Joel,

That's "Turnout person" nowadays.



John Hagen



From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of
Joel
Holmes
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 1:54 PM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: RE: Throwing Turnouts, was [STMFC] Re: Truck bearings: Solid vs.
RB





Ya, but you will also need some turnoutmen.

Joel Holmes

So when I finally finish my HO model of the GB&W 0-6-0 #145 I should refer
to it as a "turnout engine?"



I've been following all this and I was somewhat surprised that there is
such
a term used on the prototype albeit mostly limited to the engineering
departments. For model railroading purposes operating department jargon is
most commonly used thus the possible confusion of the term "switch" with
the
very similar sounding term "switch."



John Hagen



From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of
Bruce F. Smith
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 1:26 PM
To: <STMFC@...>
Subject: Re: Throwing Turnouts, was [STMFC] Re: Truck bearings: Solid vs.
RB





John,

You probably sent this before seeing the other responses, but this is not
correct. Turnout is most definitely a prototype railroad term, used by
railroad employees (track department) to denote the entire assemblage of
the
apparatus that allows a train to journey forth on one of two (or three)
tracks, Switch is also a prototype railroad term used by both the
operating
department and the track department to denote the moving parts of a
turnout.
As Tony clarified in his second message, the use of turnout was not
invented
as a model railroad term, but the insistence on never using "switch" was
an
editorial decision...

BTW, did Mr. Westcott call the location of the lever that operated the
switch, and the target indicating switch position, the "turnout stand"? If
not, I suggest the futility of the decision is self-evident ;^)

Regards

Bruce

Steve,

Did you read what I wrote?

"A switchman can line a switch, but it takes the whole track gang to line a turnout."

Dennis

Tony,

Absolutely nothing wrong with the term "turnout", it's what the Engineering Dept. calls the whole assemblage... Switch, frog, guard rails, timber, etc.

The operating people only concern themselves with the switch, since that's the only thing they can move (unless they put something badly on the ground, then they can move a lot of things :)

Dennis

Dennis Storzek wrote:

Tony,
Absolutely nothing wrong with the term "turnout", it's what the
Engineering Dept. calls the whole assemblage... Switch, frog, guard
rails, timber, etc.
The operating people only concern themselves with the switch, since
that's the only thing they can move (unless they put something badly
on the ground, then they can move a lot of things :)

Yes, and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise on the term itself.
When I did materials research on railroad rails, I was for a time on
the AAR Research Committee, and in fact co-authored some technical
papers on rail performance in conference proceedings, both American
and European. On that Committee, I heard lots of commentary from old-
head track supervisors, and as you say, the track guys think only of
turnouts.
But the Kalmbach/Westcott concept was never to refer to anything
about a turnout, including the switch part, as anything but a turnout.
Whether the avoidance of confusion with electrical switches was worth
it, I can't say.

Tony Thompson
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937;
e-mail: thompson@...

Good idea, but I would agree with most artists, who would say
NEVER use white, use neutral gray.

Steve,

Did you read what I wrote?

"A switchman can line a switch, but it takes the whole track gang to line a turnout."

Dennis

Tony,

Absolutely nothing wrong with the term "turnout", it's what the Engineering Dept. calls the whole assemblage... Switch, frog, guard rails, timber, etc.

The operating people only concern themselves with the switch, since that's the only thing they can move (unless they put something badly on the ground, then they can move a lot of things :)

Dennis

Jeff Coleman wrote:

During my brakeman days we would throw a switch or line the iron or
track. I do not recall any trainman using the word turnout.

The story has been that it was the fine folks at Kalmbach who
introduced the term "turnout" to distinguish from electrical switches.
Railroaders I have talked to have the same reaction as Jeff's, "What
in the world is a turnout?" -- unless they are modelers, of course. <g>

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

During my brakeman days we would throw a switch or line the iron or track. I do not recall any trainman using the word turnout.
Jeff Coleman

--- In STMFC@..., "soolinehistory" <destorzek@> wrote:

--- In STMFC@..., w m <bulletmims@> wrote:

I agree with Mike. "Throwing a turnout" (and "throwing a switch") is commonly used by those who work in the railroad industry (although it is not usually literally done in anger)...

Harumpf! The operating people on a railroad have very little idea what a turnout is, since all they deal with is the switch.

As I'm prone to say, "A switchman can line a switch, but it takes the whole track gang to line a turnout."

Dennis