How was steam engine swapped to change its direction between tracks?

Question

How was steam engine swapped to change its direction between tracks?

Answer 1

it was all done with valves

Answer 2

GEARS.

Answer 3

round house was a good methiod just turn the tracks  engine and coal tender and drive on switch to the siding track to the other end of the train switch onto the main line back up and hook onto the train cars. Or pull foward switch onto the siding back up  switch back to the main line and hook the engine onto the train coal tender first engine second train cars third and reverse steam engines did not care which way the wheels turned.

Answer 4

A turn-table is one way, but outside of many terminals you wouldn't always find one.

The more common, less expensive, and less time consuming method is a wye. Essentially a triangle of tracks - so up one side, back down the other, voila, you're facing the opposite direction.

Answer 5

either a turntable, an engineers triangle or a reversing loop.

Answer 6

Well done to "ACE".  and The 1 as well, for his addition of the reversing loop, which in the US is referred to as a "balloon" track.  The use of balloon tracks was limited though, as they required the most space.  In the interest of education I'll clarify a couple of the other answers.

It is true that diesel electric locomotives don't care about which direction they run, however, steam engines did.  This is why you'll rarely find a picture of a steam engine working in reverse outside of switching moves, and even then, the cars were usually handled coupled to the front of the engine  The problem was the tender, which had a tendency to derail, especially those of the "centipede" type employed by the Union Pacific.

With reference to some suggestions as to how the "direction" of travel of the engine would be changed, the answer would be "valve gear".  The two most common types of valve gear in the US were the Stevens and Walschearts, named after their creators, with the latter also referred to as "monkey gear."

The earlier Stevens valve gear was operated through the "Johnson bar", which was probably named after its creator.  It was a herculean task to muscle the thing from forward to reverse.

The improvement to this was the "power reverse" which, as its name suggests, used steam pressure to move the valve gear.

Good answers, folks.

Answer 7

If I understand your question correctly, at the major railroad switching centers there is a device called a turntable. Basically a big hole in the ground with a segment of track at surface level. The track could be rotated to move the engine onto various tracks and completely reverse the engine itself.

Answer 8

Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks it