Down in Pittsburgh's old Glenwood Yard, there was a turntable and roundhouse. Both are still there, but the roundhouse is full of robotic trucks built by Carnegie-Mellon. You'd never know it from the shape of the buildings and the junk everywhere. They use all the old streets and paths through the shops as the courses to teach" the robots. Hiding things in plain sight I suppose.
fwright IIRC, the San Francisco cable car line uses a similar track arrangement at Market Square. A turntable turns the cable car for the return trip, and exits on the other turntable entrance track to retain RH running on the return trip. The turntable is a turning device, and a turnout and tail track linking the double track. Fred W
IIRC, the San Francisco cable car line uses a similar track arrangement at Market Square. A turntable turns the cable car for the return trip, and exits on the other turntable entrance track to retain RH running on the return trip. The turntable is a turning device, and a turnout and tail track linking the double track.
Fred W
That's the first thing that came to my mind. I rode that cable car a few years back. As I recall, the cable car crew had to push the turntable around by hand. Trolleys powered by overhead wires also need to be turned, since most only have one pole which must face to the rear and can't be rotated. Doodlebugs also have a front end and need to be turned.
Steam locomotives on steep grades often have a preferred direction of travel, because the water in the boiler needs to cover the heating elements, and it will all rush to the back or front of the boiler on a steep grade.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.