Track Directions on the Prototype

Hi all

Funny question from down under.

In Sydney standard practice appears to be that a train runs on the left track when looking in the direction of travel in a situation where two tracks exist.

I think the USA does the reverse.

What is the practice in the UK? I am modelling UK circa 1950.

What would be the procedure for a three track main line, does the third track get used in both directions or just in the most frequent direction?

Many thanks

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Robson
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Andrew Robson wrote: > What is the practice in the UK? I am modelling UK circa 1950.

It has always been on the left.

It would depend on the circumstances. The centre track could be bidirectional, but it would have to be signalled that way. One of the outer tracks could be a single direction relief line in the most frequently used direction.

Cheers David

Reply to
David Bromage

Really? I definitely remember some lines where both tracks were bidirectional (Manchester Piccadilly to Oxford Road, for instance) in

1970. Not just signalled bidirectionally, but used bidirectionally on a daily basis to boot.

The Rhondda Fawr Valley was three-tracked. The middle one was the down mineral line.

Reply to
John Sullivan

Three-track lines are not common, but do exist in the UK and generally result from a rationalisation of track laouts such as the example shown in these two images.

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shows a train on the down fast at New Barnetby whilst

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shows one on the down slow.

The remaining track is the up fast - the up slow having been removed some years ago. In this example no track is bi-directional in the accepted sense.

This is also one of the rare occasions where the *up* line does not head towards the capital (i.e. London), but only because the original main line to London was via Grimsby & Louth closed some years ago.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

Hmmm! Wonder what the Scots would make of that.

Ken.

Reply to
Ken Parkes

Yes, for the most part. Some exceptions exists... I dimly recall a UP modeller explaining a section where at one point the two lines are quite widely separated as they negotiate a mountain, with quite different grade profiles. Again, dim memory, but most probably because of re-purposing two single-track mainlines after a merger to create a double track main line. They swapped running in order to get a more favorable grade in each direction. When "back out on the flat" they continue reverse running on otherwise normal mainline rather than try to cross the lines over.

Of course, this has nothing to do with your real question, so you should have ignored my entire post. :-)

-dave

Reply to
Dave Curtis

In USA it is mostly right hand running,but some lines used left hand running,such as Chicago & North Western. Around the world there are many counties where trains run on the left and cars drive on the right,such as France.

neil.

Reply to
mumbles

The London and Greenwich Railway originally ran on the right.Even after take over by the SER it continued,trains crossing over to the left outside London Bridge station.

neil.

Reply to
mumbles

In Canada, on double track mainlines (of which there are few outside the Windsor-Toronto-Montreal-Quebec corridor), right-hand running is the general rule, but tracks are signalled for both directions, with crossovers every few miles. This enables an inter-city passenger train to pass a slower freight or commuter train "wrong-track". Some stations have a platform on only one side, so a train stopping there may have to change tracks.

Reply to
MartinS

as a very broad rule, Australia, UK & Japan (china???) tend to run on the left, most others run on the right... I take the lead from the side they drive on roads... seems to track well.

3 lines have been covered elsewhere in this thread. 4 lines tend to be up/down fast + up/down local (slow) there are exceptions where large parts of the southern region have the four lines configured as down fast, down slow, up slow, up fast. One that immediately spreing to mind is Basingstoke where the two down lines and two up lines are side-by-side South of the station, the centre two roads swing under the up fast (Worting Junction) and form a two-line main to salisbury, while the remaining two form the two-line main to southampton. If they followed the down/up down/up, this junction would be far more complex in order to extract the relevant tracks off to Salisbury....

on a completely different tack, there is an up goods line that follows the western region main from langley to hayes, resulting in 5 used lines. also, the paddington re-modelling has resulted in six bi-directional lines rather than the rats-nest that used to be there (but stirred the passions more :o)

so moral of the story is... generally drive on the left but please yourself, coz no matter what you choose to do there is prolly a prototype somewhere :o) incidentally, bits of the London Underground have seperate bores that put the trains running on the right.

H

Reply to
UncleWobbly

How are the crossovers set up? Any train that runs on the wrong track for any length of time is going to have to deal with facing points, probably at speed.

-- Enzo

I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.

Reply to
Enzo Matrix

"Enzo Matrix" wrote

My guess is you're right about facing crossovers, but that's not uncommon even here in the UK although they are not particularly liked and are subject to facing point locks here. I suspect you'll find that they are not negotiated at speed though.

John.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

"UncleWobbly" wrote

Add France to your *run on the left* scenario, although they do drive on the right.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

I hate to be a pedant, but I don't think they do... I had a quick check for images in abpr and found this which does show right hand trains...

wdyt?

Reply to
UncleWobbly

the western region (for one) employs ladder junctions crossing the full width of both the main and slow lines (ealing, southall, slough etc..). in such a formation 125mph HSTs meet them head on (not diverging at that speed I hasten to add.. god, I bet the drivers dread coming up on them at 120+... you'd be checking every one... *twitch, twitch*

(for those that don't know, a ladder junction is where a single path snakes from one side of the formation to the other, using points and no cross-overs.... like this...

U D U D | | | | | | | | |\ | | | | \| | | | | | | | | | | | |\ | | | | \| | | | | | | | | | | | |\ | | | | \| | | | | | | | |

Reply to
UncleWobbly

actually I just scrolled that image up and can clearly see both lines are signalled as bi-directional... dagnabbit :o)

Reply to
UncleWobbly

I don't claim to be an expert on anything French at all, but it was discussed a while back, vis what happens at the other end of the channel tunnel.

It transpired that most of the French rail network runs on the left, however not, by any means, all of it, particularly sections that were originally run from, I think, Germany.

Ronnie

--

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Due to recent viruspams, any email containing the word "Microsoft" will not be received.

Reply to
Ronnie Clark

ah! I have seen this... you have just answered a puzzle that has been quietly in the back of my mind.

I saw a tragic clip of film where a person got hit by a train... the scenario was a train had stopped on the left hand facing the camera, unloading to the left, the passenger came off the end of the platform and proceeded to cross both tracks on the level crossing between the train and camera. just as she was leaving the six foot (gap between tracks) onto the furthest track, another train appeared at speed from behind the first, effectively overtaking... it was clear from the clip that there were only these two tracks and this wasn't a section of four-wide. It was horrific but I couldn't understand why that second train emerged going like the clappers, effectively wrong-line.

Reply to
UncleWobbly

"Enzo Matrix"

Facing points are not an issue in North America.

Spurs (sidings) come off the main track wherever they're needed. Same as crossovers. It's quite possible to have a facing point on the main track that leads straight into the turntable pit for example. The same as a spur going into an industry. A facing point, hand operated, no (mechanical) interlocking, perhaps just a detector if the track is circuited, and a railway padlock to stop unauthorised tampering. Even within interlocking, they'll be hand operated, non interlocked, switches that passenger trains negotiate.

The train stops, the headend brakemen unpadlocks and lines the switch, the train pulls forward and stops while the rear end brake man relines and padlocks the switch. BTW, enginemen NEVER line switches. That's a brakeman's job.

There was a passenger train in the Maritimes a few years ago that was diverted into a facing point industrial spur and derailed killing one or two passengers. Two local teenagers had forced the padlock and thrown the switch so that the train was diverted. The engineer saw that the switch target was indicating the switch was lined for the spur but it was too late to stop. Train derailed at about 45mph.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

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Reply to
Roger T.

Mostly you just see her flinch before she's struck by the F unit.

It happened because that's the way we do things over here. The North American approach to safety is, "There's rules, follow them and you won't get hurt!".

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

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Reply to
Roger T.

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