I am sitting here listening to the scanners on http://www.railroadradio.net/ I am currently listening to a lot of switching action at http://www.railroadradio.net/content/view/17/145/ Los Angeles Basin & Inland Empire, CA...BNSF/UP/Metrolink Question I have...how are tracks designated? I hear "Main1"..."Main2"...Main3" etc. Which track would be designated "Main1" ??? Left? Right? North? South? East? West? If you where coming from opposite directions...which is which? If you where headed West and the right track was Main1 ok. BUT if you where coming East are you really on Main 2 or what? I get sooooooo confused !!! How do you keep it all sorted in your heads? :tb-wacky: Enquiring minds want to know...TIA :tb-cool: .
From my experience, Main1 is the outside-most track from the yard. Not knowing that yard specifically, I cannot say for sure, and any yard with the main smack in the middle trumps that rule too.
On BNSF looking timetable west main tracks are numbered north to south, so main 1 is the track furthest north then main 2, 3 etc to the south. UP main track numbering is the opposite.
I'm a civil engineer. Lottsa good that did me by education. My first real job after school was design of rocket engine support equipment. Then I designed wastewater treatment machinery. The latter was a great gig with an employee-owned company prior to the current discomfort. So I look at my N-scale world, and the thing on the wall says "Civil Engineering". That's what it says. Ric
As a former conductor for the MN Comm RR., what a track is designated depends on the yard your in. Plus many RR's have their own "nicknames" for certain tracks also.
Checking and rechecking my granddads rule book for the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. On most railroads: Yard tracks, Track #1, is the farthest track out from the mainline to the North or East. The mainline is set up in the same fashion. Main #1, Main #2 and Main #3 would start with the first track, furthest North or East. As a added bonus: I'm sure you've heard, Switch #1 no, Switch #2 no, so far you are designated to run through the straight section of the switches. Switch #3 yes, means you are going into the diverging side of the switch (whether that be left or right). Have you heard a reference to the "Herders"? If not give yourself time. I'll explain that later. Does that help? Oh, and real engineers or railroad employees are called "Rails". You may have yourself in a real, down home hoot, of a bunch of trouble with the home grown engineer crowd, that hangs out here on TB.
This sounds a reference to "track and time" authority. "Switch no" and "switch yes" designate whether or not you have authority within a control point. Further designated by which track(s) the authority applies to; "Main Track, switch yes" or "Main Track 2, switch no," "Siding, switch no," etc... Basically, "no" means no and "yes" means yes, has nothing to do with the position of the switch. As far as main line track numbering, "railroad" West/South will have the number 1 track on the right hand side, East/North will have it on the left hand side(Cajon Pass is an exception). For yard tracks, every yard I've been in has been numbered low to high from the main line out.
