Railroad Point Switch

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This page was last updated on January 7, 2025.

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Overview

Research has found that the first railroad point switch in America, also known as a split switch, was in Salt Lake City in July 1872. The new switch, informally known as William Silver's Self-Acting Switch, was used to move rail cars holding large granite blocks onto the temple block where the Mormon temple was being built.

The existing stub switch, with its light rails, was not allowing the heavy rail cars to make the turn into the temple block. Stub switches had movable rails that were moved to align with the rails of the diverging route. The moveble rails needed to be flexible, and therefore light, and did not support the heavy rail cars loaded with granite blocks.

This research was started based on the memory of a comment 40 years ago, by Robert W. Edwards, in which he told Don Strack that the use in Salt Lake City was the first use of a point switch in the United States. Due to the extreme weight of the granite blocks (some as heavy as 10-12 tons), the design of the then-standard railroad stub switch simply spread the rails, allowing the loaded flat cars to settle onto the ties. The addition of the tapered "point" strengthened the turnout and kept the heavy cars on the track as they were pushed into the temple block. (Interview with Robert W. Edwards, circa 1979)

"One of W. J. Silver's self-acting switches has been put down and works admirably." (Deseret News, October 29, 1873, describing a new street car line between Salt Lake City and the new Warm Springs station at Beck's Hot Springs)

Timeline

July 13, 1872
"The new switch from the Utah Southern line, by which the cars carrying granite for the Temple can be run on the street railroad, and the one at the south entrance to the Temple block, are nearly completed." (Millennial Star, August 13, 1872, citing the Salt Lake Herald of July 13, 1872)

(Read more about the logistics of moving granite blocks from the quarry to the temple construction site)

July 31, 1872
"Granite By Rail. - On July 31st the first car load of granite for the Temple, 10 to 12 tons, entered the Temple Block, being hauled on the street railroad track by two span of horses and two yoke of cattle. It moved along very smoothly, and was a wonderful improvement on the old ox-team arrangement." (Millennial Star, August 27, 1872, page 559, citing the Deseret News)

"The point switch was not invented in Utah, but this switch is probably the earliest application of the point switch in the United States. In essence, while William Silver's split switch was not entirely his own invention, it is likely that it was the first successful split switch installed in the United States." (Josh Bernhard)

July 31, 1872
The following comes from the July 31, 1872 issue of the Deseret News newspaper (research by Matt Mihalo).

An Improved Switch - On the Street Railroad, at the junction of South and West Temple streets, close by the "Valley House," an improved switch has just been laid, designed and manufactured by W.J. Silver, Esq., engineer of this city. It is called the "Point Switch," and is similar to those used on all railroads in England. Where this is used the cars cannot run off the track, at least there is no more danger of them doing so at the switches than at any other part of the line. If it is misplaced the cars simply run on to the wrong track; while the rail, instead of being loose, as when the ordinary or common switch is used, is supported by the outside or "Stock" rail, nearly the whole length; and it also admits of being worked from a distance with great facility. Owing to its position, the arrangement by which this one is worked has to be concealed below the surface, and, when not in use, the lever removed; but on a regular railroad an ordinary switch stand can be used. The advantages of this over the common switch is so apparent, and commend themselves so strongly, that it is expected they will be used on the Utah Northern road.

July 31, 1872
The following comes from the July 31, 1872 issue of the Salt Lake Herald newspaper (research by Josh Bernhard).

Pointed Switch. Our attention was called yesterday to a very superior style of switch, constructed on the street railroad, at the junction of South and West Temple streets. This switch, known as the pointed switch, was manufactured by W.J. Silver, machinist, of this city; is the same as used on all railroads in England, and is a great improvement on those in common use in this country. It has the superior advantage that, whether open or closed, there is no danger of a train being thrown off the track approaching the switch from either direction, as it is so balanced as to regulate itself.

Josh Bernhard found in his research on the use of the point switch in the United States that this use in July 1872, as designed and installed on the Salt Lake City street railroad by William Silver, was likely the first use of the design in the U.S. The point switch was in use in England, where Silver may have seen it prior to his immigrating to New York in 1855, and to Utah in 1859. Josh also found that the adoption of the point switch in the U.S. most likely took place after the "Lorenz Switch" was adapted from an English design in 1875, and adopted for limited use by the Philadelphia & Reading beginning in 1878. Boston & Albany fully adopted the point switch across its system in 1883.

August 15, 1872
"Local Brevities." "A track is to be laid from the depot to the Temple block strong enough to permit a locomotive to haul the cars of rock upon it. The horse railroad is found to be not sufficiently strong." (Utah Mining Journal, August 15, 1872)

(Although the gauge of the street railroad is not indicated when it was organized in January 1872, nor when the first cars arrived in March 1872, nor when construction was under way, various investment guides such as Poor's and Moody's, indicate that the street railroad was standard gauge. In August 1872 a second track was laid to standard gauge along South Temple street, specifically to use heavier rail and a steam locomotive to move cars of granite stone from the Utah Central depot, east along South Temple street to the temple block. There were very soon complaints by teamsters about South Temple street being "well cut with railroad tracks," leaving the teams and wagons "no room on that side of the street for teams to pass." -- Utah Mining Journal, August 15 1872; August 21, 1872)

August 21, 1872
"Salt Lake Railroad. - A petition was introduced to the City Council last night, from W. W. Riter, secretary of the street railroad company, asking the privilege for the company to use a locomotive on the second line of railroad which they propose building from the depot to the Temple block, for the purpose of freighting rock for the building of the Temple. The petition set forth that the iron now in use on the line was entirely too light for the hauling of exceedingly heavy freight, and that, at least, thirty pound iron would have to be used for the purpose specified, and showed the advantages that would accrue from using a locomotive over the system of hauling by means of cattle, the latter plan not being in keeping with the advanced state of the times. The petition was granted." (Deseret News, August 21, 1872)

August 28, 1872
"An Event. - Five car loads of rock were hauled by locomotive today from the U. C. Railroad depot to within the Temple block enclosure. This was the inauguration trip of the hauling of freight on the new line of street railroad by steam power. Progress is the order of the day." (Deseret News, September 4, 1872, "From Wednesday's Daily, Aug. 28")

August 28, 1872
"The Temple. - On the 28th ult. five car loads of rock were hauled by a locomotive from the U. C. Railroad depot to within the Temple block enclosure. This was the inauguratory trip of the hauling of freight on the new line of street railroad by steam power. Progress is the order of the day. On the 29th five more car loads arrived." (Millennial Star, September 24, 1872, page 622)

August 29, 1872
"Rolling In. - The rock for the building of the Temple keeps rolling in. Five more car loads were laid down within the enclosure of the block yesterday." (Deseret News, September 4, 1872, "From Friday's Daily, Aug 30")

William Silver's "Self-Acting Switch"

(research by Josh Bernhard)

William John Silver was born in London in 1832. He met Mormon missionaries in 1851 and was baptized. A year later he married Mary Askie; at that time he worked for the London & South Western Railway. The family emigrated to the United States in 1855, living in New York City for four years. In 1859 they joined the Edward Stevenson Company wagon train bound for Utah, in which he served as the company clerk.

Upon arrival in Utah Silver advertised himself as a "consulting engineer and millwright" in the Deseret News in 1860, offering his services to build, maintain, or improve flour mills in the Salt Lake valley. Ecclesiastically he was ordained an Elder of the Quorum of the Seventy fairly quickly, holding prominence in church activity. In 1862 Brigham Young encouraged church members with means to finance the import of industrial machinery into Utah Territory for the mechanized manufacture of cloth, sugar, and other goods. The intention was for church agents to travel east to make the purchases, ship the machinery by steamboat to an overland trailhead on the Missouri River, then freight it overland by wagon. Because much of the machinery was unfamiliar to the Utahns who would install and operate it, W.J. Silver engaged himself as a consultant in setting up the factories that would soon be properly equipped. He also installed the four-faced clock in the tower of the original Salt Lake city hall and constructed both a portable steam engine and the engines for the sternwheel steamboat Kate Connor from scratch in 1868. He was also a patternmaker and produced casting patterns for the various small foundries that operated in Salt Lake City. "Silver is a clever mechanic," the Salt Lake Telegraph praised him in 1865. His most famous achievement though is likely the cast iron oxen that support the baptismal font in the Salt Lake temple.

My theory is that Silver observed point switches in use on the London & South Western Railway and adapted the design to the needs of the Salt Lake City Street Railway to work with an American switch stand.

However, this is a very early date for a point switch to be installed in the United States. I began searching for the point where the stub switch began to be replaced by the point switch (also called a split switch or safety switch in the 19th century, because a train could run through the turnout set against it without derailing). In 1888 George Richards of the Boston & Providence Railroad gave a speech to the New England Railroad Club, a predecessor to such organizations as the Master Car-Builders' Association or the Association of American Railroads advocating for the adoption of the split/point switch as the standard nationwide. He outlined a basic history:

The story of the switch and the frog, like the story of the locomotive and the railroad, originated at the famous trial at Rainhill, in October, 1829, previous to which both the locomotive and the railroad were crude affairs, though a few locomotives were in use and doing fair service, one of which commenced in 1813 and ran till 1862. After October, 1829, the rail took on some definite forms, such as the T and H rail, the inverted OU, the fish-belly, the bull headed and double-headed. The split switch soon followed as by evolution. These switches were called points, and the men operating them were called pointsmen. Leading switches and their frogs were termed facing points. To make the switches safe, devices were attached in such manner as to allow them to be opened by the passing wheels in case of misplacement. A common form of movement was a bell crank, the points being attached to one arm, a weight to the other, and the weight held the points to the main line and forced them back, when opened by the wheels which passed from the turnout. The points were held to the siding by hand levers. It was a safety switch in every sense of the word. This arrangement has been used in this country to some extent within a few years, and possibly patented. Its first use on English roads was more than 40 years ago...Soon after the Rainhill trial the railroad mania crossed the Atlantic. Only three cities then had a population which would fill a large church, and money was not plenty, and the railroads were of necessity built in a poverty stricken manner. But little now remains of the early railroads. The stub switch was the natural outcome of the early poverty. It could be made without expensive materials and in a country smith's shop.

While there may be earlier examples of the point switch in the United States that were not described in the resources available to me, it seems that 1881 is the earliest "mainstream" adoption of the point switch on an American Railroad. The downsides to the stub switch were well known, and many deaths, injuries and damaged locomotives were caused by mis-set stub switches. I have an ancestor who was killed when his locomotive rolled over into the Price River when the Pleasant Valley Junction yardmaster forgot to reset a stub switch on the D&RGW Railway. American inventors went wild in the late 1870s patenting crazy devices that could bolt onto a stub switch to make it "safer." The Tyler Switch was the most commonly used, but there also existed such patents as the Wharton, White, and Cooke. All of these patent devices were overly complex and very expensive to install. Railroads began searching for alternatives to the stub switch by 1880.

The earliest mention that I can find in the available trade press for point switches in the United States was the Boston & Albany, which began installing point turnouts patented as the "Lorenz Switch" in 1881. I haven't found an exact date of invention for the Lorenz switch, but it seems to have been patented in 1879. By 1883 the B&A had installed 100% point switches from Boston to Springfield. However, in spite of the B&A finding great success, financial savings, and a reduction of accidents due to the installation of point switches, very few railroads followed suit, hence George Richards' 1888 speech in which he called for the B&A to be the type and pattern for all American railroads to duplicate. Many railroad mechanics and track bosses feared that a rock could get stuck in the split point and prevent it from closing all the way, or that ice and snow would freeze it and prevent its operation. Adoption of the split switch in the United States was very slow.

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