trail able point machines
 

Dear all,
Hi I am Jayanth tejasvy from India, I have only recently become a rail enthusiast ( due to my job). I am a S&T engineer by profession. Recently many metros have been cropping up in India. In the BOQs, the client mention TRIAL ABLE & NON TRAILABLE point machines. I would be highly obligated if someone can tell me the difference between the two. I know that the conventional Indian rails use non trailable point machines but i cant understand the difference between the two. Kindly help out.

Welcome to the Forum Jayanth. Hope someone can answer your question.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

Hello Jayanth and welcome to the forum.
In some locations (e.g. passing loops on tramways and narrow-gauge railways) it is often convenient to allow trains/trams to run through trailing points from one or other of the diverging routes when they are not actually set for that route. This obviously means that the trains/trams wheels will have to force the point blades out of the way as they pass over them. If this is to be allowed then any point motor that is fitted must be of the "trailable" type or mechanical damage will occur. I hope this make sense.

Welcome to the Forum Jayanth
 

Hello Jayanth and welcome to the Railway Forum. Good to see that john has already given you an answer to your question. I visited India 3 years ago but sorry to say I did not see any trains. There weren't many around the part of Bangalore I was staying in.

Thanks John Swisstrains. I can understand it so most people should!

Best wishes,

John H-T.