What type of structures would typically be found on a raiload interchange?
Rich
Alton Junction
None. Unless you consider a switchstand a "structure".
An interchange is just a track.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dehusman None. Unless you consider a switchstand a "structure". An interchange is just a track.
Nothing, nada? Not even for a multiple track interchange? A shed, a shanty, something?
maybe a mail box or a phone box on a pole to leave the waybills in. of course you could always just tie them to the rear of the cars.
actually, we always delivered interchange traffic to the other road's yard and they came to ours.
Charlie
Back in the 'transition era' a small single track connection would have a post with a 'Waybill Box' on it. There would be switch locks from both railroads on it and this is how the waybills for the interchanged cars were handed off.
A larger interchange yard, may have a small phone booth with a company phone so the crew could find out what track to deliver on and what pick-up's they may have. The 'Waybill' box also would be there.
I remember the CB&Q had a small 3 track 'North Yard' just south of Division St tower in St Paul. The C&NW would deliver reefers of Hamms beer to the North yard, and leave to waybills at the tower. The tower operator would call the Dayton's Bluff Yardmaster a couple of miles south and he would send a 'special agent' to protect the car until a yard job could come up and pick-up the waybills/beer cars.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
This could vary from one area to another, but I don't recall paperwork (waybills, etc.) delivered or received at the interchange tracks. Just place the cars that went to the other road and/or pull what they had left for you. If the pickup was made at an interchange outside of a shifting district, the conductor would have to make a list of cars numbers for a wheel report. Of course, the crew would have to make the required brake test.
Have seen a local freight pick up cars off an outlying interchange and spot them at an industry. In these cases when the local left its initial terminal, the conductor had already gotten the waybills for the cars to be picked up along with his other paperwork.
If you wanted to pick a single commonality, I'd wager the only thing that is reliable (but not 100% of the time) is a shed for the signal electronics.
But like others have said, it's just a track, on its own. Depending on the context, you gain infrastructure.
For instance:
the Bellefonte Central and PRR had an interchange track that also had a runaround and a turntable (may have had water too, but I can't remember). Topography prevented a wye, but they wanted to not have to run backwards for several miles in winding mountain country.
the PRR-B&LE interchange in Butler PA was a simple single track that connected to the B&LE main and then had trackage rights a mile or so to Calvin Yard. However, that track had to cross the B&O main. The PRR/B&O diamond already had a tower controlling it and the B&LE/PRR track was added to that tower's responsibilities.
or...at the extreme other end, Potomac Yard was a massive junction between several railroads and had shop facilities and everything.
When I worked on the PRR the waybills would be placed in a box,then we would called the NYC and see if it was ok to make our runaround move on their runner track to get our cabin..This was done to ensure a NYC crew wasn't occupying the runner..We would return light to the yard.NYC would deliver our cars.
If I may.
Here's a interesting transfer operation that took place in Columbus at the PennNor yard.PennNor was a active interchange yard that was use by the PRR and N&W hence the name.
This yard used 2 crews-A PRR crew and a N&W crew and had a small yard office staffed by a N&W yard master.
The N&W crew would interchange coal trains bound for the docks at Sandusky and other customers located on the PRR..The PRR crew would return empty coal hopper and any cars bound for the N&W.
N&W used a Y6B while the PRR used a 0-8-0,2-10-0 or a H24-66.
All of this changed after N&W got the Sandusky line to Bellevue and the Sandusky docks.
The reason I mention this there is always a exception to the normal interchange traffic pattern.
This was probably the busiest interchange in Columbus and due to the activity I spent a lot of time there in the late 50s..There was three PRR service roads that was used by railfans..As long as you stayed out of the way PRR police looked the other way.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Back when waybills travelled with the car and were left with the local agent when the car was set out, many small town depots that weren't open 24 hours had a bill box (about the size of a small mailbox) somewhere on the building. Ones that I've seen were usually near the door that would lead to the office. After hours, the agent would leave waybills and lists in the box for cars to be picked up there, or at other stations the agent may handle. The conductor of trains setting out cars at stations the agent handled would do the same.
Even today at industries that require some switching, many have mailbox or small shanty where they may leave instructions and lists for what they need done. A few places we serve that have their own switch engines have either a radio (industrial band, not railroad band) or phone for contacting the person overseeing the plant's rail operation before entering their trackage.
Jeff
jeffhergertEven today at industries that require some switching, many have mailbox or small shanty where they may leave instructions and lists for what they need done.
Jeff,I recall a industry where we would contact security(the interplant phone was located in a box) to unlock the gate..The guard would unlock the gate and would hand us the switching instructions and we would hand him/her the waybills.
Good stuff, guys, thanks.
Couldn't bare to just have an interchange track out there, all alone.
That's what the vast majority of them were. Except for a bill box (which wasn't that common), all of the "structures" mentioned really don't have that much to do with interchange per se. They mostly have to do with a "junction" or a termination of a train. For example, a phone box to telephone the dispatcher to make a run around move, really has nothing to do with the interchange. Its there to facilitate a run around move. If the delivering road could deliver without running around the cut, they would never need to use the phone box.
Edit: Dave H. said it.
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
dehusmanFor example, a phone box to telephone the dispatcher to make a run around move, really has nothing to do with the interchange.
Dave,Allow me to clarify that.
Actually we contacted NYC's McKinley Ave tower operator to make that move since he controlled the McKinley Ave yard runner track as well as in outbound/inbound yard tracks.This operation lasted until Buckeye yard open.It was a odd set up that dated back to the T&OC.
The PennNor yard operated like a regular yard with N&W trains arriving from Portsmouth and PRR trains departing for Sandusky and arriving from Sandusky.PRR would doublehead the coal trains as far as Worthington and the helper would drift back to PennNor.
Doubleheading J s or L1s was a sight to behold but,these steamers was in their twilight years and would be gone by 57.
BRAKIE Actually we contacted NYC's McKinley Ave tower operator to make that move since he controlled the McKinley Ave yard runner track as well as in outbound/inbound yard tracks.This operation lasted until Buckeye yard open.It was a odd set up that dated back to the T&OC.
Dave,NYC's McKinley Ave yard was T&OCs..The yard is gone today..
The old T&OC Columbus station still stands on W.Broad St..
I took this photo in 63/64 of a NYC train running on the old T&OC Columbus to Hobson,Oh main line.This track is still in use.
You asked for it- structures found at a railroad interchange. This is as close as I can find. It is not actually at an interchange between railroads, but at a junction of two "districts" of one railroad, the Santa Fe Matagorda District (Sealy to Matagorda, Texas) and the Hall District which served the Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. The "structure" is a box for waybills shown here in 1981.
Here is a general shot of the junction.
The box is on the left side of the picture beyond the switch stand. I think there may also have been a "blind siding sign," a sign on a post to identify the "station" (ie. named location on the rr) where there is no station building.
Thanks, I am good to go.
I'm not putting anything out there.