A question occurred to me whilst shunting in TSW: in real life, are trains allowed to negotiate manual trailing points when they are set for the other direction? Logically the points will change as the wheels reach the blades and the wheel flanges force them over. Is this permitted during shunting to save time, or is the practice frowned upon?
It depends on the point. If the point carries any trains with passengers on in the UK then it will have a locking mechanism which means it cannot be forced open. Points in freight yards and sidings do not normally have these locking systems and can be forced over to save time. This is only done at extremely low speed and whilst shunting. Most companies agree that to increase the life of a set of points blades, not to mention rolling stock wheels, it is prudent to switch the point correctly. It also avoids the mistake of trying to drive through a locked point if a driver is used to unlocked points.
On Cane Creek you will get a scenario ending derailment message, if you run through trailing hand points set for the opposite line. I mentioned this a few months ago not long after buying the route and that it seems wrong to me. To the best of my knowledge no other route in the game behaves like this with hand points. And the "guru" of US train simming - Run 8 - you can operate through trailing points without wrecking anything.
Thanks for the info. By “manual trailing points” I meant indeed non-locking, as any locked by a point machine, mechanical interlocking or ground frame would not permit this practice.
Not sure about other countries, but in South Africa this is an absolute no no! With the points being held by weights, if you go through a set that is not set correctly, the wheels will push them right, but the weight might not go fully over, which means when the wheels have passed, the points could open up a little, which means if a train comes back the other way, it can derail. In TSW, just by habit, I always check that points are set correctly, but maybe in other countries it’s allowed, I’m not sure.
In the US I believe this is standard, and Cane Creek is wrong in this regard (to avoid the issue of a reversed switch on a main line, spring-switches are used, which return to their original setting after having been pushed over)
Even some sections of main line in the UK utilise spring points or points held in the running direction by a hydraulic ram which yields to passage of a train in the trailing direction. Examples of these would be at passing loops on single lines operated remotely - either Radio Electronic Token Block or No Signalman Token, e.g. the Far North Line in Scotland or for the latter the Central Wales Line. For trains running over in the facing direction there is a "Points Set" indicator in lieu of the home signal which illuminates to prove detection that the spring or ram is holding the blade in place. If this fails to light then the driver must stop short then clip and scotch the points before taking the train across (after speaking to the signalman of course).
