Wye track uses?

[jnevis]

Keddie wye passed over Spanish Creek and connected WP from Oroville to Portola/Reno and Great Northern in Bieber.  Now it's UP with BNSF trackage rights.
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4690139662846061&pid=1.7
http://alt.binaries.pictures.rail.usenetbinaries.com/mediaserver/groups/alt.binaries.pictures.rail/2012/11/07/WP3059_Keddie_Wye_CA_SEP1975.jpg

Talk about a rainbow set:
http://alt.binaries.pictures.rail.usenetbinaries.com/mediaserver/groups/alt.binaries.pictures.rail/2012/11/07/WP3516_Keddie_Wye_CA_Crew_Change.jpg

[cv_acr]

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?

Most of these have been mentioned above already but:

Locomotives, passenger cars, snow plows, spreaders, some MOW cars, freight cars that require loading/unloading from a particular side or end (e.g. end door automobile boxcars, autoracks, TOFC flats, etc.)

[nkalanaga]

Basically, a wye would be used anyplace there was room for it, except at a roundhouse, as it required a lot less maintenance and could turn longer trains than a turntable.  Turntables, on the other hand, were preferred at the roundhouse as they could not only turn an engine but also replace multiple switches in much less space.  Some wyes, especially older ones, or those in crowded locations, were too sharp for long wheelbase steam locomotives, which could cause problems if the town didn't have a turntable and the engine had to be turned.

On the other hand, a few branches ended in turntables rather than wyes, due to lack of room for a wye.  That could be handy on a shelf layout.

Bob:  I grew up in Northside Trailer Court, Pasco, on North 4th street, and could hear the retarders many nights.  With my father working there, and considerably less security 40 to 50 years ago, we saw a lot of the yard from the inside.  We even got unofficial tours of the roundhouse just by showing up with him.  Learned an awful lot about railroad and industrial safety too, much of which isn't taught in school, but maybe should be!  Good occupational skills for any industrial job.

[PAL_Houston]

Wallace Jct. Indiana was a classical use of a wye onto a branch line, in this case, to coal mines off the Monon mainline from Chicago to Louisville.

[CBQ Fan]

Great info guys, thanks for the info and ideas!

[Hornwrecker]

This is the end of the line wye on a Reading RR branchline in Newtown, PA.  I think it was mostly used to turn commuter train engines.

[jagged ben]

Tons off example of balloon turn arounds in use now. The UP uses on in the Roseville CA yard.

Roseville does not have a balloon track.  You're probably thinking of West Colton, which does.    (Roseville, BTW, still has a turntable.)

But speaking of the Donner pass, Truckee has a balloon track, and so does Fulda (aka the middle of the woods).   Why not a wye?   Because they are for turning snow fighting equipment, which can't go backwards through heavy snow. 

Most of the wyes I'm familiar with are junctions.

[wazzou]

The branch I intend to model had a wye off of the North/South, Seattle to Portland NP-GN-UP mainline and also had a wye at the end of the branch to turn power to head back East as a typical point to point would.

[PAL_Houston]

The wye at Oregon Illinois is shown in the diagram accompanying the BRHS Zephyr Newsletter 2-03. (See Track 6 in the (partial) scan below).  It pointed south from the Oregon stock pens, in a direction opposite to the spur that serviced industries in Oregon, which was to the north of the (east-west) mainline from Chicago/Aurora/Rochell to Savanna/Dubuque/LaCrosse and eventually St.Paul/Minneapolis.  The industry spur at Oregon did not have (was not part of) a wye.  The wye was a separate deal pointing the other direction.

The thought is that Oregon wye was used to turn steam locos that would do the "Oregon turn" before dieselization.  Apparently, however, the wye was removed at some unknown date, and people who have gone looking for its remnants have been unable to find any.  The land is currently a river-side corn field.

[PAL_Houston]

And then there is the wye formed by the CBQ and IC trackage, between Galena Jct., Galena town and Portage, Illinois.

The Burlington crossed the Galena River on a bridge between Galena Jct and Portage, where CBQ joined IC and had trackage rights on IC for the 12 or so miles to East Dubuque.  The CBQ also had a spur on the south side of the Galena River a few miles east to Galena, where it interchanged with the IC, which arrived in Galena from the east on the south side of the Galena river.  The IC crossed the CBQ tracks and then the Galena River, where it proceeded on the north side of the river to Portage, and then East Dubuque.

Not only is Galena situated in a very picturesque river valley, but in addition to the IC and CBQ, the C&NW also came into town from the east, but on the north side of the Galena River.

I have often thought that Galena would make a really interesting layout, and have a times drawn several iterations of potential plans to do just that.

[DKS]

At one time Trenton NJ had three wyes in close proximity. One was in West Trenton, where a PRR industrial branch met the Reading. The branch served the old GM plant (now gone) and Homasote, the latter receiving rail service up to the early 90s. When GM closed, the wye was disconnected and used to store MOW equipment. More recently SEPTA built a small electrified passenger yard within the wye, and now looks like this (I used to live in the condos along the far right):



Long ago this branchline once tied into a large industrial complex in the middle of Trenton along the PRR northeast corridor line, which served the sprawling Roebling plant and dozens if not hundreds of other industries. There were two wyes and a freight yard. The branchline from West Trenton came in from the left, near Perry Street; the Amtrak Trenton station is located at the point where the Trenton Freeway swings away from the track, at the lower left:



Today, the yard and one wye are gone (even though they're still shown on maps), but one wye remains within the small industrial area that's still active:



Also, the rest of the industrial branch from the Trenton station south became a light rail line that follows the Delaware down to Camden (the River Line).

[C855B]

This is the end of the line wye on a Reading RR branchline in Newtown, PA.  I think it was mostly used to turn commuter train engines.

Thank you. I was looking for an example of a "compact" wye, with all legs curved to take minimum real estate. I've been doodling this for an end-of-line turnaround for a shelf layout:



Ignoring its "math class" symmetry, it was the most compact solution I could muster. I'm certainly open to other ideas for loco turnaround in a tight space - barring a turntable because it will be in an awkward corner. I don't like the 15"R curves, but since operationally it will be for turning just a light steamer or a single diesel sharp curves shouldn't be an issue.

[nkalanaga]

The symmetry shouldn't be a problem.  Railroads usually choose the easiest, simplest solution to a problem, and three identical turnouts connected with identical curves is about as simple as track gets.