I listen to the trains on my scanner, when they say this "The east Switch at German (a road near my house) is lined for siding" or "the west switch...)
the track goes east west, so from me hearing that, what can I kno by what way the trains are coming and going to?
2007-12-21 17:30:15 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Rail
Sounds like a terrorist plot to me.
2007-12-21 17:45:07 · answer #1 · answered by no name 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋
North and south don't always mean east or west. Our railroad uses north and south for direction. Our interchange, CJ, is the southernmost point on the line, so whenever you're moving away from CJ, you're northbound.
As for the switches near your house, walk by there sometime and check out where the switches actually are. It sounds like a passing siding, where one train will "take the hole" and let a higher priority train pass it on the main. Sometimes it's still hard to deduce which train is traveling in which direction, but if you hear the dispatcher tell a crew that the west switch is lined for the siding, it probably means there's an eastbound train taking the hole. And if an eastbound train is taking the hole, it probably means there's a westbound coming at 'em!
2007-12-22 03:52:57 · answer #2 · answered by highball116 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hoghead is right. I might add to that, that there is no north or south in railroading - as far as I know. South is east, and north is west. As for your question, I guess you can't know what direction the trains are going. If the train was wanting to leave the siding at German, and the crew opened the west switch, then the train would go west. However, if the train was approaching German and opened the west switch to "get in the clear", then it would be going east.
2007-12-21 22:40:52 · answer #3 · answered by Derail 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yeah it sounds like a siding, a passing track with a switch at both ends to let a train from the siding to the main track. "the east switch" is at the east end of the siding.
I don't think one radio call will tell you which way the train is going. He might have thrown it to let a westbound into the siding, or to let an eastbound out of the siding. So you'd have to hear other radio calls to get the whole picture.
2007-12-24 14:22:42 · answer #4 · answered by Wolf Harper 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Excellent question.
Direction, on the railroad, has nothing to do with compass direction. Here's why.
By way of example, when the Central Pacific built eastward from Sacramento, trains moving away from Sacramento were called "eastward trains," which made sense, since they were going eastward. But, then there was expansion and acquisition, including lines that ran compass north and south and west from Sacramento. But, it was the same. If moving away from Sacramento, you were an "eastbound" train, regardless of the compass direction the line ran.
But, it got confusing.
When the CP became the SP and was headquartered in San Francisco, if moving toward SF, you were a westbound train. If moving away from SF, you were an eastbound train.
Now, consider this:
On a run from Roseville to Fresno, the line splits at a place called Elvas. Either way you go, you are westbound. But then, further south, the line splits again, with one leg going to SF, the other going south to Fresno. This place was called Lathrop.
Once you went around the leg of the wye going south to Fresno, you were at that point moving away from SF, and became an eastbound train. So, you were a westbound train leaving Roseville and Elvas, then an eastbound train leaving Lathrop, and you're heading south toward Los Angeles all the time.
So, when some refers to either "east" or "west" switch (or north and south), it is that railroad's designated "east or west," and has no connection to compass direction.
So, whatever railroad you are listening to on your scanner, find out which way east is, and you'll know what is going on.
2007-12-21 21:25:28 · answer #5 · answered by Samurai Hoghead 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
In Australia NSW the direction of a train is either Up travelling towards Sydney or Down travelling away from Sydney.
In some places the train is directed to another line and thus the Up train is then travelling Down. In such cases the portion of track where the change takes place is known as the Up-Down ( EG Illawarra )
Or the Down-Up ( EG Illawarra )
2007-12-21 23:36:23 · answer #6 · answered by agedownunder 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like the eastern switch at German is positioned to send the train into a siding rather than continuing on the main line
2007-12-21 18:53:19 · answer #7 · answered by Darkrider 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The train is going into the siding so another train can pass. Just stay off the damn tracks we don't want to kill anyone.
2007-12-22 00:35:17 · answer #8 · answered by gamebolt 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
why do you even care?
2007-12-21 17:46:02 · answer #9 · answered by tcederquist 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋