3 Way Junctions

S

stouthm

Get over it

• Dec 20, 2018

• #1

Are they used in real life?

 

L

llebrez

Active member

• Dec 20, 2018

• #2

In reality, no, or at least not in the way we have in Trainz. The closest thing is a very closed spaced 2 points with two levers. In Trainz, you see the 3 arrows. Clever, but I would like to see a lever that shows the direction of the points. I use one that is a metal arrow that works, but it is very limited as is hard to see at certain distance.

 

J

jordon412

33 Year Old Railfan

• Dec 20, 2018

• #3

Check out frogpipe's '3 Way Switch Stand', <kuid:204652:100058>. It's designed specifically for three way switches and is able to show which way the switch it set by three metal arrows on the top of the switchstand, one point up (for straight), one pointing left, and another pointing right. It is based on one used by the Santa Fe and can be found at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo, California.

 

C

clam1952

Welsh Narrow Gauge nut.

• Dec 20, 2018

• #4

stouthm said:

Are they used in real life?

Click to expand...

Yes
https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/12/14/2121447_19581f4e.jpg

https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/09/57/2095790_ed6ed758.jpg

 

P

Pencil42

V & T Shop Monkey

• Dec 21, 2018

• #5

In the days of stub switches*, 3-way switches were common as they were no more complicated than a 2-way switch.

*19th century, though isolated examples remained into the 1950's, and some probably still exist.

 

J

jordon412

33 Year Old Railfan

• Dec 21, 2018

• #6

Pencil42 said:

In the days of stub switches*, 3-way switches were common as they were no more complicated than a 2-way switch.

*19th century, though isolated examples remained into the 1950's, and some probably still exist.

Click to expand...

As far as I know, the only surviving stub switches are found on tourist railways and railroad museums. However, some live steam railroads also use stub switches. I believe there's one at the Nevada State Railroad Museum and there's at least one at the Colorado Railroad Museum. I've found a picture of a three-way stub switch at the Orange Empire Railway Museum and there's a two-way stub switch also at the railroad museum. Link: http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,127952,128348

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2018

B

bekaember

krisz

• Dec 22, 2018

• #7

Hi!
It depends on the special regulations of the country.
For example here in Hungary they are not allowed since the 1950s.

 

E

Enkidoh

Westrail Fanatic

• Dec 23, 2018

• #8

I think in many cases they wouldn't be true '3-way' points as more just two sets of regular '2-way' points situated very closely together, so that their seperate blades are almost interacting, as llebrez mentioned. Here's an Australian example of this concept (which no longer exists) from Busselton, Western Australia.

 

Last edited: Dec 23, 2018