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interlaced track

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Wyvern

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The thread "Busiest Section of Single Track in UK" has made me wonder if there are lengths of gauntlet track left on the British main railway. I know there used to be a section at a Midland Railway station in Derbyshire so that only one platform need be provided.
 
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MidnightFlyer

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None left on heavy rail but I think there is small parts on The London Tramlink in Cryodon and Mitcham, as well as parts on the Nottingham tram network.
 

route:oxford

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The thread "Busiest Section of Single Track in UK" has made me wonder if there are lengths of gauntlet track left on the British main railway. I know there used to be a section at a Midland Railway station in Derbyshire so that only one platform need be provided.

Could you explain what gauntlet track is?
 

Wyvern

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Three answers.

That's helpfulness for you!

Dont get that everywhere.

:lol:
 

Peter Mugridge

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Isn't this done in one of the tunnels on the Hastings line as a means of being able to use standard bodyshell stock so that they didn't have to re-bore it during electrification?
 

Railsigns

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Isn't this done in one of the tunnels on the Hastings line as a means of being able to use standard bodyshell stock so that they didn't have to re-bore it during electrification?
No; the line is conventional single track through those tunnels, with points at both ends.
 

4SRKT

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The Belfast > Dublin main line certainly used to be gauntleted over the Boyne Bridge at Drogheda. Not sure if it still is though.
 

Peter Mugridge

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I'm sure that they did fit at least one of the tunnels with a shared inner rail on that line, which is pretty much the same thing given that it still only allows one direction to be used at any one time like with single track?
 

Railsigns

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The Belfast > Dublin main line certainly used to be gauntleted over the Boyne Bridge at Drogheda. Not sure if it still is though.
Not any more. It's ordinary single track now.
 

MidnightFlyer

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What are the advantages of gauntlet track over normal single track? I don't see what benefits this gives.

Suppose it allows two lines to remain in place without having to have junctions for the narrow strecthes of track :D
 

Wyvern

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Yes you dont need moveable switches, only signalling of some kind.
 

Death

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Suppose it allows two lines to remain in place without having to have junctions for the narrow strecthes of track :D
Can be useful for threading two roads through where there's only the physical clearance for one...But I'd imagine the removal of old Gauntlets would most likely have been ordered by the HSE, as - Without a lot of specialist detection and interlocking equipment being installed - There's no way of preventing two trains entering the same section from opposite ends and colliding. With Gauntlets, each "pair" of rails can still be electrically isolated from each other, meaning that track circuits wouldn't be effective for protection. :!:

That said; Gauntlets take up less space than two roads as we've already determined...But surely a mile of Gauntlet would cost no less than a mile of dual-road because the former still has the same quantity of steel and requires specialised sleepers...Is that right? :?:
 

Old Timer

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The correct UK usage is Interlaced track. No one in the UK will understand the term gauntlet, except welders for example.

Pedant mode OFF



Can be useful for threading two roads through where there's only the physical clearance for one...But I'd imagine the removal of old Gauntlets would most likely have been ordered by the HSE, as - Without a lot of specialist detection and interlocking equipment being installed - There's no way of preventing two trains entering the same section from opposite ends and colliding. With Gauntlets, each "pair" of rails can still be electrically isolated from each other, meaning that track circuits wouldn't be effective for protection. :!:

That said; Gauntlets take up less space than two roads as we've already determined...But surely a mile of Gauntlet would cost no less than a mile of dual-road because the former still has the same quantity of steel and requires specialised sleepers...Is that right? :?:
The track circuiting controls are common through the area of interlaced track.

The only reasoning is to remove the need for S&C which in some cases, such as remote areas in the Americas, are not desirable in some locations. With interlaced track you only have to deal with the initial signalling controls.

In terms of track ballast, etc, interlaced track is normally provided where there is a physical obstruction or other feature (such as a river bridge, which would make doubling expensive in comparison to the advantages gained by not requiring to spend the investment. There are obvious savings but these are minimal and really only relate to ballast, and the obvious saving of the S&C and the control systems for it.
 
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Trog

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The correct UK usage is Interlaced track. No one in the UK will understand the term gauntlet.

Pedant mode OFF


I would have but then I don't get out much. :lol:


Interlaced track was also used in the 1980's on the WCML north of Northampton when the up side fell off UB 30.
 
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