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Turnback Loops

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Bald Rick

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There used to be a loop on the Northern Line south of Embankment that ran under the Thames.

Indeed, and two small parts of it are still used, the Northbound platform at Embankment, and a tiny piece of the southbound line crosses the loop at right angles ;)
 
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Ianno87

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Indeed, and two small parts of it are still used, the Northbound platform at Embankment, and a tiny piece of the southbound line crosses the loop at right angles ;)

And part of the abandoned section was breached and flooded by a WW2 bomb.
 

Bigman

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Do run-round loops count here? If so, there is still one at Bradford Interchange I believe.
 

pdeaves

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Various tram depots have loop arrangements. Nottingham, Edinburgh and the 'south west' Manchester Metrolink depot (What's it called? - Trafford?) that I know of.
 

Steve Harris

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Do run-round loops count here? If so, there is still one at Bradford Interchange I believe.
Sorry, Nope.

As I understand it the OP means a loop where the front of the loco/train faces direction of travel at all times.

In the Kennington example the front is facing south on arrival (train goes round the loop) and then faces north on its departure.
 

Bigman

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Yes, sorry, I should have known that. The one at Bispham on the Blackpool tram system comes to mind then.
 

Galvanize

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For Trolleybuses...I remember a Bartender in a Micropub in Bournemouth (just a stone’s throw from where the former Bournemouth West Terminus used to be) telling me there used to be a Turntable for the Trolleybuses in Christchurch as space was rather confined for a proper turning circle! Apparently it still exists but it’s not in a public area...and obviously without any wires!

He just started mentioning Trams and Trolleybuses after bringing my drink to the table when he saw me reading a book I’d bought secondhand earlier in the day! I wouldn’t have known that otherwise!
 

kevconnor

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Various tram depots have loop arrangements. Nottingham, Edinburgh and the 'south west' Manchester Metrolink depot (What's it called? - Trafford?) that I know of.
It is Trafford Depot it has one here


there is also a very tight loop at Sheffield Supertram Depot too

 

AndrewE

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A turnback loop by definition is beyond the terminus, those are not...
Not necessarily... I have been on (foreign) trams where the terminus is on - or just is - the turnback loop.
Krakow comes to mind: out east, past the steelworks and its new town and terminate at a grassy loop by a cemetery, if I remember right. Flower shops, cafes, very civilised.
 

swt_passenger

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Not necessarily... I have been on (foreign) trams where the terminus is on - or just is - the turnback loop.
Krakow comes to mind: out east, past the steelworks and its new town and terminate at a grassy loop by a cemetery, if I remember right. Flower shops, cafes, very civilised.
Ok, beyond, or at, or forming the actual terminus.

But definitely not the Kingston or Hounslow loops which were the context of my earlier reply...
 

eastwestdivide

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Turnback loop not at a terminus here (google maps) on the Belgian coastal tram:

Just E of De Haan, allowing a tram to terminate at De Haan, a long way short of the line's terminus, and then go a short distance E to turn back W towards Ostende instead of carrying on towards Zeebrugge/Knokke etc.
I've an idea there might be others on that system.
 

dazzler

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For Trolleybuses...I remember a Bartender in a Micropub in Bournemouth (just a stone’s throw from where the former Bournemouth West Terminus used to be) telling me there used to be a Turntable for the Trolleybuses in Christchurch as space was rather confined for a proper turning circle! Apparently it still exists but it’s not in a public area...and obviously without any wires!

There was a turntable on Albert Road in Queensbury (Bradford Trolleybus system) as well, for the same reason - nowhere to put a loop.
 

Snow1964

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On minature railways Beckonscott (Beconsfield), and Great Cockrow (Chertsey) have them as the return is along same track for part the route. Admittedly can’t ride first one.

There used to be one in Southampton new docks and could get back to old docks without reversing

For Trolleybuses...I remember a Bartender in a Micropub in Bournemouth (just a stone’s throw from where the former Bournemouth West Terminus used to be) telling me there used to be a Turntable for the Trolleybuses in Christchurch as space was rather confined for a proper turning circle! Apparently it still exists but it’s not in a public area...and obviously without any wires!

He just started mentioning Trams and Trolleybuses after bringing my drink to the table when he saw me reading a book I’d bought secondhand earlier in the day! I wouldn’t have known that otherwise!

When I was young my Dad took me to see it, the buses were turned by hand, literally pushed on corner. I was only 5 as ended in 1969

It remained in a Courtyard car park off Church Road and there is a blue heritage plaque on the building, hopefully this streetview link shows it

 
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SECR263

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Croydon Tramlink town centre loop.
That reminds me some years ago lots of consultation about putting another town centre loop in so you could loop stuff from EC to EC via Dingwall Rd and Downe Rd to save time looping via West C. Nothing happened of course.
 

gg1

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although I guess the fancy express sets on the LNER needed turned in full?

Assuming you're referring to the LNER's beavertail observation cars, they were detached from their train and turned separately, the full train itself wasn't turned.
 

SHD

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Early Paris metro termini were designed as turning loops and several of those are still in operation (e.g Étoile now line 6, Porte Dauphine Line 2). In two cases, the turning loop was large and one-way only stations were set up : Auteuil (now line 10) and Pré-Saint-Gervais (now line 7b)
 

MarkyT

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A historical example was the Stadium Loop installed by the LNER for the Wembley Empire Exhibition of 1924-1925, incorporating a single track one-way station, initially 'Exhibition Station (Wembley)', then 'Wembley Exhibition' for a frequent shuttle service from Marylebone. The line from Marylebone to Neasden was also resignalled using the latest high capacity automatic multi-aspect colour light signalling to accommodate the density of additional exhibition traffic alongside regular services using the terminus. This was the first such installation of continuous colour light signalling on a mainline railway company in the UK, although similar technology had already been deployed on underground railways. Much of the planning for this project had been carried out under the Great Central Railway before the 1922 grouping. The loop and station survived the exhibition for special event services in years to come, with the station being renamed 'Wembley Stadium' until its final closure in 1969.
 

satisnek

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If we're talking miniature railways, does anybody else remember the Southsea Miniature Railway? The station was on Clarence Esplanade, about where the Blue Reef Aquarium is today, and the line ran alongside the sea wall out to a balloon loop which was taken in an anticlockwise direction, from memory. Arriving back at the station, the loco was uncoupled, drew forward onto a turntable and after turning ran round the train. Apart from that, all I can remember was that it was green and it wasn't steam!

The last time I saw the line was in 1984, when it seemed to be in a derelict state. The balloon loop was much smaller than I remembered, but that was because I was much bigger by then!

Interestingly, the historical views on Google Earth go back to 1985 for this area, but sadly it's just fuzz and no detail can be seen.
 

ChrisB

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The West Somerset has a triangle (so not a loop as established above) just next to the GWR main line.
 

Dr_Paul

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The Fairbourne Railway has a loop at the top end, although I don't think it's in use these days.
 

Crisps

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Does Newcastle count? Although not specifically built as one, the King Edward and High Level bridges essentially form a south-facing turn back loop.
 

61653 HTAFC

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There was a turntable on Albert Road in Queensbury (Bradford Trolleybus system) as well, for the same reason - nowhere to put a loop.
There was one in Longwood, Huddersfield too. It apparently sat abandoned but complete for around 20 years before eventually being dismantled. The site had long since become a turning circle for conventional diesel buses.
 

dm1

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That depends on whether you include historic tram networks :D
 
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