Atransfer table ortraverser is a piece of railway equipment. It functions similarly to aturntable, although it cannot be used to turn vehicles around.
A transfer table, also known as a traverser, consists of a single length of track that can be moved from side to side, in a direction perpendicular to the track. There are often multiple tracks on one side of the table and a single or multiple track(s) on the other.
They are often found inyards withlocomotive maintenance facilities. The table allows a shed with multiple stalls for locomotives or carriages to be served by a single track, without the need forpoints that could take up a much larger area.[1]
In Europe, there were traversers at the terminal platforms atBirmingham Moor Street station, atRossio railway station inLisbon and at the formerGare de la Bastille terminus inParis. These were installed to release locomotives from arriving passenger trains to the adjoining track. They had three parallel tracks on the table so that whichever positions the traverser was in an incoming passenger train would not be faced with a void.
Traversers were used at metropolitan termini located in confined sites, such asKew andSt Kilda in suburbanMelbourne,Victoria, Australia, which worked only two tracks.
In 2013, thePort of Felixstowe installed a traverser across nine tracks at its new North Terminal as ordinary points could not be fitted while allowing 35-wagon trains of shipping containers.[2]
Systems like theLocher rack system do not allow normalswitches and transfer tables or rotary switches are used instead, as on thePilatus Railway. A transfer table contains two tracks with different configurations. The table is moved sideways or rotated[3] to choose the configuration that connects the track that the incoming train will be traveling from and to. Using transfer table as a switch or a rotary switch allows the center rack rail to be aligned for the cog wheels to continually drive the train forward while crossing the switch.
Smaller traversers are frequently used onroller coasters to switch out trains.
Traversers are used onmonorails andmaglevs.
TheSydney Monorail had a traverser connected to about 6 storage roads. When the track in the main line moved to a stabling road, another track moved into the main line position.
Maintaining grass in stadiums can be a problem if the stadium keeps the grass in the shade. A solution is to mount the playing field on a single huge traverser, which can be rolled out under one of the grandstands onto the sunny side of that grandstand.
In rare instances, the turning features of a turntable have been combined with the lateral motion of a transfer table. Examples of such installations are in Asia and Europe.
An example of both pieces of equipment was in use up until the 1970s at the Collinwood Yards inCleveland, Ohio. It allowed a single turntable to serve a linear train shed.
Didcot Railway Centre, UK, has a traverser for transferring coaching stock between the roads of the carriage maintenance sheds.[4]
TheNational Tramway Museum at Crich, in Derbyshire, England has a traverser between the depot roads.[5]
Pilatus Railway has a lot of traversers, as itsrack railway system does not allow switches.
Sydney Tramway Museum, Sydney, Australia has a traverser between depot roads 4 to 8 and to allow access to their workshop facilities (roads 9 and 10).
Transfer tables are extensively used in theMechelen workshops of theBelgian Railways NMBS/SNCB.[6]
Traversers are common onridable miniature railways to access the shed and maintenance facilities. There may be a desire to reduce the number of points required, or — in the case of raised track with overhanging carriages — to allow switching with the same restrictions found on a saddle-beammonorail.
