I have a question concerning prototype turnouts. I’ve been watching the six part series on laying track and a turnout, on Model Railroader’s new project railroad, with interest and the turnout Tony Koester laid had a frog and guard rails just as the ready to lay turnouts have. I’ve noticed that some photos and video’s of prototype turnouts don’t have a frog or guard rails, either on the mainline or on the yard turnouts. For example, I’ve been watching the video’s by John Pechulis Media on the Lehigh & New England, and none of the turnouts I saw, either on the main or in the yards, had any frogs or guard rails. Is this standard or does it vary by the railroad? Can these types of turnouts be modeled in HO scale? Thanks.
James Barnes, Jr.
Taylor, Michigan
There are a number of prototype turnout designs that, by employing various subterfuges, might appear to lack frogs (spring-loaded wing rails look continuous, but aren’t) and do lack guard rails (Google SELF-GUARDING FROG.) There is also a rather new design of low-speed turnout that does away with the point on the normally closed side and rides across the continuous rail of the high speed route on the equivalent of a speed bump.
Spring-loaded wing rails (and the new frogless ‘speed bump’) can be run through the normal route at speed, but are low speed for the diverging route. Self-guarding frogs are only used on low speed trackage.
It would be possible for a skilled modeler (or me) to build a workable spring-loaded wing rail type, but the others are impractical for model railroad use since they would have issues with our wide-tread wheels (self-guarding frogs) and truck flexibility problems, gearbox clearance problems and a tendency to snag Kadee operating arms (frogless ‘speed bump.’) Note that I didn’t say they can’t be built. What I will say is that they would cause a plethora of operating problems.
[EDIT] Our Proto-87 brethren have self-guarding frogs available as commercial parts - but they use wheels of true prototype dimensions.
[Edit 2] What I referred to as a ‘speed bump’ is properly referred to as a ‘lift switch.’
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with spring switches where appropriate)
Do the turnouts you’re thinking of have self-guarded frogs?
Self-guarded frogs are used primarily in low-speed trackage. You can model them in HO using parts from the Proto 87 Stores http://www.proto87.com/product1903.html (scroll to the bottom of the page).
EDIT I must have been typing my response at the same time as Chuck above.