Rails points question

Assuming two pairs of railway lines join together via points, to become one line on a narrow gauge railway, the line you are on, then a line to the left- you are progressing from the the line on the right, onto the single pair of lines.

Points are set for the line on the left, rather than you line. Is is normal to just drive the engine through the wrongly set points?

It's a 55 minute video. How far in does it happen?

But at the miniature railway where I play the role of The Fat Controller, such an arrangement exists at the station throat where the operating lever for the point is left at half travel and then each approaching train then moves the point over to the required direction.

No, but it can be done depending on how much spring there is in the mechanism that hold them in one place.

In message <r89lce$7la$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, Harry Bloomfield <?.?@NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk.invalid> writes

Not looked at the youtube, but it could be OK. There are things called spring loaded points, which are set to automatically send traffic on one route (when approaching the divergence), but will allow traffic from the other route to join the single route from either side (when converging). Sometimes used with on trams to avoid the need for changing the points.

Adrian

They're pretty common on tramways. Some mainline railways use them too, but the speed limit is pretty low - 15mph on the Far North Line in Scotland. Not really an issue when they're outside a station where every train stops, but impractical on a line with express services. Most mainline points are power operated and held in place by the motors (plus a facing point lock if being used in the "facing" direction i.e. from the single end to the double end). Running through these when not set for your line will seriously damage the points and probably derail the train.

Mike

Mike Humphrey pretended :

Thanks All, that solves that one..

This issue used to cause problems with a model when I tried to electrify the points, since the push needed was increased by the points mechanism when the solenoid was attached, no such thing as half way on model trains. Of course you can only do this in one direction reverse over half set points is not suggested as a good idea on real trains!

Brian

expand the comments from the Youtube poster and you'll see an explanation

I've just watched the video all the way through and the points incident is about 5 minutes in leaving tanygriesau (sp?) station.

A fantastic film and periodically you can hear the singing of the injectors

WOW!

Re-read this.

Tim

I've no idea. (What I know about the Welsh could probably be written on a station nameplate in Wales.) And I've even less clue as to the Youtube poster's provenance.

There is a hydraulic damper in the cabinet on the left that stops the blade bouncing back on every wheelset as the train passes through. The layout is the same and the other end of the station. Similar mechanisms are used more extensively on the Welsh Highland Railway. I don't know if it is still in use, but the point at the end of the loop at Blaenau Ffestiniog is/was sprung but that is/was only used by the loco. The same point, or one like it, was previously used at Tanygrisiau and Dduallt when they were terminal stations.

I suspect that point in question is either weighted or sprung to sit in one position, but loosely enough to be switched by any train which approaches along the other track. A very standard situation.