A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads . A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer installations, trains) coming from any direction to take any of the three other directions. The same effect may be achieved with two adjacent wyes if the location allows for space.
30-540: Grand Union may refer to: Transport [ edit ] Grand union , a four-way, double track rail junction often found on tram systems Grand Union Canal , a canal running from London to Birmingham in England Grand Union Canal (old) , a former canal in England, now forms a branch of the bigger Grand Union Canal Grand Central (train operating company) ,
60-515: A cosmology of seven directions. For example, among the Hopi of the Southwestern United States , the four named cardinal directions are not North, South, East and West but are the four directions associated with the places of sunrise and sunset at the winter and summer solstices. Each direction may be associated with a color, which can vary widely between nations, but which is usually one of
90-466: A special word: tenggara . Sanskrit and other Indian languages that borrow from it use the names of the gods associated with each direction : east (Indra), southeast (Agni), south (Yama/Dharma), southwest (Nirrti), west (Varuna), northwest (Vayu), north (Kubera/Heaven) and northeast (Ishana/Shiva). North is associated with the Himalayas and heaven while the south is associated with the underworld or land of
120-563: A terrestrial map because one is looking up instead of down. Similarly, when describing the location of one astronomical object relative to another, "north" means closer to the North celestial pole, "east" means at a higher right ascension , "south" means closer to the South celestial pole, and "west" means at a lower right ascension. If one is looking at two stars that are below the North Star, for example,
150-451: A total of 32 named points evenly spaced around the compass: north (N), north by east (NbE), north-northeast (NNE), northeast by north (NEbN), northeast (NE), northeast by east (NEbE), east-northeast (ENE), east by north (EbN), east (E), etc. Cardinal directions or cardinal points may sometimes be extended to include vertical position ( elevation , altitude , depth ): north and south , east and west , up and down; or mathematically
180-478: A train operating company in England that at one stage proposed trading as Grand Union Railway Grand Union (train operating company) , a prospective train operating company Entertainment [ edit ] Grand Union Orchestra , a London world jazz ensemble Grand Union (dance group) , a former New York dance group Grand Union (Firebird album) , 2009 Grand Union (Frank Tovey album) , 1991 Other uses [ edit ] Grand Union Flag ,
210-409: Is called a secondary intercardinal direction. These eight shortest points in the compass rose shown to the right are: Points between the cardinal directions form the points of the compass . Arbitrary horizontal directions may be indicated by their azimuth angle value. The directional names are routinely associated with azimuths , the angle of rotation (in degrees ) in the unit circle over
240-500: Is related to I Ching , the Wu Xing and the five naked-eye planets . In traditional Chinese astrology , the zodiacal belt is divided into the four constellation groups corresponding to the directions. Each direction is often identified with a color, and (at least in China) with a mythological creature of that color . Geographical or ethnic terms may contain the name of the color instead of
270-584: Is the interesting situation that native Japanese words ( yamato kotoba , kun readings of kanji) are used for the cardinal directions (such as minami for 南, south), but borrowed Chinese words (on readings of kanji) are used for intercardinal directions (such as tō-nan for 東南, southeast, lit. "east-south"). In the Malay language , adding laut (sea) to either east ( timur ) or west ( barat ) results in northeast or northwest, respectively, whereas adding daya to west (giving barat daya ) results in southwest. Southeast has
300-487: Is used for the center. All five are used for geographic subdivision names ( wilayahs , states, regions, governorates, provinces, districts or even towns), and some are the origin of some Southern Iberian place names (such as Algarve , Portugal and Axarquía , Spain). In Mesoamerica and North America , a number of traditional indigenous cosmologies include four cardinal directions and a center. Some may also include "above" and "below" as directions, and therefore focus on
330-546: The horizontal plane . It is a necessary step for navigational calculations (derived from trigonometry ) and for use with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers . The four cardinal directions correspond to the following degrees of a compass: The intercardinal (intermediate, or, historically, ordinal ) directions are the four intermediate compass directions located halfway between each pair of cardinal directions. These eight directional names have been further compounded known as tertiary intercardinal directions, resulting in
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#1732844710607360-543: The Germanic names for the intermediate directions. Medieval Scandinavian orientation would thus have involved a 45 degree rotation of cardinal directions. In many regions of the world, prevalent winds change direction seasonally, and consequently many cultures associate specific named winds with cardinal and intercardinal directions. For example, classical Greek culture characterized these winds as Anemoi . In pre-modern Europe more generally, between eight and 32 points of
390-500: The North celestial pole. Similarly, a line from the center to the South celestial pole will define the South point by its intersection with the limb. The points at right angles to the North and South points are the East and West points. Going around the disk clockwise from the North point, one encounters in order the West point, the South point, and then the East point. This is opposite to the order on
420-576: The additional directions of up and down . Each of the ten directions has its own name in Sanskrit . Some indigenous Australians have cardinal directions deeply embedded in their culture. For example, the Warlpiri people have a cultural philosophy deeply connected to the four cardinal directions and the Guugu Yimithirr people use cardinal directions rather than relative direction even when indicating
450-433: The basic colors found in nature and natural pigments, such as black, red, white, and yellow, with occasional appearances of blue, green, or other hues. There can be great variety in color symbolism, even among cultures that are close neighbors geographically. Ten Hindu deities , known as the " Dikpālas ", have been recognized in classical Indian scriptures, symbolizing the four cardinal and four intercardinal directions with
480-415: The center as a fifth cardinal point . Central Asian , Eastern European and North East Asian cultures frequently have traditions associating colors with four or five cardinal points. Systems with five cardinal points (four directions and the center) include those from pre-modern China , as well as traditional Turkic , Tibetan and Ainu cultures. In Chinese tradition, the five cardinal point system
510-658: The compass – cardinal and intercardinal directions – were given names. These often corresponded to the directional winds of the Mediterranean Sea (for example, southeast was linked to the Sirocco , a wind from the Sahara). Particular colors are associated in some traditions with the cardinal points. These are typically " natural colors " of human perception rather than optical primary colors . Many cultures, especially in Asia , include
540-566: The crossing does not have curved junction tracks, with the union having a total of 12 railroad switches (sets of points). Half unions are similar, but have curved junction tracks on only two adjoining corners of the intersection, with a total of eight switches. Butterfly unions share the total of eight switches, but the curved junction tracks are on opposing corners. There is a three-quarter union at 52°15′17.24″N 20°58′57.11″E, and 52°26'35.68"N 21°02'07.88"E. Cardinal direction The four cardinal directions , or cardinal points , are
570-591: The fathers (Pitr loka). The directions are named by adding "disha" to the names of each god or entity: e.g. Indradisha (direction of Indra) or Pitrdisha (direction of the forefathers i.e. south). The cardinal directions of the Hopi language and the Tewa dialect spoken by the Hopi-Tewa are related to the places of sunrise and sunset at the solstices, and correspond approximately to the European intercardinal directions. Use of
600-601: The first flag of the United States Grand Union of 1256 Grand Union (supermarket) , an American supermarket chain Grand Union (short story collection) , a 2019 short story collection by Zadie Smith See also [ edit ] Grand Junction (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Grand Union . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
630-475: The four main compass directions: north , south , east , and west , commonly denoted by their initials N, S, E, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at 90 degree intervals in the clockwise direction. The ordinal directions (also called the intercardinal directions ) are northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW). The intermediate direction of every set of intercardinal and cardinal direction
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#1732844710607660-454: The intercardinal directions have names that are not compounds of the names of the cardinal directions (as, for instance, northeast is compounded from north and east ). In Estonian, those are kirre (northeast), kagu (southeast), edel (southwest), and loe (northwest), in Finnish koillinen (northeast), kaakko (southeast), lounas (southwest), and luode (northwest). In Japanese, there
690-661: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Union&oldid=1065865589 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Grand union These types of complex junction are expensive to build and expensive to maintain. Special parts, sometimes made of manganese steel, are needed for each location where one rail crossed another (a "frog"); these parts often need to be custom-made and fitted for each single location, depending on
720-422: The name of the corresponding direction. East: Green ( 青 "qīng" corresponds to both green and blue); Spring; Wood South: Red ; Summer; Fire West: White ; Autumn; Metal North: Black ; Winter; Water Center: Yellow ; Earth Countries where Arabic is used refer to the cardinal directions as Ash Shamal (N), Al Gharb (W), Ash Sharq (E) and Al Janoob (S). Additionally, Al Wusta
750-606: The one that is "east" will actually be further to the left. During the Migration Period , the Germanic names for the cardinal directions entered the Romance languages , where they replaced the Latin names borealis (or septentrionalis ) with north, australis (or meridionalis ) with south, occidentalis with west and orientalis with east. It is possible that some northern people used
780-484: The position of an object close to their body. (For more information, see: Cultures without relative directions .) The precise direction of the cardinal points appears to be important in Aboriginal stone arrangements . Many aboriginal languages contain words for the usual four cardinal directions, but some contain words for 5 or even 6 cardinal directions. In some languages , such as Estonian , Finnish and Breton ,
810-404: The six directions of the x-, y-, and z-axes in three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates . Topographic maps include elevation, typically via contour lines . Alternatively, elevation angle may be combined with cardinal direction (or, more generally, arbitrary azimuth angle) to form a local spherical coordinate system . In astronomy , the cardinal points of an astronomical body as seen in
840-449: The sky are four points defined by the directions toward which the celestial poles lie relative to the center of the disk of the object in the sky. A line (a great circle on the celestial sphere ) from the center of the disk to the North celestial pole will intersect the edge of the body (the " limb ") at the North point. The North point will then be the point on the limb that is closest to
870-478: The specific angle of crossing of the intersecting streets. A full grand union junction consists of 88 frogs (where one rail crosses another rail), and 32 switchpoints (point blades) if single-point switches are not used. A tram or train crossing the junction will encounter four or twenty frogs within the space of crossing the junction. For all of the possible tracks of a grand union to be used during normal operation, at least six different tram routes have to cross
900-413: The union. In an intersection with lines oriented towards cardinal directions , these could be: north-south, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west, and east–west. Three-quarter unions are similar to grand unions in that they are also rail track junctions where two double-track railway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads; the primary difference being that one corner of
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