Is it semantics?

[Bill C]

Oh boy! A newbie with all sorts of basic questions! Just what this forum needed, eh?

So, basic question #1: What's the difference between a switch and a turnout? Is it just the same thing by a different name, or are there different functions?

 

[montanan]

Basically the same thing.

 

[Burlington Bob]

A railroad switch and a turnout are the same thing. An electrical switch and a turnout are not the same thing. Turnout is often used to describe a railroad switch as it eliminates the aforementioned confusion.

By the way, "newbies" are very welcome here. This is the friendliest site on the Internet for railroading, both prototype and model. So, welcome and ask all the questions you want.

 

[Selector]

In the real world of railway engineering, the two are not the same. The turnout is the entire appliance, often manufactured and inserted as a contiguous unit...not unlike the way we plunk a Peco or an ME #6 into our rail systems on our layouts. However, the engineers and maintainers call the throwbar and movable points a 'switch'. So, a switch is part of a turnout.

 

[Burlington Bob]

Some reading for more info, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_switch.

 

[Selector]

Something a little more technical:

http://gluedideas.com/content-colle.../Railway-Engineering-and-Construction_P6.html

Union Pacific's own specs for right of way: (scroll down...)

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/operations/specs/track/index.shtml

A technical description from the UK which takes account of the two terms and the confusion that often results from their indiscriminate use: (scroll down...)

http://www.railway-technical.com/track.shtml

BNSF's specs for track systems (note the use of turnout and swtiches, but that a double slip is a turnout with multiple switches): (scroll down...)

http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/educweb.../BNSF document 2007 IndustryTrkStds_1007a.pdf

 

[railfan]

Here is a good tip I learned: Do not throw the turnout while a train is running through it.........unless you want a big mess.


Mike

 

[Bill C]

Thanks guys! I actually understand the difference now. And since you can't really have one without the other, I can see where the terminology gets interchanged.

 

[trailrider]

What "Code" would 136 lb rail correspond to in HO? 112 lb rail? Also, what brand is BNSF using...Peco, Shinohara, etc., for its turnouts?

 

[Selector]

Code 100 rail is 165 pound, used nowhere in N. America historically. Code 83 is virtually exactly 136 pound rail. Code 75 would be close to 112, and code 70 close to 80. Light rail, such as spur 50 pound would be Code 55 if you can find it.

 

[trailrider]

Thanks! Well, on the Grashhook, Galesburg & Western Division of the C.B.&Q., we do use 165 lb rail (Code 100), as this is what I started out with (some of it brass on the sidings) when I got into HO scale as a kid c1954. Saw no reason to change when I began the latest iteration, especially with so much track on hand from previous layouts. I guess that's about as hysterical...uh, historical, as it gets! Code 85 wasn't available "back in the day", anyway.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Nothing wrong with using that "old" stuff, esp if it's there and available.

Why spend money on "replacing" something that you already have plenty of?

 

[Selector]

The Pennsy, CPR, C&O, N&W, NYC, ATSF, , TH&B, and UP all used 165 pound rail on my last layout. I don't think the railroads suffered for it.

 

[trailrider]

Nice photo! I'm still trying to figure out posting some of mine. What sort of critter is #3751? The turntable control shack is blocking a view of the wheel arrangement on that hog.

 

[Selector]

That is a BLI model of the real ATSF 3751 still running today. That model was defective, so I had to return it in exchange for this other one. The image here is on a diorama I made, but taken outdoors with a real view of the Comox Glacier in the Beaufort Range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The image comprises four that were stacked using CombineZP.

 

[Burlington Bob]

That's a really nice shot! Makes you feel like you were there.

 

[CMMR]

Crandell - I like the 55 Chevy. Is that a metal flake paint job?

 

[trailrider]

That can't be a model! Sure looks real! Nice work!

 

[Selector]

I believe that it is metallic paint, yes. Thanks for the comments. Point is, properly ballasted, even with dirt, and weathered, it is hard to tell that one is using Code 100 rail. However, the following should show clearly how obviously grossly oversized it really is for our scale models:

 

[railfan]

Code 100.....(and code 80 in N scale) surely looks oversize.....but a good weathering job like yours helps it look a bit better. Darker colors tend to make objects look smaller.


Mike