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Edit Turnout

Turnouts

Layout Editor supports six different types of turnouts (track switches): right- handed (RH), left-handed (LH), wye (WYE), double crossover (Double Xover), right-handed single crossover (RH Xover), and left-handed single crossover (LH Xover). The other two types of turnouts sometimes used on model railroad layouts, double slip and three-way, can be drawn using two LH or RH turnouts. Double slip turnouts, for example, are easily represented by two LH and/or RH turnouts drawn with their throats connected by a short track segment. Once a turnout has been created, its type cannot be changed. Changing the type of a turnout requires removing and recreating the turnout.

Linking Turnout Drawings to Actual Turnouts

Turnout drawings in a track diagram are drawn using solid lines for both continuing and diverging legs until the turnout drawings are linked to turnouts in the Turnout Table. Once linked to actual turnouts, turnout drawings show the "known states" of the turnouts they represent. This feature can be turned off by unchecking Allow Turnout Animation in the Options menu. After linking, you can toggle each turnout on your layout by clicking on the center point of its drawing (provided Allow Layout Control is checked in the Options menu, and your DCC system supports computer control of turnouts). The ability to toggle by clicking can be turned off by checking Disabled in the turnout's popup menu.

You can link each turnout drawing with an actual turnout (internal or hardware) in the Turnout Table as turnout drawings are created, by entering its Turnout Table name (either system name or user name) in the Turnout: Name field (top row of the tool bar) before clicking to create that turnout. Alternatively, you can create your turnout drawings first, then select Edit... in each turnout's popup menu to open an Edit Turnout dialog that allows entry of the turnout name.

Setting a Turnout's Block

Optionally, you can designate which Block a turnout is in either by entering a block name in the Block: Name field of the tool bar prior to creating each turnout drawing, or by entering a block name in the Edit Turnout dialog at a later time. The Edit Turnout dialog also allows a Create/Edit Block dialog to be requested, where information for the turnout's block may be entered or changed. Blocks are discussed more fully on the help page of the Create/Edit Block dialog.

Continuing Route Turnout State

When a side track branches from a mainline track at an RH or LH turnout, the mainline normally continues through the turnout by following the straight-through track leg (the closed path). Sometimes, however, the mainline follows the diverging leg (the thrown path). To allow entry of this information, the Edit Turnout dialog contains an entry called Continuing Route Turnout State. Continuing Route Turnout State defaults to Closed when a turnout drawing is created. You should change it to Thrown if the mainline track follows the Thrown path through the turnout. For a WYE turnout, you should always check to see if its Continuing Route Turnout State is set correctly to reflect the path of the mainline. To test if Continuing Route Turnout State is correctly set, check the state of the turnout in the Turnout Table when the turnout is set to clear the mainline. The Turnout Table state should match the Continuing Route Turnout State chosen in the Edit Turnout dialog. Defining mainline track is optional; if you are not defining mainline track this item can be ignored.

Crossover Turnouts

Crossover turnouts differ from other turnouts in several important ways. Like other turnouts, crossovers have two states--crossed and straight. To change a crossover's state, however, requires two or four track switches to change in unison. This may be accomplished using one to four switch machines. Normally a crossover is assigned a single turnout entry in the turnout table, but it may have several if its switch machines are controlled by different stationary decoders. (You can use two JMRI Routes controlled by the same internal turnout to make multiple switch machines work together. In this case, enter the internal turnout as the turnout linked to the crossover turnout drawing.) With crossovers, the crossover tracks are always considered side track, and any mainline track entering the turnout, leaves on the same straight as it entered. So there is no Continuing Route Turnout State entry in a crossover's Edit dialog.

If you are defining blocks through crossovers, note that crossovers have four connecting points, each of which may be connected to a different track block. So parts of a crossover may be in one, two, three, or four separate blocks. The Edit Turnout dialog for a crossover allows the entry of up to four blocks, each linked to one of the four connection points. The first block entered must be the Block: Name field; this block is linked to the upper left connection point (if the turnout has not been rotated), and serves as the default block for the crossover. If any of Block 2, Block 3, or Block 4 entries are blank, the default block is used. Block connection points are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, proceeding from the upper left connection point in a clockwise direction.