A couple of weeks ago I got an inquiry from some historians in Oneonta, N.Y. who were researching the upstate interurbans, and wanted to know how switches in street trackage worked. I finally remembered to take some pictures, so this is for anyone who is not familiar with street trackage.
We have two switches of this sort in front of Barn 4, which we have been using for the past 50 years. They are not actually paved over, but I think you can see that they easily could be paved without affecting the operation in any way.
First of all, on the inside-of-the-curve rail, we have this movable point in a large casting. A small rubber block holds the point in the desired position.
I also mentioned to them that in later years some cities, such as Chicago, had automatic switches that the motorman could control electrically, but I'm not sure exactly when these came into widespread use. I'm hoping some of our knowledgeable readers could supply this information. Thanks!
What you have there is a "Tongue & Mate" switch. I can send you photos of PTM's tongue switches for comparison.
ReplyDelete/s/ Larry
Lawrence G. Lovejoy, P.E.
Director of Engineering
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Inc.
Thanks! I should point out that there were other types of street trackage switches available. Steam roads in particular would often have ground throw mechanisms located in a box below street level covered with a hinged steel plate. That involved a lot more work for the operating crews.
ReplyDeleteI recall hearing that the track and switches in front of Barn 4 were salvaged from a raised temporary cross-over. It is built to compromise standards for interurbans, not the smaller style for street railway wheels - so perhaps it came from the North Shore or the TM? O. Anderson
ReplyDeleteQuoting from R&W issue 70, page 2, regarding the construction of Barn 4 and its west yard:
ReplyDelete---
By January 1 [1972], all track work was complete both inside and out except installation
of some bolt-on guard rail on the approach curves. The rail, 80# stock from a
North Shore Line portable crossover in Milwaukee, is rather unusual, being more
of a street railway than an interurban installation.
The curves are built to a tight radius, varying from 55 to 70', and all of the rail
was bent to shape by members using a screw bender, jacking against a big yoke casting
about every 15" along the rail sections. Considering that 510 ft. of running
rail was bent this was indeed a monumental task.
All switches installed are #3 type except the one connecting with the wye which is
a #4, built to Chicago Rapid Transit standards, including a full guard rail. Two
sets of tongue and mate switches were utilized, the type in pavement by street railways
and have no switch stand.
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And since Track 42 East has been discussed recently, here's when it was started, from R&W issue 71, page 2:
"Most working members spent the time heavily involved in car repair and restoration
projects, many of which were carried out under cover of the new barn. Trackwork and
wire leading to the barn was completed in this period and as the weather moderated
somewhat in March [1972], work was begun extending barn tracks one and two east out of the
building toward an eventual connection with the lead track of Yard #2."
Note that issue 82, page 7, says that Track 41 East wasn't yet complete by Labor Day 1975, so take that with a grain of salt.
R. W. Schauer
The rubber blocks are an IRM kludge. Most street switches have a spring toggle mechanism to hold the tongue, housed in a cast iron box set flush in the pavement. These were missing from the North Shore portable X over. The rubber blocks do the job well enough seeing as they've been in service for fifty ears.
ReplyDeleteDennis Storzek