Another justification for a return loop. I found this on Google maps. The loop appears to be disconnected at one end and the only remnant of the wye is the path cleared through the trees.
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Tom
Doesn't look like wye -the angles are all wrong and would not allow proper turning of a train. Lots more like maintenance access to the far side of the loop.
No reason to have a wye in a loop to begin with.
I see the wye, the angles are fine.
Probably for turning locos, then the loop added for longer consists or reduced maintenance and the wye abandoned.
Dan M.
Is the main line single or double track? If single,then the track running round the loop looks like narrow gauge of arund 2 feet. The Y in the middle looks to me like a forest trail.
Eccentric-Crank Wrote:I see the wye, the angles are fine.
Probably for turning locos, then the loop added for longer consists or reduced maintenance and the wye abandoned.
Dan M.
There is no wye. The crossing trail is just that, a vehicle path, and there are no turnouts or track in that image to make a wye out of anything, just a loop that is clearly delineated. Expand the image and you'll see it more clearly.
It could be made into a wye fairly easily by adding a track off the right side of the loop back to the main, but since that wasn't done, it isn't there, and it wouldn't be "inside the loop" either.
However, having a loop negates the need for a wye in the same location, so why do it in the first place? Railroads aren't keen on needless track to be constructed and maintained.
Where is this located, what is the nearest town?
Regards
Charlie
East of Kalispell, MT, along hwy 2 through Glacier National Park. If you zoom out you can see where it is.
Tom
I zoomed out but still couldn't be sure. I was right, you just verified it.
Regards
Charlie
MountainMan Wrote:There is no wye. The crossing trail is just that, a vehicle path, and there are no turnouts or track in that image to make a wye out of anything, just a loop that is clearly delineated. Expand the image and you'll see it more clearly.
I have to agree. Expanding the image clearly shows only a loop, with no other tracks, or turnouts.
Could there have been a wye there at one time? Maybe, but then again, would a railroad go through the expense of removing the now unused track? The photo clearly shows no "unused track".
Could a wye have been replaced with a loop? That is a possibility, in that a loop turns a train more efficiently than a wye, and there is, what appears to have been, where a wye
might have existed. Clearly though, only a loop exists there now.
Geographically this is in Glacier National Park, in Northwest Montana. near the town of Summit, about thirty miles East of Kalispell
The 1913 topo map of the area shows a wye with a leg going back about 1000 meters, perhaps to a mine of some type.[
attachment=24341]
The topo map from 1968 shows a loop.[
attachment=24340]
There appears to be a yard of some kind there so my guess would be it is near a summit of a grade so maybe they were also used to turn helpers.
I can see the remains of the wye right of way and wyes on old topo maps show frequently as well as long ago abandoned sidings. The USGS store and the Terrago Toolbar work wonders. The Toolbar will give you distances and co-ordinates that can be plugged into your GPS and it is all paid for with taxpayer dollars.
Charlie
To my eyes it looks like the wye was removed years ago and replace with the loop.
Brakie Wrote:To my eyes it looks like the wye was removed years ago and replace with the loop.
I agree. Plus there is the ease of use and maintainence. One turnout versus three and no stopping to change direction.
Dan
I think the wye was there before the loop too.
Charlie
Sumpter250 Wrote:MountainMan Wrote:There is no wye. The crossing trail is just that, a vehicle path, and there are no turnouts or track in that image to make a wye out of anything, just a loop that is clearly delineated. Expand the image and you'll see it more clearly.
I have to agree. Expanding the image clearly shows only a loop, with no other tracks, or turnouts.
Could there have been a wye there at one time? Maybe, but then again, would a railroad go through the expense of removing the now unused track? The photo clearly shows no "unused track".
Could a wye have been replaced with a loop? That is a possibility, in that a loop turns a train more efficiently than a wye, and there is, what appears to have been, where a wye might have existed. Clearly though, only a loop exists there now.
Geographically this is in Glacier National Park, in Northwest Montana. near the town of Summit, about thirty miles East of Kalispell
Yep, and it's replicated there exactly on the train sim software I run, right at that location. In the sim, it's mainly used for helper sets.
