Railway turnout upgrade in the past

Why use Railway Turnouts

Since there is a turn on the railway route, there will be a convergence. Engineers invented turnout in order to solve the problem of the convergence and separation of rails in different directions in the same plane. A railway turnout is a special part of a section between two rails that can be moved. It is responsible for transitioning the two track curves together or separating the same track when needed.

Combining of different railway Turnouts

With the increasingly complex relationship between train tracks and the cost of land acquisition on both sides of the original track, railway land builders urgently need a switch with smaller footprint and more ability to change lanes. So the idea of combining the turnouts has entered the vision of the engineer. The three-way turnout has three pairs of forks, so one line can be divided into three or three tracks can be combined into one. The three-way turnout is identical in effect to the two ordinary single-pass turnout. However, the three-way turnout can realize the rapid change of the train in a small area, so it can be stacked and used intensively to meet the management needs of the transportation hub or the railway station. Therefore, there are no four-way roads and five roads.

Disadvantages of Old Turnout

As trains get faster and faster, traditional turnouts are more susceptible to damage. Railway Expert have found that the main cause of ballast damage is that there is a gap between the narrowest point of the two wing rails and the tip of the split heart when the wheel passes through the fork. The gap caused by the transition of the line is also called a harmful space. In order to alleviate this phenomenon, railway engineers have made a lot of improvements to the switch in many aspects.