Every now and then, I hear the term that switches were spiked in preparation for a special excursion.
To, once again, demonstrate myself as a true armature, what do they do when they do this?
I assume they are locking the switch in place to keep the excursion train from picking the switch, causing a derailment, and giving pariahs like myself more work.
If this is in fact the purpose, I don’t quite get it. They don’t spike the switches on Amtrak routes that probably run 1000 times the trains 35mph faster.
Don’t sell yourself short…you are more than a part of an electric motor.
As I understand it you are correct. A spike is driven in to hold the switch points in place so it cannot be moved (accidently/intentionally) without removing the spike.
Actually, when I said “armature” I meant “an organ or structure used for offensive or defensive purposes.” Hense, they spike the switch for armaturish purposes and my interests in the protection makes me an arma . . . (alarm going off that the people who I am selling this to are not buying it) . . . [V]
On almost any turnout, the switch plates or switch gage plates supporting the switch points (ie the big steel tie plates under the movable part of the track structure) have special spikeholes in them to “lock a turnout” in place to keep it from moving in the short term. These holes in the switch plates can usually be found in the first and third ties from the tip of the switch points. If you are holding a switch shut and unusable long term, a bolted rail clamp is used so the spikes cannot come loose, especially in curves.
A tag and some form of notification is used (track condition message, form C , Superintendents Notice, etc.) is also put out to keep trainmen from using or throwing the switch…and there are all kinds of reasons for spiking switches. (Old trainmaster feared me/roadmaster with spike maul in- hand out in the backtracks for this reason)
Some bored teenagers sneak next to the switch, and pour some whiskey on it when no one’s looking. Errrrr…yeah…meanwhile, I have a great piece of ocean front property over in Arizona I’m looking to sell if anyone’s interested. The CSX and NS have rails very near the property, too, so it’s just lovely for trainwatching, too! Anyone?
I still don’t understand why Amtrak regularly goes over 200 switches per trip at 80+ miles per hour and no one seems to get too excited, yet they spike them for excursion trains doing 40?
Obviously, we know that spiking a switch will reduce the chance that the switch will be split and prevent the switch from being reversed. Could it be that the insurance underwriters want switches spiked along an excursion route to reduce risk?
Otherwise, you will have to get the Mudchicken to crank out some of the reasons for spiking.
(1)Everything under a diesel engine with wheels can steer [all are trucked]. The drivers under a steam engine do not (rigid, some inside wheels are not flanged on some) and therein lies the headache, coupled with old worn wheelsets…false flange induced wheel climb at the switch points…Big steam does not turn worth a ***, neither do long cars with 3-axle heavyweight trucks (big forces at knuckles in long car/short car scenario)…(doesn’t bother Steve Lee, but he knows why it bothers roadmasters)
Apart from Mudchicken’s obviously correct summation of steam locomotives and their effect on track, excursion trains sometimes use tracks not regularly used by passenger trains, and spiking the switches increases the safety of the operation.
Recently, in Goulburn, the rail was replaced in the main platform of the passenger station. For reasons not at all clear to me six short pieces of rail were inserted together, (three each side) requiring eight thermit welds. Perhaps it was convenient to use rail precut as plugs for broken rails. Anyway, it allowed fans to see the whole process at once as the first weld was being ground away on the running surface as the last one was set off!
All this meant that the other two tracks on an “island” platform were in use. To get the local train from the third platform northbound after the southbound express had passed, a screw clip (like a big “G” clip) was removed from a little used (now, anyway) crossover to allow the local train out, with flag signals and radios in use. This is in a yard where the main switches are power operated from a local tower. I assume the screw clip serves the same purpose as a spike, but can be removed and replaced more frequently. I think the clips can be padlocked in place to prevent unauthorised removal. The term used is “clipped and locked”.
The third platform track is sometimes used by southbound freight trains with access through the yard to the north, but it is very rarely used for passenger trains to the north.
In Britain there is much paranoia about trains going through facing point switches. If a switch is used frequently this way, there is an extra locking mechanism on the points (“facing point lock”). If a switch is used for passengers that is not equipped this way, it is required to be “clipped and locked”; I always picture something like a giant C clamp. This might be a train backing through a trailing crossover.
Sidenote: at many British stations, the layout required that the sidings be entered by backing off the mainline; when you had to cross the other line to do this, there would either be a crossing or a single slip arranged to give a trailing crossover.
An engineer running an excursion may not know exactly where he is going, pilot from the host railroad or not. Just in case a RR crew came by before, working and operating a train, and left the switch in the wrong position…Trains can’t make a u-turn at the next trafic light or stop to ask directions. At least, this would be a possibility I would think…
Now this thread is “back on track” (sorry, couldn’t resist) Very informative. My guess would say Mudchicken’s probably hit on the head, but Jay has got a valid insurance point. I imagine the policy rider on an excursion would choke most lawyers.( although after two divorces a thinning of that herd would be welcome) Willy
I had an experience with spiking switches many years ago. I was working at Point Concieption, a 100 miles from nowhere, where the SP coast line ran in California. One day a crew came through on a speeder and spiked the switch along the line. The crew were very noncommittal as to why they were spiking the switch. The next day along comes a speeded with several people looking very carefully at the track and sourrounding countryside. About 15 minutes later along comes a short passenger train of two coaches. On the open vestibule of the second coach was Nikita Kruschev looking at the ocean. (Did I spell his name correctly?) He waved to me as I was about 20 feet away. Since the government did not want any incidents with Nikita I fully understand why they spiked the switches.
As a side note Nikita was mad because the government would not permit him to visit Disneyland. The secret service did not think they could adequately protect him in the Magic Kingdom.