Everything You Need to Know About Switches
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ค. 2024
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Hi, my name's Reece. I'm a passionate Creator, Transportation Planner, and Software Developer, interested in rapid transportation all around my home base of Toronto, Canada, as well as the whole world!
I know enough: *train go multi-track drifting* 😎
Yeah, trams are kinda more funny when they go full "de ja vu" style drifting.
Be careful, this is not an advisable operating mode!
@@emeraldbonsai DK
I think I missed that in GCOR class.
Yes I am thinking of drifting a train
I would really like to know more about the Netherlands Japan Slipswitch thing.
Also, I would really like another video about switches in general too. Maybe explain how a tram throws a switch for example. :)
And a notice about movable point frogs is that they allow for higher speeds. :)
I saw a video from Japan showing a train through some snow filled remote areas. They built essentially a building over the switches. It looked like a shed and when the train went through saw the switches underneath. It struck me as such a simple idea.
@@Infrared73 the simplest ideas are honestly often the best
The Dutch way of doing it is… not great. The problem is that if one or two points fail, it can result in about a 3rd of the country shutting down.
Yeah, the Japanese/Dutch thing sounds interesting
@@gwyneddboom2579 It's a difference in what is normal. In countries where snow is normal, the infrastructure and staffing is a normalized part of winter maintenance.
It's like comparing the tires people drive. I know in Germany you need to have winter tires. In the Netherlands I believe this is not required.
Also, Canada still has its issues with its tracks. GO Transit has had delays due to frozen switches as well.
You forgot to mention anything about speed - especially diverging speeds are defining limitations for certain kinds of switches. High-speed switches are absolutely fascinating pieces of engineering, both because of their geometry (you can't switch from straight to circular tracks without creating horrific sideways loads) and their sheer size. There are switches for 200 km/h diverging speed that measure over 100m from point tip to frog end powered by 8+ motors for the points and another 3+ motors for the movable frog
Also I think the French and Spanish have 220km/h switches.
@ The French allow for larger horizontal forces on passengers than the Germans, so they are allowed to drive faster through tighter curves
Less that I forgot and more that I intentionally left out! I’ll probably do a video dedicated to the differences between standard and high speed infra!
@ Also their 220km/h switches look like straights compared to the Nantenbacher Curve.
But either way their engineering is really interesting.
Woah, didn’t really think about that! Would be keen to see high-speed switches 👀
"Should I make another video?"
Now now, let's not pretend you aren't already half way done with it as it is
Haha
I'd be interested in how they are controlled. When I see videos of trains entering and leaving stations with many platforms, or trains moving full-speed over switches that could direct them to branch lines, I marvel that the points are always set to allow the train to navigate confidently through them. I'm sure it's done by computer, though fifty years ago it would have been done manually.
In my country (Hungary) the most used station is still using wire pulled switches. You have to memorise it. For each platform. Of course there are complex locking mechanisms that prevents you from switching under a train but during shunting there is no such protection and it is entrusted to the "windowers". They look out the window and check if the shunting is off the switches and are safe to switch.
Before that was manual switching as you said (that's what I do at the storage area)
After that there is the electric but not computer (as in PC). It uses relays to switch switches and detect how it stands
And then there is the most modern, PC based switching using at least two CPUs to be sure it's safe
In NY subway there’s a punch box to delineate what track you want to go so the train can switch and the motorman push the button on what line he goes and the tower set it up
That’s a good idea for a future video!
@@RMTransit Probably a series of future videos, actually. Seems like that will probably dive down the rabbit hole into signalling, etc.
I was on a Toronto streetcar and the driver got out with a long steel pole and she turned the switch by inserting the pole into a hole in the asphalt.
Gadget-Bahn switches tier list would actually be surprisingly interesting
Netherlands and Japan switch video please. It sounds neat!
I really like these more general explainer videos for niche parts of the rail system so yes! more switch videos would be awesome.
Awesome to hear! Hopefully they are informative!
Schwebebahn switches are really amazing but scary big pieces of steel. No wonder the line doesn't have branches and the intermediate loops were removed.
Netherlands x Japan video would be very interesting :)
Yeah those switches are crazy!
The Dutch-Japanese switch video and switches part 2 sound really interesting
Finally! I have been fascinated with switches since I was a child staring out the front of NYC subway trains and when, for a time, I had model trains. And those slip switches: tons of them at Grand Central Terminal even with as many as 3 tracks coming together at one (or so it looks). Also the sounds the trains made when passing over them.
It seems that single switch crossovers are the norm for Metro North with the subways favoring the diamond type along with many other Metro systems in the U.S.
Diamonds are almost always preferred underground because they save space!
Great quick overview. As a railway (track) engineer I can say this is basically the best overview you can give of points/turnouts/slips without getting into the technicality of checkrail effectiveness, switch design (tangential or conventional with undercut), or switch backdrives and how to integrate points/turnouts/slips into a system. If you are going to do a part two, try swing nose diamonds. What would also be a good idea is to look at why diamonds are good, and how diamond crossovers Vs ladder crossovers can speed up time for multiple track switching and reduce point failures.
As an industry specialist, I would love to see how the Japanese and Dutch are trying to show that you done need them. In my network we had 50 slips, and now have about 5, with the last 5 slated to be replace by either scissor (double crossovers) or junction remodellings.
I'd like to know what switch design is good for lower speed (100 kph), low frequency (>1 hour) vs high frequency (< 1 hour), as well as passenger vs freight network. In America, where 85% of the regional and intercity passenger rail is on freight owned tracks, switches are maintained in a way that benefits the freight companies. This is seen as a limiting factor when it comes to increasing passenger train speeds.
You’re not wrong. I’ll probably do a video about low vs. High speed in the future.
We here, in Moscow, Russia, dream about movable frogs on our tram switches (as we also do about just more modern, speed switches, which now are of 1930s design). So thanx a lot, RM transit, for moving this theme at the front
I'd love to see a second switch video that focuses more on the operational and service aspects of switches rather than necessarily the physical infrastructure itself
One thing you didn't mention is the "fallback switch" (Rückfallweiche in German). What happens when the switch is set to the diverging route but a train comes from the straight route? It might break if the switchblades are locked. Or they just move a little to make space for the flanges and go back into their original position, then you have a fallback switch.
With fallback switches you can very easily make a crossing station on a single track line. All trains of one direction go into track 1, all of the other direction go into track 2. The fallback switch will let the train out of the station without even needing an electric motor moving the blades.
As another general topic: Have you done a comparison of unidirectional vs bidirectional tramcars? Unidirectional (one cab, doors on one side) requires reversing loops and all platforms must be on one side, but allow more seats, save the expense of two cabs and needing doors on both sides. Bidirectional can change direction everywhere, allow platforms on both sides and are more flexible in case of interrupted lines. There are some mixed forms, unidirectional trams have emergency control stands at the rear to back into depots and sometimes there's just one cab but doors on both sides.
I think I have heard of these! But I heard them under the name "spring switches". Indeed, they are ingenious.
Very nice. You took pictures from our central station (Frankfurt am Main, Hauptbahnhof).
A city of only 750,000 inhabitants btw 😏 but one of the largest and most beautyful train stations we have in Europe.
Indeed I did!
I googled the station of Frankfurt and it is nice, but certainly not the most beautiful station in Europe. I like the railway station of Amsterdam better. But also , Antwerp, Paris North, Basel and Stockholm better. Those are the ones I saw in real life, so there could be more stations that are more beautiful than Frankfurt.
I just love the view through the glass arch onto the Frankfiurt skyline when exiting the train.
Switches definitely bring out the Nerd 2.0 in us. Keep those videos coming. Cheers.
Haha Nerd 2.0 comes out indeed
Beyond just a general "switches part 2" video, it'd be awesome to talk about how different technologies (from rubber-tyred metros to gadgetbahns to things like roller coasters) use all sorts of mechanisms to make the switch happen.
Yes! I would like a video explaining how the switches on the Toronto streetcars work, how they turn or not. And also about all the other paraphernalia like wiring and those little signs?
NIMBY: a video would be necessary. Just as there is a gadgetbahn spectrum, there is also a nimby spectrum.
In fact I think there are a lot more quiet “PIMBYs” (please in my…) than loud nimbys out there.
Toronto streetcars work via single point switches!
@@RMTransit But the TTC has three kinds of switch actuators: manual (the driver's prybar), SR (spring return), and NA (necessity action) depending on the scheduled routing. There's also the fact that the wheel rides through the frog and non-switched rail on its flange instead of on its tire to prevent the clicketty-clack and wheel flats, unlike a train. Then there's how a trolley shoes get switched where the panto conversion hasn't happened yet. You could do an entire video on the details of TTC streetcar switches alone.
Definitely curious about monorail and maglev switches.
Yeah that will be fun
As a paid Professional that works in the Transit industry I really appreciate this video and all your content. WELL DONE!!!👍👍👍 Yes, please make a video about the different type of switches in the different railway systems. This is train operation 101. You can't always just be a rail enthusiast. This video shows people HOW trains actually travel on the rails.
I would actually love a second video explaining how they are controlled as well as showing how monorail switches and maglev switches work.
More switches, junctions, etc! But I guess one would have to go full Japan style, as there switches are more a mechanical art form, as they have all kinds of mechanical apparatuses to put trains wherever they want.
Will do! Indeed Japan impresses as with almost everything they do
If you do a part 2 , you should mention how 3 point switches ( where 2 diverging Tracks come out of 1 main track) work.
Yep, good idea
Interestingly, in Japan frequently used switches are often sitting inside sheltered structures. It's a common sight in Hokkaido and the rail lines along the Sea of Japan side of Japan.
Please mention the whacky switches too: certain systems need different switches like monorails, rack rails, the trolley poles I know or cable cars… then there is the question of how to make them safe like the unpowered switches you only traverse in one direction and other whacky things
Yep they are all interesting types of switches!
In the Netherlands, they traditionally used gas switch heaters, but they are rapidly phased out. Too often, in a winter storm when you need them the most, the flame blows out... Or the air intake jams with snow itself, or or or. The electric heaters are just more dependable. It also helps that The Netherlands doesn't see -40C.
My favorite kind of switches are definitely the swingnose crossing on the Expo/Millennium Lines, they make for a quieter ride overall without the typical bumps on the partially fixed switches, like those on the Toronto streetcar.
On the other hand, I think that why transit systems are reluctant to adopt the monorail and maglev is because of the highly complex switches that are much more difficult to design and more costly to maintain compared to regular switches.
Would love to see a video on how to read track maps. Understanding which routes trains can and can't switch great for thinking about new or temporary service patterns.
That’s a good idea!
What part of offsides are you struggling with? If a teammate, who is not controlling a puck is fully over the blue line before the puck is fully over the blue line, it is offsides. Of course this fully assumes you understand this is when heading into your opponent's zone/offensive zone.
Fine. Now please explain the offside rule in football (soccer.)
@@hayttom I'm unfamiliar with this thing you call football (soccer) 😉😂
Yes more on switching would be great.
Fun times trying to locate switches in snowy Toronto back on the day. Great channel!
ive been wondering about switches on the canada line lately! - perfect timing!
Japan has a really unique switch in their railways and it's called a "stealing device". It lets you glide over the tracks rather than the conventional switching of tracks and it's mainly used for maintainace vehicles. So if you are going to make a part 2 of switches please include this type switch as it is a unique one.
4:29 I believe the past tense of "yeet" is "yote" but I see your point
All the suggestions for future videos in this video are good suggestions because the most interesting content is often not, per se, the ones I expect to be most interesting but instead the ones that demonstrate where the limitations and problems are.
It seems like explaining monorail switches or why you don't need every platform to connect to every rail are good "ahhh, now I get it" moments for why things are designed the way they are and that's always very satisfying.
Yes we need a part 2 video for switches!!
Yes, a Part II, please!!
When TTC transitioned to the Bombardier Flexcity streetcars, they have been retrofitting their tracks and switches. The switches installed at Leslie Barns are from Europe; whereas, the track switch heaters are from the US.
As for the TTC Subway outdoor switches they use HABs or hot air blowers fed from 600 DC and cal rods for the traction power rail.
Monorail, etc. switch would be a cool video. Having seen them in action in Osaka I was quite impressed by the over complicated mechanic required to make this work. Nevertheless, nifty. Didn’t really get a video of them in action sadly.
Fortunately there are lots of videos! Indeed it’s super complicated!
I hope you never run out of transit content
I won’t :)
There are also spring loaded switches and weighted switches. Normally used in yards, a spring loaded switch will snap to one route or the other, but if a train comes from one of the directions while the switch is in the other position, it will just snap to the other direction as the train goes over it.
Weighted switches allow a train to travel across a wrongly set switch in reverse too, but will always default back to one direction.
thanks for the useful info
Excellent video. I really enjoyed this. Cheers.
Please make a video on suspension and bogie designs
There is something uncannily satisfying about seeing a decent network of slip switches like at Frankfurt Hbf, especially with trains running parallel
i love to see you making a video about the dutch rail network, a few years ago the removed a lot of switches at the biggest train station in the Netherlands in the city Utrecht.
Movable frogs, I remembered seeing that being explained to me about Shinkansen switches in a Japanese museum but I couldn't find any similar information online. It allowed the switch the handle higher speed switching which would benefit greatly on the Shinkansen.
Great video, make part 2,3,4 👌🏻
I'd love to see an explainer on the history of how points are/were controlled and how they interlock with other points and signals. Also, if I remember my childhood visits to Legoland Windsor correctly, i think some funicular railways have points that don't move at all, because the cable guides the train along the correct route?
Please make a video on high speed switches and the constraints and design challenges. Also how do they confirm that the switch has fallen in place? It could lead to disasters if there is a switch failure right, say because of ice like you said. What if the heater did not work for some reason or a piece of gravel prevents the switch from falling or there is a failure in the switch circuit?
Greeting from France. More videos about switches!
Wonderful video! I have been trying to build a dual gauge (Standard and 2 foot gauge) switch in my yard for my handcar and backyard railroad for over a year and when someone asks me how it works I say, ''It doesn't!'' and proceed to ramble on about how I derail one out of five times and how a cast frog would be much better than a bunch of rusty pipe welded together.
A couple of suggestions for any followup video: how are the switch motors are physically controlled from an interlocking tower or rail control center, thus getting in to interlockings and route protection. On a simpler note, bring up the concept of "reading the iron," or how crews learn to determine the direction intuitively and avoid mistakes on the road. Finally, the terminologies of facing point and trailing point, as well as spring switches (aka trail-through switches), splitting a switch and why that's a Very Bad Thing to do, manual switch stands and yellow-vs-green switch stand targets.
I enjoy seeing the gas light up interlockings on the Long Island RR at night after a fresh snowfall.
I literally googled "explain rail switches" yesterday and then got distracted by something. You're starting to read minds. Thanks :)
There are moveable frogs on Sydney Metro too (from memory near Charswood), they're really cool things.
You can also find movalbe frogs (in German we call them "heart pieces") in German LRV systems where trams with narrow wheel flanges and freight trains with wider railway-standard flanges have to negotiate the same switches.
And then there are frogs used in tram systems on infrequently used switches where the straight track is continuous and diverging trains actually climb up on their flanges.
Movable frogs, mostly called 'swing-nose' frogs here in the US, can be found here on freight lines. They usually only get used on higher speed (50mph(80km/h)+) crossovers between two main tracks.
German LRV systems need a video
@@RMTransit There's certainly a lot of interesting stuff there, especially considering they sit kinda in-between trams, metros and heavy mainline rail with each system finding their own set of balances and compromises
@@RMTransit ones you shouldn't miss: Karlsruhe, Cologne/Bonn and one of either Stuttgart or Rhine-Ruhr (Düsseldorf/Duisburg/Essen/Dortmund)
Karlsruhe for taking over a bunch of branch lines to create a network spanning half the state, Cologne for using railroad tracks the opposite way (make tracks compatible rather than vehicles), Stuttgart for going all-in on converting a tram network to mass transit and the Ruhr area for "let's build lots of tunnels so unemployed miners have something to do x
Yes, I'd like to hear more about the specialty switches: rack railways, cable-supported funiculars (including the clever dual-flanged no-switching solution), and so on.
Of course the Vancouver Expo & Millennium lines also have moveable frog switches on the mainlines. I’ve not heard the exact rationale but 90 km/h design speeds, steerable axle bogies, and very small wheels on the Mark 1 fleet were likely factors. You can feel the difference when trans need to divert through pocket tracks, such as between Broadway and Nanaimo at times, as you get the traditional clunk-clunk on the fixed frogs of the equilateral switches at each end of the pocket track.
I remember they had double crossovers south of the St. Clair and College subway stations in Toronto, which were removed. Then, many years later, they reinstalled them. That's always been a mystery to me.
I've got 99 rail tracks, but a swich ain't one.
That is indeed very inconvenient.
I want it all, and I want it now!
As to the slip switches, there are single and double slip switches. What you described are double slip switches. In the example shown, the single slip switch would allow all paths except one: depending on the orientation, either from the top right to the bottom right or from the top left to the bottom left (and of course vice-versa).
Yes, both monorail and maglev switches as well as any other switches as this is rarely discussed and shown to the public.
Yes, episode 2 sequel!
Yeah, monorail and maglev switches are interesting
Would definitely love to see a video about all the worldwide switches (or at least the top few and more unique ones).
I’ll definitely do one in the future!
I would love a video about signals just as much as I'd like a part II or even just a very long video explaining every type of switch and every type of signal!
This video was a real bait and switch!
Now I'm curious about rack railway switches
Future video!
It's good to see you getting sponsorships.
me, an aerospace engineering student watching a video by a civil engineering channel on a mechanical engineering concept: mhmm, you need to know switches, our professor said that it would up on our orbital mechanics exam. Perigee, eccentricity, lagrange points, movable and heated frogs, etc.
Would be interesting to see if this could into a bit of a series about signalling in general (or infrastructure other than the trains themselves), I'm currently doing an apprenticeship as a signaler and there's so much to talk about, from switches/points and signals to in-cab signalling and train protection systems (like PZB, AWS/TPWS and ETCS to name but a few), and such systems can really be a deciding factor about how good a railway is for the end user (I'd argue more so than the Rolling Stock, but oh boy will that statement ruffle some feathers!)
The second you showed the frankfurt main station tracks, i knew it was frankfurt, before even reading the source... i love it.
So Japan solved the ice issue on the northern Shinkansen lines by building roofs over the switches.
That's one way to do it
Yes please make a video on japanese and Netherlands switchless trains please
To add complexity are the dual gauge points and triple gauge points (South Australia had these)
It would be good to extend the video to talk about failure modes, like picking the switch (flange pries its way into switch sending part of the train the wrong way)
Can always make another video
6:35 yes do make a video about that
You should do a video about monorail switches. The nearest monorail to me is the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport, and it uses a type of switch in which the entire track rotates along the axis parallel to the direction of travel.
I just discovered your channel. You present interesting information. Do you know anything about the "Link Light Rail" system in the Seattle area? I live here and have watched it grow over the past 20 years. But I am wondering how our Link Light Rail system compares to other systems elsewhere?
Btw did you know? New Delhi Railway Station in India has the world’s largest route relay interlocking system? The network for those turnouts is just crazy!!
You could also do a part 3 that explains about track circuits, signals and signal boxes or signalling centres. To be honest that could be about 18 videos once you delve into historic ways of doing it vs current, vs how different countries do it. Then there's safety systems, which is a whole nother can of worms too, but all kinda inter-related.
Great to have some technical content! I know you are not a trolleybus fan, but an exposition of how trolleybus frogs (that's what they call the 'switches' in the overhead) would be great, including the various ways they are triggered.
Also, as someone says in another comment - sprung switches; I've seen them on 15inch gauge railways, where they enable locomotives to run round their trains at a terminus, without needing anyone to actually operate the switches.
Nope that’s a great topic, I’m not an unabashed fan but I do think they make sense in some select places - I also really do think the switches are fascinating!
@@RMTransit Many thanks - I'll look forward to that very much
Moveable point frogs are actually not found on all high speed switches, it really depends on the traffic they carry. For instance, the BNSF southern transcon uses swingnose switches because long and heavy freight trains traveling at 70 mph can easily damage conventional fixed-frog switches. On the other hand, my local commuter railroad uses switches of the same geometry but without swingnoses because the line handles much lighter trains.
I feel like you could make this a whole series, where each episode you talk in detail about one particular kind of switch or switch component. Tram switches, curved switches, wyes, dual gauge switches, monorail switches, rack railway switches, and more! One I'd really like to see you do is the lift frog (could also do one-way low-speed diamond at the same time).
Good video. For those of you who don't think switches are important, ask Bart lol. Bart lacks redundancy in it's core (a fatal flaw IMO) so if trains are disabled or can't move, it backs up the entire system. That's the thing I love most about nyc subway and dc metro. They have hell crossovers. Bart is getting better. They've added a few and more are on the way. But adding them to tunnel portions will be astronomically expensive (especially under market street since it shares the tunnel profile with muni above and would impact muni service) and cause many months or years (welcome to america 😂) so I don't see it happening soon.
Lighting in this video is pretty good
Nice! :-)
Fun fact: in German, the points are called the "tongue" and the frog is called the "heartpiece".
I was expecting comparisons to gadget bahn switches - that would be cool and a lot of work.
Part 2 please
A video explaining switches on overhead single and double power lines is needed.
How about a video on the CAF Urbos tram cracking disaster (as affecting Sydney inner-west light rail and potentially Canberra light rail)?
I'd love to see the japan Netherlands no more slip switch video.
The LIRR has also been installing moveable frogs lately
Please do a video about Lisbon transit really underrated, 2 metros, suburban trains, busses, trams, boats and so on, very underrated, and light rail
I will eventually!
@@RMTransit Thank you for responding, looking foward for it!!!
Thanks Reece! I believe the TGVs use moving frogs, but I've never seen one. I liked your moving graphic, but do you have any video?
Yes please I love switches
Not sure if you didn't notice or forgot to mention it, but the Skytrain uses moveable frog switches. You can see them at 5:27.