Railway Fundamentals - Track Circuits

[@tm4609]

Awesome demonstration!

[@chairmakerPete]

Really good! These videos have all been very enlightening and enjoyable; looking out for the next one! I have a deep love for our heritage railways, but realise I know next to nothing about the detail of how they work. If we're ever allowed out to play again, I need to put that right. Thanks again. Great work 👍

[@westsomersetrailwaytv1212]

Thank you. Do give us a share or two.

[@petersavage3339]

fantastic video very informative and explained the technical side in detail

[@westsomersetrailwaytv1212]

Thank you

[@ramen622]

Appreciate this immensely. great work! :-)

[@MrRobertecas]

Very Informative Loved it

[@westsomersetrailwaytv1212]

Glad it was helpful!

[@terriwilson9700]

Hello Great video thanks I can find the second video on track circuit block. Could you direct me please? Thanks

[@davidtaylor6124]

Good one, thanks!

[@navaneethdk]

Plzz tell me i want to do this i am very inspired by this vedio plzz tell me the wiring system of this track circuit plzzzz........

[@navaneethdk]

Can u plzz tell me the wiring diagram of this working system

[@abhayrajak4417]

More video on it

[@JamesSmith-mv9fp]

The "train" COMPLETES the track circuit by bridging the rails with its metal wheels and axle. It doesn't "short circuit" the system or some of the electrical equipment (the relays) would be damaged ! The Quintinshill disaster around 1900, (during the Second Boer War) was before the days of track circuits. Indeed Britain's worst train crash was caused by a train Guard forgetting to ensure the signalman had placed a "reminder device" (a wooden chock) on the lever protecting his train. Due primarily to there being too many people in the signalbox. Most of whom should have returned to their trains ! In addition the signalbox was NOT fully interlocked, and the HMRI Inspecting Officer of the crash heavily criticised the Caledonian Railway for not bringing a mainline box up to the standards already expected at the time. In excess of 255 people died. Track Circuits on model railways can be further simplified from the example seen in the programme. Indeed just a single piece of wire and a relay are all that is needed, by having the track circuit only in the Common Return rail, not both rails. The only other difference is that the model "track Circuit" needs to be shorter than a locomotive, to avoid stalling a locomotive. It should be noted that DC electricity will only return to the transformer it came from, hence it is possible to have more than one supply in one of the rails, as long as the supplies comes from different transformers . (A trick not possible if you have 16v AC in your track !) By clever use of such track circuits both semaphore signals and 3 or even 4 aspect colour lights can be totally automated to operate exactly as they do in real life. i.e both Absolute Block (Semaphore signals) or Track Circuit Block (Multi-aspect signals) methods can be replicated precisely. This system can also be adapted to German or even Japanese signalling methods, and I have for over 40 years fitted the system to all my exhibition layouts, British, German & Japanese. You can even add "AWS" using this method, so when naughty operator tries crashing red signals, their train is brought to an immediate halt. A relay simply being used to switch off a section of track immediately in advance of a signal displaying a Red. Relays for the uninitiated are simply a little box with usually 2 or 4 switches inside. They are switched on and off by passing a 12v DC current through the coil, which is the electro mechanical device inside the relay which changes the switches all at the same time. ON = powered coil; or OFF = no power to coil. The clever trick is to use one of the relays own switches to "Latch" the relay in the on position, and then have another relay further along the track (after the next signal) switch the first relay off again, ready for a subsequent train !!!

[@stuartyr]

It actually doesn’t, did you listen to the video at all. In a real track circuit there will be a resistance to avoid damage when it goes short circuit.