Wye track uses?

[CBQ Fan]

So, prototypically in the 1940 - 1960 range I understand the most common use for a wye track was for a balloon track to turn around steam engines and passenger trains.  What other common uses would you fine them in?

[RWCJr]

When working on the Slaton Division of the Santa Fe in the 70's, there were wye switches in many of the industrial switching areas, especially in towns with a half dozen grain elevators all crammed in together. Where the Lamesa district joined the 5th district, a wye switch was used. Since this was at the east end of the Slaton yard, it provided a close "Y" where engines too long for the 100 foot turntable were turned.
Robert

[CoalPorter]

I don't think  a wye and a balloon turn around are the same thing. A wye requires 3 switches but can be built in a smaller area.
a balloon only need one switch but requires a much larger area. I would not say a balloon was confined to the 40-60s either? Tons off example of balloon turn arounds in use now. The UP uses on in the Roseville CA yard.

[Chris333]

Could just be a junction. Near me there used to be a big wye with 2 smaller wyes on 2 of the first wyes legs. The 3rd leg of the wye also had a wye the was very close to it.

Here is a quick outline of them:


Bottom left:
http://binged.it/ZyOvgs
Bottom right (no longer there):
http://binged.it/10AxZeV
Top right, this one was once used to turn around B&O 2-8-8-4's:
http://binged.it/ZyOSYv

[CBQ Fan]

I have seen photos of wye turnouts used in a balloon track application as opposed to a "wye" track in the sense of three switches used in a "wye" configuration to turn equipment.

[Mark5]

Sometimes a wye is used where a branch line meets a main line.

[pedro]

I've worked a few industry jobs in different locations where cars were required to be spotted in a certain orientation. In one case it was boxcars that had "unload this side" placards on the tack boards. Another was at an auto unloading facility where all the autos had to be facing the same way. (Can't back down the ramps). In both cases you used a wye to turn the cars around if necessary. Of course after doing so you have to run around the wye again to get on the right end with the engine. I've also stopped road trains and turned the power on an industry wye to get a better leader.

[up1950s]

Very useful to reduce the x real estate needed to feed bi-directionally to and from a y peninsula . An extra crossing is needed .

[wcfn100]

Turning plows, maybe some MOW equipment (pile driver for example).  And even though cupola cabooses did run both ways, there seems to be a strong favoritism to have it towards the rear.

I never seen it documented, but trailer flats are directional and not every ramp has the equipment to deal with cars facing the wrong way.  I had asked the CGW Yahoo group about this but never got a good answer.


Jason

[robert3985]

I model the UP in 1951 between Ogden and the top of the grade at Wahsatch, a 67 mile run.  This could be called a "helper district" as all trains, other than two locals per day, that were not being pulled by Big Boys, had helpers on the rear.   Helpers were generally either UP 2-10-2's or 3700 Class oil-fired Challengers, with the occasional 9000 class 4-12-2 or Bull Moose, and they pushed trains being pulled by F's, Geeps and Turbines.

At Wahsatch, just a few miles west of Evanston WY, the train would stop, the helper and caboose (on the back of the helper) would uncouple and back off, the brakeman would get out of the caboose and align the switch to another track, then the helper would make a full-acceleration run towards that switch.  The caboose would be uncoupled on the move about 50 yards from the turnout, and the helper would accelerate away from it.  The brakeman, still standing by the switchstand, would immediately throw the switch to the track the waiting freight was parked on, and in an incredibly athletic move, swing himself up on the rear platform of the caboose at it went by.  The caboose then would drift down and be coupled to the end of the waiting freight train, and the helper engine would simultaneously move alongside the train it had just helped upgrade on an adjacent track, switch over to the wye aligned perpendicular to the mainlines...moving through a couple of spring-loaded switches and reverse itself for the 67 mile downgrade run back to Ogden/Riverdale, running with no caboose and just marker lights on the back of the tender.

A wye at Wasatch on my layout is essential for this operation. 

Wyes at the tops of many helper districts throughout the country were pretty common simply to allow easy turning of the helpers after they'd cut off from the train they'd been assisting.   

[FrankCampagna]

The Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley used a wye for it's D&H interchange. The Housatonic used the wye at the Canaan depot for turning cars that needed to be unloaded on a certain side, and for parking covered hoppers to be unloaded. It also served as access to the lime plant.

[Packer]

I acutally remember seeing one along I-10 in Lousiana somewhere. UP was using it to turn autoracks.

[eja]

Before push-pull became the operative solution, in San Diego, CA, Amtrak used to arrive at the station, discharge passengers and then back up to the "Y" at Washington Street, turn the train.and back down to the station.  Distance - less than a mile.

The long leg of the Y extended into land that was part of the SD airport property and perhaps into MCRD.

The tracks are still in place, but the Y is no longer used or operational.

Approximate Bing map location: 4666 Belleau Wood Ave, San Diego, CA 92140

[nkalanaga]

Jason:  The NP/BN at Pasco often had to turn TOFC cars, before they bought a PiggyPacker.  The wye was in the middle of town, and formed the junction of the NP-Spokane, SP&S-Spokane, and NP/SP&S-Kennewick (Yakima/Portland) lines.  To make it more interesting, the roundhouse and engine ready tracks were in the wye, with a turntable, and the passenger station was on the Spokane-Kennewick leg, requiring SP&S trains to back into or out of the station.  Until the SP&S-Spokane line was abandoned, the BN used it for eastbound trains and the NP-Spokane for westbound, meaning that Amtrak's Empire Builder pulled in eastbound, then backed out to go around the south side of the wye.   To make it even more interesting, A Street crossed the south side of the wye three times, hitting all three main tracks.

The roundhouse is long gone, but the wye is still there, and can be seen on Google Maps.

[robert3985]

Jason:  The NP/BN at Pasco often had to turn TOFC cars, before they bought a PiggyPacker.  The wye was in the middle of town, and formed the junction of the NP-Spokane, SP&S-Spokane, and NP/SP&S-Kennewick (Yakima/Portland) lines.  To make it more interesting, the roundhouse and engine ready tracks were in the wye, with a turntable, and the passenger station was on the Spokane-Kennewick leg, requiring SP&S trains to back into or out of the station.  Until the SP&S-Spokane line was abandoned, the BN used it for eastbound trains and the NP-Spokane for westbound, meaning that Amtrak's Empire Builder pulled in eastbound, then backed out to go around the south side of the wye.   To make it even more interesting, A Street crossed the south side of the wye three times, hitting all three main tracks.

The roundhouse is long gone, but the wye is still there, and can be seen on Google Maps.

I was born in Richland, raised in Kennewick and I remember the roundhouse in Pasco.  I was into model ships after 4 years in the Navy, but sometimes, if I wanted a little solitude, I'd go watch the cars being sorted at the hump.  Don't know why, but it was both extremely interesting and calming.

Thanks for the memory...