think the originator of a
thread has some sort of exclusive say about what is on or off topic. I'm
not sure I care to comment further on anything else that Kurt said, as I
feel the record of who said what when speaks adequately for itself, and
I have reason to believe that Kurt may thrive on controversy.
> I have a new topic...
> Is it points, switch tracks, or turn-out...???
Depends on the country. I am not expert at non US usage. Here is what I
believe to be true in US usage.
Points: See http://my.voyager.net/lar/gloss.html#points where I defined
them.
Switch track: not common usage in the US
Turnout: (one word, unhyphenated) The entire assembly, including points,
frogs, throw mechanism, straight and diverging rails.
> or
> Is it a siding, a passing track, or a spur...???
These all refer to significantly more track than the turnout itself.
Siding, passing track: Interchangable terms for a section of track that
essentially parallels the main line, and is connected at both ends. A
train can enter it, come to a stop completely clear of the main line,
and allow another train proceeding in the same or the opposite direction
to pass it safely.
Spur: This tends to denote a section of track that often diverges from
the main line, and is connected only at one end. The typical connotation
is to service an industry.
Contrast with Branch. A branch is also connected at one end and always
diverges but is typically much longer. It is a small railroad in its own
right. A Branch may have an interlocking tower, or a signal in CTC
territory, to protect the connection.
++Lar
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Maybe we should start a group called lugnet.flame... then we could go on
talking about trains or what have you, in the specific groups. Todd?
Are you guys finished?
I have a new topic...
Is it points, switch tracks, or turn-out...???
or
Is it a siding, a passing track, or a spur...???
In the end its just a pile of plastic that we can be proud of and most
improtantly make us all smile.
And what makes me smile is a 7 car custom Metroliner crossing a 90" dual
single suspecion bridge. New pics to come, old at:
http://www.pnltc.org/Gal_BldStruct/Gal_BuildStrucs.html
SteveB
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> > I have a new topic...
> > Is it points, switch tracks, or turn-out...???
In the UK, I always understood them to be called points, because that's what
they were called in model railway catalogues and is what they were called in
common usage. However someone recently told me that actually the name is
different depending on whether the points are on a mainline or not. First I'd
heard of that.
> > Is it a siding, a passing track, or a spur...???
In the UK a siding runs parallel to the main track but doesn't necessarily
join it again, if it does it's called a passing siding. A spur, like Larry
said, runs off in another direction for a short distance.
What I have trouble with naming is various types of crossovers....
1. What do you call a track that allows you to cross from one side of a
mainline over to the other?
2. What do you call it when a track crosses another track, either at right
angles or some other angle?
3. What do you call the crossover part when a two track mainline has a two
track branch off it?
Matt
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Matthew Bates wrote:
>
> What I have trouble with naming is various types of crossovers....
> 1. What do you call a track that allows you to cross from one side of a
> mainline over to the other?
Crossover. This typically will mark the beginning or end of a block in
CTC territory. It typically did not require an interlocking tower.
> 2. What do you call it when a track crosses another track, either at right
> angles or some other angle?
A crossing. There is no implication of connection from one track to the
other.
However, since the lines crossing are often owned by different RR, there
often is a track laid to connect the crossing lines. This track is
called an interchange track. There often will be an interlocking tower
present, and this crossing typically will be a block boundary in CTC
territory.
> 3. What do you call the crossover part when a two track mainline has a two
> track branch off it?
I don't know of a specific name for this. It is fairly rare in the US,
believe it or not. Most branches will be a single track. There typically
will be a crossover prior to getting to the switch that starts the
branch to allow trains in either direction to take the branch. As above,
at least a block boundary in CTC, or an interlocking tower will be
present.
++Lar
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Matthew Bates wrote:
> > > I have a new topic...
> > > Is it points, switch tracks, or turn-out...???
>
> In the UK, I always understood them to be called points, because that's what
> they were called in model railway catalogues and is what they were called in
> common usage. However someone recently told me that actually the name is
> different depending on whether the points are on a mainline or not. First I'd
> heard of that.
Most of the times on the railroad that I work for (Norfolk Southern),
if one is referring to the points of a switch, we call them points, as
in to make sure there is nothing fouling the points before throwing a
switch, i.e. something that fell off a car, a dead animal, or snow and
ice might not let the points move freely when you use the ground
throw.
Now we call it a switch as in, go and throw that switch. As others
have pointed out the turnout is the whole assembly. I've never heard
it called a turnout at work, even when calling the maintainers, the
Dispatchers call them switches. There are many switches that are
controlled by the Dispatcher via remote control.
> > > Is it a siding, a passing track, or a spur...???
>
> In the UK a siding runs parallel to the main track but doesn't necessarily
> join it again, if it does it's called a passing siding. A spur, like Larry
> said, runs off in another direction for a short distance.
We have several sidings that parallel to the mainline and are used for
storage of autoracks, and most of those, while still called sidings,
only connect to the mainline via a single switch at one end, cars must
be shoved into the track. All of these type sidings are non-signalled,
while most passing sidings (switches on both ends) are signalled into
and out of the siding. Nearly all sidings on the NS are named .
> What I have trouble with naming is various types of crossovers....
> 1. What do you call a track that allows you to cross from one side of a
> mainline over to the other?
That is a crossover, most of these are named by location, i.e. The
Crossover at the West End of Oak Point. This is what I built for the
Nova Industrial Railroad and is the only type of crossover I know of.
> 2. What do you call it when a track crosses another track, either at right
> angles or some other angle?
A diamond or grade crossing. Not to be confused with highway grade
crossings or road crossings which are places where railroad tracks
cross some type of motor vehicle road at grade. Also sometimes called
an interlocking too.
> 3. What do you call the crossover part when a two track mainline has a two
> track branch off it?
> Matt
This sounds like a plant or a mini-plant. This is a fairly new term
for me and is commonly used around the NS, WLE and CR for
interconnections with numerous switches and/or interlockings and/or
where two divisions or districts of a railroad join, meet, and/or
diverge.
Keep in mind that I'm sure other railroads in the US use different
terms, but these are the ones I use daily at work.
Jeff Christner
Visit Sixby Fire Tech at - http://members.aol.com/regult/
Help support my LEGO habit. Ship by rail.
Visit http://www.nscorp.com/ to find out how.
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