There are so many terms out there and it can get kind of confusing. Some have to do with this hobby, such as “scale”, O vrs O27, “rivetcounter”, etc. Some others have to do with terms from regular railroading. These include things like turnout, etc. F,J, & G just did a nice post on the terms associated with a turnout. That helps folks like me who are trying to learn all this stuff.
I wonder if we could have a section on the forum or a column in the magazine on a regular basis that helps us learn all the terms, kind of like a model train dictionary.
Agree that there are a lot of confusing terms out there. For example, what scale is semi-scale?
Also, toy train folks have made up their own terminology, calling a turnout a switch, for instance.
Also, did you know that 027 track is closer to scale sized rails than O scale (but still much taller and wider).
Also, measurements are interesting, for instance, we measure toy train track by the diameter rather than by the radius like other scales of model railroads.
I’m learning too, as I progress. For instance, I never knew what a bolster was until about a year ago. And 2 years ago, I learned about sprung trucks.
Oh, the term “turnout” is a prototypical term as far as i know. I’ve heard the track people over the years refer to switches as Turnouts, As far back as my Penn Central days. They have a numbering system for them also, Such as a # 8 turnout & so on. Thanks, John
Well, I suppose different RRs have different conventions: switches are switches hereabouts. I have a good friend who was a track crew foreman on the Frisco years ago, and, according to him, “switch” is the proper term (ever hear of a “turnoutman”? [:)] ) His family worked for the Frisco back 4 generations, and I know for a fact that his dad (at least,), who was an engineer, always uses the term “switch.”
Another fellow I know works for a local short-line (ex-Rock) in track rehab, and he uses the term “switch,” too.
I know that the term “turnout” is used by lots of the folks who claim that they “model railroads” as opposed to “play with trains,” but I don’t pay them much mind.
“Well, I suppose different RRs have different conventions: switches are switches hereabouts. I have a good friend who was a track crew foreman on the Frisco years ago, and, according to him, “switch” is the proper term (ever hear of a “turnoutman”? ) His family worked for the Frisco back 4 generations, and I know for a fact that his dad (at least,), who was an engineer, always uses the term “switch.”
Another fellow I know works for a local short-line (ex-Rock) in track rehab, and he uses the term “switch,” too.
I know that the term “turnout” is used by lots of the folks who claim that they “model railroads” as opposed to “play with trains,” but I don’t pay them much mind.”
The turnout contains stock rails, closure rails, a frog, points, and a means to switch the points. Real railroad men refer to the switch part of the turnout and it makes sense. In that context a switchman makes sense as well and they don’t need a frogman. My buddy is an engineer for CSX. He understands the difference and explained it to me. Lionel gives you the switch, the frog, the stock rails and the closure rails and the points. A complete turnout. Quite a bargain in my book when they don’t even claim to give you the rest.
Actually, the term “turnout” is more a convention adopted by model railroaders than it is a term used by prototype railroaders (who often enough use the term “switch” as in “the switch is aligned for the main”). The model railroading community adopted the term “turnout” years ago so these mechanisms would not be confused with “switches”–as in DPDT switches, and the like–which are so commonly employed on model railroads.
Allan,
Except for the fact that their are numerous reference drawings referring to “turnouts” from ACTUAL RAILROADS from the past and from the American Railway Engineering Associatiion. The switch is a part of the turnout and therefore completely makes sense in the context of how real railroad people use the term. On the diagrams of a TURNOUT the SWITCH ties are labled as such. The SWITCH ties only occupy a small portion of the TURNOUT. Now, lets talk about rivetcounters.
Bill: not ALL “real railroad people” use the teerm. My company diagram of the TRRA tracks for Union Station in St. Louis (the drawings belonged to my ex-wife’s grandfather, a TRRA SWITCHman) label them as switches; “turnout” appears nowhere on the diagrams…
As I said: the term may well be railroad or region specific; it is apparently not universal on prototype roads.
“Standard O” is (was) a Lionel term for their scale rolling stock, many of the early molds for which had apparently been acquired from Pola. It’s good looking stuff, and the 2-rail O community has been known to convert them for 2-rail use (new wheelsets or whole trucks and body mounted couplers).
There is no reason for the guys out on the line to refer to turnout. All of the action that is relevant to them is at the SWITCH. They do not have to align the frog, the closure rails, or the stock rails. Those parts of the turnout stay put.
What to they include in the “switch” drawing?
It makes no sense for a person to say “The switchman is going to switch the switch part of the whole switch.”
Palallin,
Regardless, with regards to this part of your post
"I know that the term “turnout” is used by lots of the folks who claim that they “model railroads” as opposed to “play with trains,” is BS by virtue of the fact that you acknowledge that certain regions will use different terms including the term TURNOUT.
Model railroaders refer to turnouts accordingly. They refer to the combined components that make up a turnout in tracklaying. That is in contrast to the guys on the line because the switchman is not concerned about aligning the frogs.
You can throw a switch.
You can align a switch.
You can’t throw a turnout.
You can’t align a turnout at least without some heavy machinery.
Rivet counters are the guys who are ultra-sticklers for details when they want a particular locomotive or layout context. If the tender on a steamer is wrong for the road, it isn’t right, and a rivet counter would turn his/her nose up at the item…or take it and “kitbash” it by scraping and painting, and glueing until it looks something like what he/she had in mind.
Thanks for the responses. I learn something new everyday. Feel free to keep throwing out other “terms” you may be wondering about. You may even want to just contribute a term and explain it.
Tom, you might want to get on Google and search for “glossary” or “dictionary”, combined with such terms as “train”, “railroad”, “railway”, “model railroad”, “toy train”, etc. There are a lot of folks who have compiled such things, with different emphases, including translation between American and Briti***erminologies, which are quite different.