Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A right-hand railroad switch with point indicator pointing to right Animated diagram of a right-hand railroad switch. Rail track A divides into two: track B (the straight track) and track C (the diverging track); note that the green line represents direction of travel only, the black lines represent fixed portions of track, and the red lines depict the moving components.
Interlocking is a safety measure designed to prevent signals and points/switches from being changed in an improper sequence. For example, interlocking would prevent a signal from being changed to indicate a diverging route, unless the corresponding points/switches had been changed first.
Sometimes an intermediate siding is provided on the single line section, and the token itself, or a key fixed to the end of it, unlocks the points for shunting there. The token is locked in the apparatus there, and the driver cannot retrieve the token until the points have been set to the through running position and locked again.
The point clip clamps the end of a moving rail (the switch rail) of a set of points to its associated stock rail, and the scotch is a timber wedge used to ensure that the other moving rail is kept away from its associated stock rail. In this way the points are fixed in either the 'normal' or 'reverse' positions and cannot be moved by the usual ...
Power-operated switch points and signaling devices greatly expanded the territory that a single control point could operate from several hundred yards to several miles. [2] As the technology of electric relay logic was developed, it no longer became necessary for signalmen to operate control devices with any sort of mechanical logic at all.
The practice of uncoupling a locomotive from a car in motion and running over a switch, whereupon an employee on the ground lines the switch to divert the car onto an adjacent track. [ 115 ] [ 116 ] Once commonplace, this practice has led to several lawsuits against railroad companies and is now strictly prohibited due to the high risk to life ...
Railway signalling (BE), or railroad signaling (AE), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails , making them uniquely susceptible to collision . This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight and inertia of a train, which makes it difficult to quickly stop when encountering an obstacle.
The point machine (in this case an electric motor) and associated mechanism used to operate this switch can be seen to the right in the picture. A point machine (also known as a point motor, switch machine or switch motor) is a device for operating railway turnouts especially at a distance.