Just curious, are there 125 MPH (or greater) turnouts in North America? In other words a train is chugging along at 125 MPH and the switch is switch to turnout…the train just keeps chugging along, no slowing down.[?]
No.
I only know of 80mph turnouts max…
…Wow, that would have to be a mighty skinny rail for some extended distance to allow that fast of turnout…If not how is it really designed…? Curious.
Not that I am aware of…Fastest I ever worked around was a number 24 Turnout (50 MPH)…the unbalance of 3 inches and the frog point gap [swing nose/movable point frog time?] would worry me to death in the centripital forces department. What the folks in the NE Corridor do with #30 turnouts would lead me to worry about even 80 mph, knowing how wicked the lateral forces are.
(How would you plane down the switch points to razor blade thickness for one of those rascals with a 78 foot Sampson Point & stockrail?..and keep the tip from breaking under the first wheel that hit it??)[%-)][%-)][%-)]
What are the fastest in the rest of the world? 200 km/hr? Number 65 turnouts?
We have some 125 mph (200 km/h) turnouts in the UK.
Tony
Sweet. I say that on the assumption that riding through them must be pretty smooth…can’t imagine any wiggling at that speed.
…With a 125 mph turnout…what does that left rail at the transition point, look like…? Can’t understand how that is done…Knowing it can’t be an abrupt transition at that speed, what is the design at that point…?
I’ve tried to find info/photgraphs on the web of the ones in the UK, but no luck. The first 125mph turnouts were installed in the UK 23 years ago at Colton Junction (just south of York).
Tony
125MPH turnouts 23 years ago…wow…we are so far behind over here. What’s the mainline speed for that track when the turnout is not set? Over here we’re lucky to see 80MPH on a mainline and our turnouts are usually 30-40MPH.
At Colton Jnt line speed is 125 mph on both routes (i think). I’m not sure but i think the East Coast main line to London is technically the diverging route with the direct route being the Transpennine mainline to Leeds and Manchester. With the exeption of the Class 91 locomotives no passenger stuff that runs over 100mph has an axle load of 20 tons and the freight, mainly coal, should all be limited to 60 or 75 mph.
It’s not so much that we’re behind, as much as it is just a different kind of railroading. In most of Europe, there’s a Passenger-Train-First mentality. Over here, most of our passenger trains run as after-thoughts on freight railroads. Those European railroads that support 125mph turnouts would probably crumble under the forces of several Powder River trains a day. Or a parade of 110-car unit grain trains during the grain season. The U.S. system, overall, is built for heavy haul freight.
Just curious, you have any idea about the gross weight of those coal runs and/or the individual coal hoppers?
Maximum Gross weight in the UK for freight equipment is IIRC 102 metric tons i.e. 25.5 metric tons per axle or about 110 tons US. Many countries in Europe do not allow that much axle loading. Of course to load that much they are limited to 60 mph loaded and 75 mph when empty. Also they have better riding trucks than the US standard three piece truck too.
I would imagine that it’s not a matter of razor blade points - Are the fixed rails notched to allow the points to seamlessly and safely connect? Sounds like a hell of a turnout to me…
Certainly these 300MPH systems can’t have 300MPH turnouts[?]
…It would be great if someone can find a good photo of the transition point of these 125 mph turnouts…Help us understand what’s going on in the design.
I havent been able to find any dimensions for Colton Jnt but on the French TGV network, trains diverging at Passily can diverge at 143 mph and the point blades are 191 feet long.