Technology For Turning A Train!

Inspired By The Corris Railway!

Apart from a very few modern examples, it is no longer necessary to think about turning trains round. They come as a close coupled unit usually with power spread throughout the carriages. So gone are the days when a mildly interested passenger asked "what is on the front"?

What's on the front could also be diesel or electric.

Of course, there is no need to turn these modern things, you just run then via a "passing loop" ...

... to the other end of the train.

But a large steam loco really does need to be turned through 180 degrees on a turntable. That is a headache for those organising steam rail tours and they need to find somewhere near the ultimate destination with a turntable - and these are rare beasts these days.

The one at Yeovil Junction heritage centre has a good number of visitors ...

... and a fair few observers to watch the spectacle of umpteen tons of steel in gyratory mode!

But for smaller passenger trains you often didn't bother.

The fireman stayed in the cab a-shovelling, whilst the driver had a far more comfortable ride in the front of the autocoach. He has a chain to the whistle, a linkage to the regulator and his own handbrake and vacuum brake.

The modern version is a Driving Van Trailer at one end and the "proper" loco at the other.

Another ruse for small engines was to instal a simple pivoted piece of track that could move between two sets of rails but not actually turn the loco round (a sector plate). It replaced a set of points and saved space

Way back when, the Isle of Wight had a similar device at Ventnor ...

... or a mini turntable at Bembridge.

Only rarely were locos turned right round at Bembridge - the mini turntable was simply a space saver!

It is the idea of a space saver that takes us back to the Corris Railway. To give maximum room in the car park at the eponymous northern terminus, "the lads" have built a traverser; a trolley which is pushed sideways by the driver and fireman.

And so off to the other end of the train!

Clever eh?

This diddy video has glimpses of the traverser and a more conventional loop at the current southern terminus.

But there was one more method of turing a large steam loco. You could sent it round a triangle of tracks. Sometimes these were available at "three way" junctions, but fbb thinks this one was unique.

Woodford Halse (Northamptonshire) was a busy junction on the Great Central Railway and had an equally busy engine shed. Locos were changed on inter regional trains and, although there wasn't much passenger traffic at the station, the shed was busy.

Bit it did not have a turntable - shock horror! 

Because there was plenty of space in this rural backwater, it was cheaper to build its very own engine shed triangle.

That's where the turning took place.

fbb thinks (unwisely as someone out there may know better) that this was unique in the UK; the only engie shed to have exclusive use of its own turning triangle.

Unless anyone does know better?

Tomorrow we go to a town not too far from Woodford Halse.

Personal:

Tomorrow is another visit to the eye clinic at Exeter Hospital. It is just for further investigation but it involves eye drops, an injection of fluorescent dye and more eyeball pictures. Hopefully Thursday's blog will be finished tomorrow morning BUT ...

 Next Daventry blog : Wednesday  25th October