Stupid Question Maybe?

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Marianne

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I'm trying to picture how a long distance train "turns around" at Chicago Union Station. For instance the Empire Builder returns headed south/east. In order to be headed north/west the next day what has to happen? Do the cars stay in the same order and just the engines somehow change places to get to the front of the train, or does the whole train turn around somehow.
 
The train turns around on what is called a "wye." Sometimes this happens before it arrives in the station, and sometimes it happens later. Here is an example of how it works: Before it arrives in the station, it goes around a curve to the left (or right). Once it has cleared the curve, it stops, a switch is turned, and the train then backs up into the station. This is pretty much what you might do in your car when driving down a narrow road and needed to turn around. You would pull into a driveway, then back up and go the other way. This all being said, many stations do not have a "wye" track (it takes up a lot of space). Therefore, this is why you sometimes see trains with locomotives on each end, or with a cab-car on one end and the locomotive running in reverse. It's because the station at the other end of the line does not have a wye.
 
The operations at CUS use the St Charles Air Line to turn a majority of the trains.
 
I kinda wondered the same thing....how a train changes direction. Now that I know what it's called, I found a diagram of what you're talking about (but didn't know how to make it show up in this reply.) It's so simple once you know how it's done! Thanks for the explanation. (And thanks Marianne for the question.)
 
In the UK we call this a 3 point turn when in a car. When I worked on the trains many moons ago, we just left the equipment as it was and moved the engine from the front to the back of the train, so half the seats face backwards, this is still the norm in Europe. We used to call the procedure of moving the engine from one end to the other "running round", which is perhaps rather more info than you needed!

Ed :cool:
 
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Apart from the wye, there is another way to turn around a train, and that is a "loop". It is a special track that makes a 180 degree loop so the train entering it from one side comes out on the other side reversed. At Sunnyside yard in New York trains are reversed using a loop as seen in this image.
 
caravanman said:
In the UK we call this a 3 point turn when in a car. When I worked on the trains many moons ago, we just left the equipment as it was and moved the engine from the front to the back of the train, so half the seats face backwards, this is still the norm in Europe. We used to call the procedure of moving the engine from one end to the other "running round", which is perhaps rather more info than you needed!
Click to expand...
This is the practice in India too. It would be quite a task to find wye tracks that can accommodate 24 car long trains to reverse them, so instead the train's consist is left as it is and the locomotive (which can be driven from both ends) simply goes to the next track, "reverses" along the length of the train ant attaches at the other end and gets going. This happens at some intermediate stations too, so sometimes you start the journey in first car from the engine and when you get off you are suddenly in the last car, far away from the engine! All classes of coaches are designed in such a way that half the seats always face front and half of them face backwards any which direction the train moves.
 
When we arrived at Chicago on the Cardinal a couple of years ago, we made a turn to the left just before the station and then backed in.
 
We love STUPID questions - that's the type we (I) can answer :giggle:
 
And we give stupid answers too!
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Actually the only stupid question is the one not asked if you don't know the answer because it is too stupid!
 
the_traveler said:
And we give stupid answers too!
laugh.gif


Actually the only stupid question is the one not asked if you don't know the answer because it is too stupid!
Click to expand...
I've pretty sure that I've said some stupid questions and answers, some of which made others really mad! :wacko:

One example: "Cancel Auto Train to free up cars for other trains." :lol:
 
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