I was wondering how often and how long spring switchs are used and how long they
have been around. The reason I ask is because i have seen a couple of them around the milwaukee area one is on the up line that crosses clement ave.And the other one I have seen is right off of college ave. One thing I do know about them it save the crew from walking the legnth of the trainto set the switch back to the main line. But I have a feeling there is more to this one. [bow][4:-)]
Good question. I don’t think they are used much at all around here. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are the ones at Vincent / Quartz on the top of Soledad Canyon on the UP line between LA-Palmdale. They are at both ends of a short streach of double track over the top of the hill.
At the end of all high-speed sidings on the South Shore Line there are spring switches. There’s a few on Metra Electric as well.
Mitch
WSOR has three in Madison, and uses one owned by UP in Janesville.
Randy
Got them all over our yard…at least three on the south end alone…
Not rare at all, and very useful if maintained porperly…
Ed
There are several on the UP coast line.
Virlon
Save your ticket… the P.E. will rise again.
On CN in Northern Ontario many sidings used to be powered dual control switch on one end and a spring switch at the other. At a meet the train at the dual control switch was the one that got lined into the siding regardless of priority.
There may or may not be any sidings left with this arrangement. I beleive there is a few.
Originally ussed by single track streetcar lines, then practically every interurban line had them, allowing meets without hand throwing switches, then spread to railroad practice. I never rode a single-track streetcar line or interurban line anywhere that did not use spring switches. I must of ridden about a hundred such lines on at least 25 or more systems! They are used in modern light railroads today, where single track is essential!
Don’t stop any car or locomotive over a spring switch and then back up! Unless you are certain you apprached the switch from the safe direction!
There used to be one at Guelph Jct. on the CP Toronto-London line where the double track became single. Don’t know if it’s still there or not.
I’ve been railfanning since 1986 and spring switchs have been around longer than that.
The Southern Pacific had one at the west switch in Sylmar (between Burbank Junction and Palmdale Junction) that was forever being used to cut out their helpers. One day they had two helpers sets get cut out there and a freight in the siding waiting for another freight going in the other direction to come down, after passing the helper sets and freight train left.
Hugh,
I know the switch you’re talking about, but its now a dual control switch. I guess that was changed when they put CTC in at that location. CPR hardly uses any spring switches any more in Ontario.
That’s a trip. I didn’t know about that one and I lived not to far from there in Van Nuys for many many years.
We had a lot of them on the old CV (now the NEC) – most of the sidings had them. If you were cleared into the siding, you had to stop, get down and throw the thing, then restore it. The one at the other end would let you out.
They were quite reliable, as I recall, except in really really cold weather (like 20 below) when you sort of wanted to take a good look and make sure they weren’t frozen…
My boyfriend and I got to have spring switches explained to us a few weeks back at the Seashore Trolley Museum up in Maine. The conductor showed us one and how it works. It sounds like they were used a lot on trolley lines. Yes? No? Maybe??
SPring switches were used quite often. They eliminated a stop to change the switch, and also helped to streamline traffic flow. Two routes could converge with no stop needed for the switch, although a diverging car might need to stop and hand-throw the switch. Cold was a problem now and then, especially if snow got into the spring, and then it froze (easily melting during the day, freezing at night.)
It seems we have folks mixing variable switches, mechanical switchmen (I think most are refering to these), and spring frogs.
A mechanical switchman is the hydraulic piston inserted where a regular switch rod would go between the headblock ties connecting the switch stand to the #1 rod connecting the switch points and maintaining gage.
A variable/ flopover switch is a type of switch stand.
A spring frog is just that, a frog that has a point that closes to eliminate the normal gap in the frog, held shut by a tensioned spring.
Then there are movable point/swing nose frogs, hydraulic switches and combinations of all the above.[%-)][%-)][%-)]
MC – I was thinking spring frogs on the CV. I can’t think of any real ‘spring’ switches on that line, although there might have been some.
The south end of a couple sidings on the Short LIne (who most would recognize as the Spine, originally RI then CNW, now UP tracks) between Des Moines and Mason City have spring switches. The end of the Lake lead at the exCNW yard in Council Bluffs also has one.
It technically may be a Mechanical Switchman, I recall seeing the piston, but the rules and time table call it a Spring Switch.
Jeff
when used as the switches in a wye, you can turn completely without having to touch the ground and throw a switch. TVSR used this neat trick and turned the whole train. cant tell you how choked up i got thinkin they were about to rip right through one until i saw it work. which ya have to do. They, like natural switches have stands too, incase you do have to align the switch against the springs. So appearances are similiar.
Sidings were a common place for spring switches. Switchbacks in say mountainous terrain employed spring switches. and i have heard tell that certain “runaway spurs” used them aswell.
The only one I ever had anything to do with in Oregon was on the Oregon Pacific & Eastern at the east end of the line (located at the Mill) where the steam passenger train went through the spring switch one way or the other and around the loop to return to Cottage Grove!!! I worked around this line some helping on the movie Emperor of The North (neat job ) !!!