Can someone tell me why the outer rail on the diverging track has something weird about it not being straight?? Almost looks like a retarder to slow train cars?? I'm not even sure if the switch is going in or was taken out.
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That switch looks new, like it's going in. I don't know what that is where the guard rail should be, but there's something else odd. What's up with that frog?
Maybe it's part of the retarder for a hump yard.
That is a turnout with no gap in the frog in the diverging direction. Union Pacific has tried some of these. On high speed track they make less noise and take less maintenance. They are used where the diverging route is infrequently used. For the thru track there is no reason for a gard rail as there is no gap for the wheel to get lost in. On the diverging route the wheel is ramped up and the wheel just bounces over the straight track. This requires a guard rail that will keep the wheel set in line on the diverging route.
Well that is certainly interesting, and explains the odd angle of the guard rail.
Chris
Wow!! I wasn't thinking of that!
It's called a flange bearing frog.
I am not a mechanical engineer, but I have some reservations about whether these are as wonderful as the manufacturers would like us to believe. I would not be surprised to learn, in a few years, that flange bearing frogs are implicated in an increase in rail failures and/or wheel failures.
The big selling point is frog maintenance. Track welders are out every day building up metal on worn frogs and then grinding the welds down to the proper profile. Every day they are somewhere on a Subdivision.
This was also discussed last month:
Thanx for the image. That is a Wharton Safety switch, invented over a hundred years ago. I posted a long while ago looking for a photo.
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