RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 14, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) A 'full' grand union! http://dan-d-sparks.blogspot.co.uk/2013_10_01_archive.html Click on the photo! Edited February 14, 2015 by Re6/6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBird Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 ... Tram track.jpg ... Can anybody explain what is going on with this one? (3rd photo in 1st post) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
talisman56 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Can anybody explain what is going on with this one? (3rd photo in 1st post) Looks like it's a new formation laid out before installation so the PW crew can see what they are dealing with. The white 'paint' looks like a protective coating to avoid damage before installation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 No. It's simply Edgar Allen painting the manganese steel components white in order to highlight them. The photograph comes from a book they produced, after the War, I think, extolling the virtues of, amongst other things, their manganese steel rail and tramway components. This variety of steel is particularly hard wearing and was once in considerable use on tramways and, to a lesser extent, railways. These days, its use is quite rare; in the UK, it is no longer used on railways other than, in a different form, cast crossings, and on tramways, the only example is a curve I had installed in Croydon after the original rail wore out in five years. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBird Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 ... The photograph comes from a book they produced, after the War, I think, extolling the virtues of, amongst other things, their manganese steel rail and tramway components. .. Jim So, is it simply an advertising feature, or was it intended for use in a real situation? My question should have been "This is obviously not yet installed. What situation could it have been intended for? The swapping sides of the "up" and "down" routes looks really odd." Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 The book makes no mention as to who the customer was, but I would have a strong suspicion that it would have for a depot entrance. The tight constraints of some tram depots were good at spawning odd layouts. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.hill64 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 No. It's simply Edgar Allen painting the manganese steel components white in order to highlight them. The photograph comes from a book they produced, after the War, I think, extolling the virtues of, amongst other things, their manganese steel rail and tramway components. This variety of steel is particularly hard wearing and was once in considerable use on tramways and, to a lesser extent, railways. These days, its use is quite rare; in the UK, it is no longer used on railways other than, in a different form, cast crossings, and on tramways, the only example is a curve I had installed in Croydon after the original rail wore out in five years. Jim Also used to make bars in prison windows I think: the more you try to cut or deform the material, the harder it gets (until it falls apart.............) Most materials exhibit work hardening, but in austenitic manganese steel the effect is pronounced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Also used to make bars in prison windows I think: the more you try to cut or deform the material, the harder it gets (until it falls apart.............) There speaks the voice of experience.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Also used to make bars in prison windows I think: the more you try to cut or deform the material, the harder it gets (until it falls apart.............) Most materials exhibit work hardening, but in austenitic manganese steel the effect is pronounced. Another common use is for the wearing surfaces in rock crushers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railsquid Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) 3/4 Grand Union in Berlin Tram roundabout in Berlin (Both links to Google satellite views, you may need to remove the option which overlays roads to see the tram lines clearly). Edited February 17, 2015 by railsquid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.hill64 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 There speaks the voice of experience.... Dammit! My secret's out 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 17, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/%C3%96VB-Arena/@53.0868623,8.8181994,131m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x47b12872a405baef:0xa9c4a6b1b3798af An unusual tram siding with a set of stops (at the top of the picture) in a piece of park land behind the Stadthalle Bremen. Also a return loop. Not sure if this still survives as when 'The Baron' and I were there about 15 years ago they were digging up some of it. It would make a rather nice model of 'trams in the park'! Edited February 17, 2015 by Re6/6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 The lines leading up to the buffers in this shot always give me a chuckle.. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/meols_cop_triangle/roe_lane(f_collinge4.1966)junction1.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
talisman56 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 The lines leading up to the buffers in this shot always give me a chuckle.. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/meols_cop_triangle/roe_lane(f_collinge4.1966)junction1.jpg Looks like an improvised set of trap points to me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 There's nothing improvised about it. It's quite an elegant solution to getting two converging sets of trap points into a disappearing space using a common set of stops. Looked closely, the two sets of rails converge but do not actually join before reaching the buffer stop. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Gauntlet track are not necessarily Bi-Directional - there’s one near me at Roselle Park station in suburban New Jersey where freight trains have to move away from the (high) platform to avoid damage to it (and the roof). I’ve already posted photos of it on RMWeb - interesting because at each end it has “points” but no crossings... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Harrap Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 How about one of these. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 18, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) Taken during the filming of that wonderful work 'The Train' starring Burt Lancaster and Paul Schofield. Can't work out just what's going on here! Maybe for a hand pushed trolley. Edited February 18, 2015 by Re6/6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 How about one of these. Is that the platform of a weighbridge? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp1 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 How about one of these. What the h£ll is that?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Harrap Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Is that the platform of a weighbridge? What the h£ll is that?? 's right. Thats the end of a weighbridge platform and the treddle is for an automatic zero reset as a wagon goes onto the bridge. No bypass for locomotives etc on this one which is a bit unusual. Perhaps the small industrial shunter actually weighs less than the wagons using it. B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Tramways have always been good places to find exotic trackwork - some more examples to whet the appetite:- One of several in a tram depot in Den Haag Nottingham (PHASE 1) Vienna A closer view of the same junction in Vienna Regards, Jim 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Can anybody explain what is going on with this one? (3rd photo in 1st post) Looking carefully at the layout, I suspect that the two routes leading off from the apparent left-right through route actually lead to some form of double-track terminal loop, probably the terminus of at least two busy routes which would work in opposite directions round the loop. If you imagine the tracks linked by a loop you will see that whichever way you go you always come back on to the opposite track on the left-right through route. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 The third (and fourth) pictures are of a junction at Schwarzenbergplatz (Mitte), between one of the radial tram routes and the Ring tram route in Vienna. It is a tramway variation on a tandem turnout where the first set of switches pre-sort between the left turning route and the two right turning routes, whose switches lie in the right hand pair of interlaced rails. Pre-sorting turnouts are quite common where there is a junction on the departure side of a tram stop, so that whilst the first tram is standing waiting to enter the road junction, a following tram can set a different route as it approaches behind the first. It saves time, as the second tram does not then have to wait for the switches to change before departing. Regards, Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 22, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 Tramways have always been good places to find exotic trackwork - some more examples to whet the appetite:- IMG_2195.JPG One of several in a tram depot in Den Haag IMG_0093r.JPG Nottingham (PHASE 1) IMG_2289r.JPG Vienna IMG_2290r.JPG A closer view of the same junction in Vienna Regards, Jim Interesting Jim to see that in the third picture there isn't a crossing nose as we would know, but the flange bottom just runs over the 'opposing' rail. Never seen that sort of thing before! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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