Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 45 minutes ago
While volunteering at the tourist railroad, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about railroad turnouts and all their parts. The moveable points are called the switch, and the control device used to throw the switch is called a switch stand. There are high stands and low stands. Low stands are sometimes called ground throws, but I have only ever heard this term used among model railroaders.
So to use the phrase "Throw that turnout" wouldn't quite be accurate, unless of course you actually wanted your operators to rip up your turnout from the layout and toss it across the room!
But why do model railroaders use turnout instead of switch? It's probably due to the early days on building layouts, most were built using electrical toggle switches to route power, it was easy to get confused which switch to throw!
Also in this video, I take a close look at 4 different brands of HO scale turnouts: Walthers, Peco, Atlas, and a handlaid example.
While this video isn't going to focus on yard design and functionality, towards the end I do give several examples of yard ladders and way to arrange the turnouts for simple or compound ladders.
0:00 Intro
0:34 What is a turnout
1:10 Parts of a turnout
1:51 Frog angle
4:49 Comparing the different brands
15:38 Basic yard ladder
17:20 Compound ladder
19:30 Does size really matter
20:26 Final thoughts
While volunteering at the tourist railroad, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about railroad turnouts and all their parts. The moveable points are called the switch, and the control device used to throw the switch is called a switch stand. There are high stands and low stands. Low stands are sometimes called ground throws, but I have only ever heard this term used among model railroaders.
So to use the phrase "Throw that turnout" wouldn't quite be accurate, unless of course you actually wanted your operators to rip up your turnout from the layout and toss it across the room!
But why do model railroaders use turnout instead of switch? It's probably due to the early days on building layouts, most were built using electrical toggle switches to route power, it was easy to get confused which switch to throw!
Also in this video, I take a close look at 4 different brands of HO scale turnouts: Walthers, Peco, Atlas, and a handlaid example.
While this video isn't going to focus on yard design and functionality, towards the end I do give several examples of yard ladders and way to arrange the turnouts for simple or compound ladders.
0:00 Intro
0:34 What is a turnout
1:10 Parts of a turnout
1:51 Frog angle
4:49 Comparing the different brands
15:38 Basic yard ladder
17:20 Compound ladder
19:30 Does size really matter
20:26 Final thoughts
