"switches" vs "turnouts"

[Anonymous]

Hey, it's MEEE, "the rookie", again. I was pondering the EXACT difference between a "switch" and a "turnout". Atlas packages both. It SEEMS the turnout has a wider turn radius. Can someone out there "clue me in" to:
A.) the REAL difference
AND
B.) the "appropriate" use of each on my layout.
Thanks, Unta

unta

[dehusman]

This debate results in lots of passionate discussion of what's prototype or not and engineering terms, yadda, yadda.

From the standpoint of what you want to know as er, the answer is nothing the terms are for the same thing.

From a prototype standpoint, what Atlas or Walthers, etc sells is a switch. Technically the switch is just the moving parts, the points, the turnout is the curved route through and past the switch.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

Dear untabubba,
This is really one of those things that only rivet counters care about very much, so don't frett over it too much. But to answer your questions:

1.) Being as I have gone on the "railfan-leads-to-model-railroader" path (as opposed to modelers who become railfans), I originally learned that that magical device which makes one track into two was called a "switch." And, when I am with fellow railfans/railroaders, I almost always say switch. Also, being as I model in three-rail-O, the use of the term "switch" is fairly accepted.

2.) However, if I wanted to be completely correct in my railroad vocabulary, I would need to use the term "turnout." Officially and technically speaking, a switch is a device for the control of electricity, which can, however, be used to control a turnout. This comes into play more on model railroads than the 1:1 type because of the large amount of electrical wiring and such that goes into each model turnout.

3.) As for the proper use of each on your layout, the switches are the devices you use to control the movement of your turnouts, often from a central control panel. The turnout is the thing that your trains run (or derail) over [:)]. Of course, if the people who see your layout are not modelers/railfans, then you can probably get away with the John Bull pulling road-railers too [:)].

Essentially, it's a lot like "steam train, steam engine, and steam locomotive."

I hope I have helped,
Daniel

[Anonymous]

This is becoming awfully complex. Here's the summary:

"Turnout" is a word developed by model railroaders to mean a "track switch." That thing that allows trains to change tracks.

They did this because model railroading uses a lot of electrical components, one of which is also called a "switch," and they wanted to avoid confusing the two, especially in writing.

In real life, most people say 'switch' and figure you'll understand from the context what they meant. And in real life, railroaders call the thing made of rails a "switch," too.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input.....rivet counters...I LIKE THAT!
I guess I'm just the kind of guy that gets "bugged" over the little things....WHY DOES ATLAS BOTHER TO MARKET TWO DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS IF IT'S NO BIG DEAL?!?
See, when I tried my 1st "expanded" layout, I bought 2 Atlas SWITCHES. Then I bought 2 new Atlas TURNOUTS off of ebay.....After I was having difficulty
"making ends meet" (PUN?) I realized that the "turnout" is over an inch LONGER with a much "shallower" curve than the "switch"...which is the "standard" 5", like the other Atlas "Snap Track" pieces. Go to your local hobby shop and check this out...there they will be, right next to each other, Atlas SWITCH and Atlas TURNOUT....SOMEBODY 'SPLAIN THIS TO MEEE!!
Unta

[Anonymous]

Unta:

What Atlas calls a switch is sized to fit track plans made with sectional track. The divergent curve will fit in place of a piece curved track. Atlas turnouts are meant for use with flex track and are not interchangeable with sectional track.

Ken

[Jetrock]

QUOTE: Originally posted by untabubba

Thanks for the input.....rivet counters...I LIKE THAT!
I guess I'm just the kind of guy that gets "bugged" over the little things....WHY DOES ATLAS BOTHER TO MARKET TWO DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS IF IT'S NO BIG DEAL?!?

There is more than one size and style of turnout. Or switch, whatever.

You may have noticed that there is more than one radius of curved track--some are sharper, some are broader. Turnouts (or switches, whatever) come in different dimensions. Typically, a turnout is known by its "number"--the ratio of distance traveled forward to distance traveled to one side.

The sharpest commonly encountered turnout is the #4, which moves your train over 1" to the left or right (depending on whether the switch is a left-hand or right-hand switch) for each 4" of forward movement. It is considered too sharp by most Serious Model Railroaders. The #6 is also common--it has a 1:6 ratio. Higher numbers are common. This number is sometimes called the "frog number"--the "frog" being the little bit of the switch where the two rails actually cross.

To make things more confusing, some manufacturers (notably Peco) DO label their turnouts in "radius" rather than frog numbers.

And of course there are different and special types of turnouts--wye turnouts (they're Y-shaped), three-way turnouts, crossovers, slip switches, etcetera.

But yeah, bottom line is that they're two terms for the same thing.

[wp8thsub]

Note that prototype engineering diagrams refer to turnouts just as model railroad manufacturers do. The term is not, as many beleive, a model railroad contrivance to avoid confusion with electrical switches.

I have trackwork engineering diagrams from both the UP and SP that describe the proper standards for such things as a "#22 [or whatever] turnout." The same nomenclature is used by prototype industry publications like "Rail Track & Structures." Prototype train crews usually seem to refer to a "switch," while their counterparts in engineering (like my father-in-law, a retired UP structural engineer who worked on trackwork and bridges) refer to a "turnout." The typical argument over whether the switch is the movable part of a larger assembly called a turnout consumes a lot of verbiage on the internet but doesn't seem to concern the real railroaders much.

[BR60103]

As far as I'm concerned, "turnout" is a civil enginerring term, and as soom as the turnout is laid on the railroad it becomes a "switch". (After all, they're Switch engines, not Turnot engines.)
Of course, modelling British, I have to call them "points". (Isn't that what Peco has on their boxes?)