The geometry of the rack system has a large impact on the construction of turnouts. If the rack is elevated above the running rails, there is no need to interrupt the running rails to allow passage of the driving pinions of the engines. Strub explicitly documented this in his U.S. patent. Strub used a complex set of bell-cranks and push-rods linking the throw-rod for the points to the two throw-rods for the moving rack sections. One break in the rack was required to select between the two routes, and a second break was required where the rack rails cross the running rails. Turnouts for the Morgan Rack system were similar, with the rack elevated above the running rails. Most of the Morgan turnout patents included movable rack sections to avoid breaks in the rack, but because all Morgan locomotives had two linked drive pinions, there was no need for a continuous rack. So long as the breaks in the rack were shorter than the distance between the drive pinions on the locomotive, the rack rail could be interrupted wherever there was need to cross over a running rail.
The geometry of the rack system has a large impact on the construction of turnouts. If the rack is elevated above the running rails, there is no need to interrupt the running rails to allow passage of the driving pinions of the engines. Strub explicitly documented this in his U.S. patent. Strub used a complex set of bell-cranks and push-rods linking the throw-rod for the points to the two throw-rods for the moving rack sections. One break in the rack was required to select between the two routes, and a second break was required where the rack rails cross the running rails. Turnouts for the Morgan Rack system were similar, with th!e rack elevated above the running rails. Most of the Morgan turnout patents included movable rack sections to avoid breaks in the rack, but because all Morgan locomotives had two linked drive pinions, there was no need for a continuous rack. S!o long as the breaks in the rack were shorter than the distance between the drive pinions on the locomotive, the rack rail could be interrupted wherever there was need to cross over a running rail.