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Turntable vs. wye consideration often turned (sorry about the pun) on how much real estate was available, and at what cost to the railroad, when construction was done. With a wye, the limit on what amount of equipment can be turned at one time depends on the shortest of the 3 "tail" tracks of the wye. The shortest can be just one loco length, but the sky can be the limit (e.g., at a junction). The passing-track-and-turntable means of turning locos at the end of a line seems to have been pretty common in the good old days. A turntable doesn't necesarily mean a roundhouse is going to be nearby. On Milwaukee Road's Fond du Lac branch, there were turntables at each end. There was a roundhouse at the distant (Fond du Lac) end, but just an Armstrong turntable and passing track at the Iron Ridge end (which connected with the main line). The turntables at both ends were removed during or before the diesel era. After the turntable was removed at Fond du Lac, the roundhouse remained in service. Engines reached it via turnouts where the turntable used to be located. --John
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