Tag:railway=turntable

railway = turntable
Description
These are used for changing the direction, that part of a train is pointing in. 
Rendering in OSM Carto
Rendering in OSM Carto
Group: Railways
Used on these elements
Useful combination
See also
Status: approved
More details at taginfo
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The key railway=turntable is used to identify a railway turntable. Turntables are used to change the direction a piece of rolling stock—commonly a locomotive—is facing. They are commonly found in locomotive depots or railway yards. They are commonly used to rotate rolling stock direction by 180 degrees, in which case they perform the same function as a wye but occupy much less space—although wyes can have the advantage of being able to turn an entire train at once. Turntables had their origin in the age of steam locomotives, and with the mid-20th-Century advent of diesel and electric locomotion and especially locomotives with cabs on either end, they were gradually retired. Today they are often found in working condition at railway museums such as the Steamtown National Historic Site in Pennsylvania in the United States. They may still be in common other-than-preservation use in countries where dieselisation and/or electrification of the rail network is not yet widespread.

Turntables are drawn as a circular area. Do not draw the movable track segment inside the turntable—different imagery may show it in different positions, and the circular railway=turntable area provides sufficient information for routing software.

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Applies to nodes and areas

Related terms: ‹ turntable ›

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