It's not a derailment, it's an unconstructed route, and/or an optimization of potential energy. Mmmm... warm corn tortillas, stuffed with all sorts of goodness!
It's called a switch, it's always been a switch and will always be a switch. Switchman, switcher (motor), switch job, are you getting the picture yet. Oh well, I'll beat this drum until it kills me. It will.
I'm new to the hobby and don't have a lot to complain about, but I do have two things that make me a little crazy... 1) N Scale trees - there are no, or very few, pre-made trees that I can find that are actually to scale. The trees I find will work for N, but they're really like 40-60 feet tall at scale, which simply doesn't work in some cases. They can look fine when paired with a building or a train, but when you put people next to them, you realize that in no place on earth are ALL of the trees so disproportionally large. 2) Couplers - WHY?!?! WHY so many variations on a theme?!?! Can't something so common, so ubiquitous, something that is used, literally, between every single piece of rolling stock and every locomotive, be standardized? Okay, maybe a couple of types, I get it... there are some era specific needs that might need to be met, or stylistic preferences, but the sheer volume of variation is just nonsensical. It's like buying something from Apple where it's completely incompatiable with any other manufacturers products. Thus endeth the rant... but I'm sure there will be more to follow, lol! G.
I actually heard a fellow at a club layout use above descriptions starting with I need to run through that Turnout. Aiiyiiyii !!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...but those threads you speak of are NOT required by TB to be opened by anyone. Just skip right on by them....problem solved. Just Sayiin
What sticks in my craw is multiple threads about the debate over switch vs. turnout, when in proper English (British) they are called points.
