Belgium: last gauntlet track to be replaced

gysev · 24 Apr 2019

This summer, the last gauntlet track on the Belgian network will be replaced by two switches. It is used to pass the tunnel south of Jamioulx station, on the Charleroi - Couvin line. In the past, there were at least to other places in Belgium where a gauntlet track could be found:

- the tunnel between Statte and Huy on the Liège - Namur line, replaced by a larger tunnel in 1970
- the tunnel between Geraardsbergen and Viane-Moerbeke, replaced by switsches in 2013.

The pictures were taken on 18-04-2019.

RailUK Forums

farci · 24 Apr 2019

Very interesting - I think. Please explain 'gauntlet track'

Alfonso · 24 Apr 2019

farci said:
Very interesting - I think. Please explain 'gauntlet track'

I think the pictures explain it...there are two separate tracks, but you couldn't run trains in both directions at the same time as the tracks overlap, one of the rails fitting inside the others track - like a glove/gauntlet - I remember an Amsterdam tram route in a narrow street set up like this, with true double track passing places on the slightly wider bridges. I suppose it avoids the need for moving parts that conventional points have, and no risk of routing on to the wrong track in passing places

dutchflyer · 24 Apr 2019

Well, one learns still something new, though not every day anymore. I thought it was ''intertwined'' track or so in english.
And yes-here in AMS the trams (Leidsestraat and Utrechtsestraat) still have that-it also avoids the need for systems that set the points in the right direction, plus moving parts always run out much faster as fixed track. So a bit strange that the southerly neighbours do not want to have it.
A variation on this is when 2 gauge-widths combine, f.e. Fr-ES: 1 rail is used for both and the other side has 2 rails to fit the relative distance. it cannot be done for Russia, as there the difference in width is too small with normal gauge. But then again its probably not called gauntlet then in english, I guss?

farci · 24 Apr 2019

I learn a lot from this forum - thanks to all

!

Capybara · 24 Apr 2019

I'm pretty sure I've seen it on the Croydon Tramlink.

AM9 · 24 Apr 2019

dutchflyer said:
Well, one learns still something new, though not every day anymore. I thought it was ''intertwined'' track or so in english. ...

I thought that they were called 'interlaced' tracks. 'Gauntlet' sounds like a nickname.

urpert · 24 Apr 2019

Capybara said:
I'm pretty sure I've seen it on the Croydon Tramlink.

Yes, there are examples on the Wimbledon branch in the Mitcham area. There’s a pic on Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/028140_tramlink_mitcham.jpg

Alfonso · 24 Apr 2019

dutchflyer said:
Well, one learns still something new, though not every day anymore. I thought it was ''intertwined'' track or so in english.
And yes-here in AMS the trams (Leidsestraat and Utrechtsestraat) still have that-it also avoids the need for systems that set the points in the right direction, plus moving parts always run out much faster as fixed track. So a bit strange that the southerly neighbours do not want to have it.
A variation on this is when 2 gauge-widths combine, f.e. Fr-ES: 1 rail is used for both and the other side has 2 rails to fit the relative distance. it cannot be done for Russia, as there the difference in width is too small with normal gauge. But then again its probably not called gauntlet then in english, I guss?

Wikipedia says gauntlet or interlaced.

ac6000cw · 24 Apr 2019

AM9 said:
I thought that they were called 'interlaced' tracks. 'Gauntlet' sounds like a nickname.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauntlet_track - yes, both names are used.

I think the 'Gauntlet' name comes from it being a 'hand in glove' track/rails arrangement.

Shimbleshanks · 24 Apr 2019

urpert said:
Yes, there are examples on the Wimbledon branch in the Mitcham area. There’s a pic on Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/028140_tramlink_mitcham.jpg

There's also a section from the points at the bottom of Church Street in central Croydon - though depending on your point of view, it could also be described as an extremely long turnout as the lines eventually diverge from each other.

hexagon789 · 24 Apr 2019

The line over the Boyne viaduct (on the Dublin-Belfast mainline) used to be interlaced, I think it was singled when the line for upgraded for 90mph running.

30907 · 24 Apr 2019

Alfonso said:
Wikipedia says gauntlet or interlaced.

Dutchflyer is right re different gauges sharing the same route - I think we would simply say mixed or dual (or triple!) gauge. Gauntlet/interlaced is more typically used where double track is involved, as in the Belgian example, and I think is much more common on tramways (is there yet another term for the very elongated pointwork in Croydon?).

Ploughman · 24 Apr 2019

Am I right in thinking that the Selby Swing Bridge on the old ECML was Gaunteted?
For the mains and loops.

duesselmartin · 24 Apr 2019

Thema Bernina line in Switzerland also has such a section.

Germany had one on Tage MulhMül Styrum to Duisburg Ruhrort line until it closed in 1995.

dazzler · 24 Apr 2019

Ploughman said:
Am I right in thinking that the Selby Swing Bridge on the old ECML was Gaunteted?
For the mains and loops.

I'm pretty sure Selby had the point-work on the station side of the bridge. There would be no need to complicate an already complicated swing bridge by running extra rails across it.
It was bad enough balancing a swing bridge at the best of times, without throwing extra stuff into the mess! (When I was in the S&T at York one of my regular drinking buddies in the Railway Institute was from the Area Civil Engineer's office, in charge of maintaining the swing bridges around York and Hull. He was particularly scathing about the decision to single the Hull docks branch and the impossibility of balancing the swing bridges for single track operation when they were designed as double track bridges!)

edwin_m · 24 Apr 2019

Shimbleshanks said:
There's also a section from the points at the bottom of Church Street in central Croydon - though depending on your point of view, it could also be described as an extremely long turnout as the lines eventually diverge from each other.

Indeed, and a similar one at the Forest in Nottingham. The usual reason to do this on tramways is to avoid putting the motorised point in a road traffic lane, where it would get more of a punishment and be more difficult to attend to when it failed.

Ploughman said:
Am I right in thinking that the Selby Swing Bridge on the old ECML was Gaunteted?
For the mains and loops.

dazzler said:
I'm pretty sure Selby had the point-work on the station side of the bridge. There would be no need to complicate an already complicated swing bridge by running extra rails across it.
It was bad enough balancing a swing bridge at the best of times, without throwing extra stuff into the mess! (When I was in the S&T at York one of my regular drinking buddies in the Railway Institute was from the Area Civil Engineer's office, in charge of maintaining the swing bridges around York and Hull. He was particularly scathing about the decision to single the Hull docks branch and the impossibility of balancing the swing bridges for single track operation when they were designed as double track bridges!)

I seem to recall Selby had the switches on the station side of the bridge leading into loops that (properly) started on the other side, and that the reason was that if they'd been on the other side then some means would have been needed of getting the point rodding across the swing bridge. It may have been replaced by a motorised arrangement later on.

Surely a double track swing bridge needs to be balanced when there is a train on one track and not the other, so also able to cope if one track is removed leaving the remaining one off-centre?

I think gauntlet is mainly an American term and Brits tend to refer to it as interlaced. There used to (may still) be a station on the Northeast Corridor where gauntlet track was used through the high platforms because freight trains were too wide to pass them so used the further away pair of rails. The same used to happen (again may still) at Bauanatal in Germany, where near-standard urban trams without moveable steps were used as tram-trains - the platforms had to be outside the railway structure gauge and the extra rails brought the trams closer to the platform.

AndrewE · 24 Apr 2019

edwin_m said:
There used to (may still) be a station on the Northeast Corridor where gauntlet track was used through the high platforms because freight trains were too wide to pass them so used the further away pair of rails. The same used to happen (again may still) at Bauanatal in Germany, where near-standard urban trams without moveable steps were used as tram-trains - the platforms had to be outside the railway structure gauge and the extra rails brought the trams closer to the platform.

Well well well!
That's exactly what I suggested about a year ago, to allow HS2 and NPR to share the same through platforms at a new Manchester station, and was told it was unprecedented, stupid and unworkable!

MarkyT · 25 Apr 2019

AndrewE said:
Well well well!
That's exactly what I suggested about a year ago, to allow HS2 and NPR to share the same through platforms at a new Manchester station, and was told it was unprecedented, stupid and unworkable!

Definitely not a stupid idea Andrew, but if new fleets are being built for both lines then it's probably a better solution to have extending gap filler steps on the trains.

Another place where what looks like gauntlet or interlaced track exists is on mixed standard (1435mm) and Russian (1520mm) gauge routes in eastern Europe. The gauges are too close to simply allow a third rail to be introduced as the foot of the two closest rails, and their fixings and any switches, would interfere with each other. Hence four rails are employed. Another four rail arrangement that might easily be mistaken for gauntlet is a unique three gauge system in Australia, catering for mixed standard (1435mm), Irish (1600mm) and Cape (1067mm) gauges. Irish and standard, or (Irish or standard) and cape can normally be mixed with only 3 rails as they're all sufficiently different to avoid interference. Just imagining track circuit bonding arrangements for such schemes is starting to give me a headache...

Glenmutchkin · 25 Apr 2019

View media item 3383

30907 said:
Dutchflyer is right re different gauges sharing the same route - I think we would simply say mixed or dual (or triple!) gauge. Gauntlet/interlaced is more typically used where double track is involved, as in the Belgian example, and I think is much more common on tramways (is there yet another term for the very elongated pointwork in Croydon?).

There is (or was in 2011) an example of gauntletting of 2'0" and 5'6" tracks on a bridge between New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri in West Bengal. The 2'0" track was totally separated from and within the broad gauge, and was the southern end section of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Edited to add a photo which I took in 2011 and originally posted on the India Mike forum.

Jan · 25 Apr 2019

gysev said:
This summer, the last gauntlet track on the Belgian network will be replaced by two switches.

There still is the Gemmenicher Tunnel, though. While that one is actually double tracked, one of the running lines has an additional set of interlaced rails shifted towards the middle of the tunnel for trains exceeding the normal loading gauge.

30907 said:
(is there yet another term for the very elongated pointwork in Croydon?).

I'm wondering about that myself, especially as we have a few of those points in a project at work (German company working on some international tram project), but no idea what the recognised term for them would be in English. I've also seen them in Manchester and Sheffield, but so far haven't been able to dig up any references as to how they're officially called. The literal translation of the German term would be something like advanced (as in "Advanced stop line") set of point blades.

MarkyT · 25 Apr 2019

Jan said:
I'm wondering about that myself, especially as we have a few of those points in a project at work (German company working on some international tram project), but no idea what the recognised term for them would be in English. I've also seen them in Manchester and Sheffield, but so far haven't been able to dig up any references as to how they're officially called. The literal translation of the German term would be something like advanced (as in "Advanced stop line") set of point blades.

I would term the feature an 'extended turnout'. They are an unusual feature even on tramways, but are useful to place the moving switch components clear of a busy road junction area where the natural divergence of alignments occurs. In these cases, placing the switches at the natural turnout position would expose them to more damage from passing road traffic and they would be very difficult to maintain and repair or operate manually if an actuator failed. The technique for extending the turnout from the switch to the crossing at the natural turnout is definitely 'gauntletting' or 'interlacing'.

STEVIEBOY1 · 25 Apr 2019

Do they have something similar in some of the tunnels on the Hastings line?

MarkyT · 25 Apr 2019

STEVIEBOY1 said:
Do they have something similar in some of the tunnels on the Hastings line?

No, they're all single track sections with turnouts. That's more flexible, as you can also use them for crossing over between the up and down lines in all directions in case of temporary single line working. In a signalled move at Mountfield, the single line through the nearby tunnel is used by down empties from Tonbridge to gain access to the Gypsum siding on the up side.

gysev · 25 Apr 2019

Jan said:
There still is the Gemmenicher Tunnel, though. While that one is actually double tracked, one of the running lines has an additional set of interlaced rails shifted towards the middle of the tunnel for trains exceeding the normal loading gauge.

The third track inside the Gemmenicher tunnel is not really a gauntled track as it still involves some switches.

ChiefPlanner · 25 Apr 2019

The Viverais had it from main Tournon , sharing with RFF main line , until it was ceased some years ago.

30907 · 26 Apr 2019

ChiefPlanner said:
The Viverais had it from main Tournon , sharing with RFF main line , until it was ceased some years ago.

Fond memories... it was conventional mixed gauge though, like the JHMD in Czechia and sundry examples in Switzerland.

Belgium: last gauntlet track to be replaced

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