A new or improved method of switching rail guided vehicles

866,050. Sector turntables railway crossings. PLOWRIGHT BROS. Ltd. Dec. 16, 1957 [Dec. 15, 1956], No. 38334/56. Classes 104 (1) and 104 (2). In an apparatus for use with rail guided vehicles in which a frame is pivotally mounted, supported and guided in an arc about a vertical axis, rails are pivotally mounted on the frame about a horizontal axis and are normally biased to incline downwardly away from the run off/run on position. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 rails J are pivotally mounted on about a horizontal pin Z on a frame K pivoted about a vehicle axis X and provided with wheels Y engaging an arcuate track M. The rails J are so mounted as to be normally biased to an inclined position away from the run off/run on rails P and Q when not loaded with a vehicle H. A stop S is provided to prevent the vehicle H running off the remote end of the rails J. When a vehicle H is received on the rails J the rails tend to tilt in an inclined direction towards the run off/run on rails P and Q but this movement is prevented by a bell crank lever L which is pivotally mounted on the frame K and is provided with a loaded lower end so as to be held in the position shown in Fig. 2. The frame K is moved by an hydraulic cylinder C between the positions aligning the rails J with the run off/run on rails P or Q and the lever L is actuated by an hydraulic cylinder D to allow the rails J to tilt towards the run off/run on rails P or Q. After the vehicle H has left the rails S they revert to their original position in which they are inclined away from the run off/run on rails P and Q and the lever L reverts to the position shown in Fig. 2. In further embodiments, Figs. 4 and 5 (not shown), an additional run off/run on rail, hydraulic cylinder D and hydraulic cylinder C are provided. The run off/run on rails may be arranged to approach each other at acute, normal or obtuse angles.