Writer WIth Question About Soviet Trains

[WriterWithQuestion]

Hello Train Enthusiasts!

I'm an ignorant writer with a question regarding Soviet trains in the 1940's. My question is regarding track switches: Would a Soviet train station in the 1940's have an automatic mechanism for switching tracks, or would there be some sort of manual system that an agent would have to perform any time a train arrived? 

I apologize in advance for my complete naivete  -- I know little to nothing about trains, and so any and all knowledge anyone is willing to share would be much appreciated. 

Thank you!

[KCSfan]

First let's take the simplest case of a small town station located on a two track mainline. The station has only one platform adjacent to the station building and along side of one of the main tracks. A train arriving on the farside track would have to pass through two switches to get onto the other track so passengers could detrain onto and board from the the station platform. Those switches might be aligned by the station agent prior to a trains arrival or might even be aligned by a member of the train crew.

A large city station might have 10 (or more) station tracks with five platforms each located between a pair of tracks. Arriving trains might have to pass through five or more switches to reach their assigned station track No. 1-10. In the 40's more than likely these switches would be aligned by a towerman in an interlocking tower who would manually operate the levers that controlled the position of each switch. The levers were physically connected to individual switches by an arrangement of cranks and rods that ran from the tower to the switch itself. In later times the switches were more likely aligned by either pneumatic or electric switch machines controlled by the towerman. It's possible that either of these methods could have been employed in the 1940's in place of the manual lever mode. Of course it's also possible the switches could have been aligned by a switchman on the ground who manually threw each one.

I hope this helps answer your question and if you would like any further clarification don't hesitate to ask.

Mark 

[Anonymous]

Railroads in the former Soviet union run on a different (broader) gauge than standard gauge in the rest of the world. In the 1940´s, much of the network had been destroyed through military action, or was changed to standard gauge by the Wehrmacht to allow for trains running straight from the "Reich" to the various theaters of war. On their retreat , the Wehrmacht completely destroyed the rail infrastructure in the western part of the Soviet union. It took more than a decade to rebuild the lines, so I doubt that there were any automatic systems to control the switches. East of the Ural Mountains, weather conditions in Winter did not allow for any system whatsoever, so all the switches were completely manually operated.