There is a prototype for everything... (Worldwide Rail)

[cteno4]

Not the hot passion of France?!

 

jeff

[disturbman]

We have hot passions, but they are R rated.

We keep our points unfrozen with electrical heating, not with flames and heavy metal like 🤘 barbarians.

Edited February 4, 2022 by disturbman

[JR East]

Amazing US !

[railsquid]

Meanwhile in Japan:

 

 

(Nanbu Line today; burning leaf fall apparently - it's the dry season at the moment)

 

[railsquid]

Always wanted to run some maroon Mk1 coaches from Britain but your layout is US outline?

 

 

[Kamome]

It looked so tiny in front of the American coach.

Edited February 9, 2022 by Kamome

[Kamome]

On 2/4/2022 at 12:03 PM, railsquid said:

Ever wanted to run your trains over flaming track?

 

 

Great Scott!

 

88mph looks a lot slower these days.

[MeTheSwede]

How common is this?

I was visiting the city of Norrköping yesterday, by means of buses, trains and trams, and realised the streets of my layout aren't too narrow for tram lines after all. This is what a double track looks like when the street narrows down to a single lane:

 

 

 

 

 

And this is not a point, it's a compressed pair of tracks returning to their normal wider configuration.

 

 

 

A piece of rolling stock in case anyone is interested.

 

 

I also learned from navigating around some major road work on foot that the city is currently in the process of constructing another tram line. It's nice to see more tram tracks are being laid.

 

 

 

[Cat]

6 hours ago, MeTheSwede said:

How common is this?

I was visiting the city of Norrköping yesterday, by means of buses, trains and trams, and realised the streets of my layout aren't too narrow for tram lines after all. This is what a double track looks like when the street narrows down to a single lane:

 

And this is not a point, it's a compressed pair of tracks returning to their normal wider configuration.

 

 

I also learned from navigating around some major road work on foot that the city is currently in the process of constructing another tram line. It's nice to see more tram tracks are being laid.

 

That's really cool!
 
I've built a lot of train tracks into Norrköping, but not tram lines — we play a fair amount of Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries here at home.
: 3

[marknewton]

7 hours ago, MeTheSwede said:

This is what a double track looks like when the street narrows down to a single lane:

That's what is known in English-speaking countries as gauntlet track, although in the USA it's apparently called "gantlet" track.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Yavianice]

7 hours ago, MeTheSwede said:

How common is this?

I've seen this in several tram cities. Here is an example in Amsterdam. It is an efficient design to keep directions separated without the need of a point (of failure). 

[chadbag]

3 hours ago, marknewton said:

although in the USA it's apparently called "gantlet" track.

 

Sorry for our ignorance.  I'd never heard of "gantlet", but supposedly it is the original form of the word and up through the 18th century was the normal word (for the non-glove, parallel line version of gauntlet).  So I guess the US just never updated and stuck with the colonial form of the word.

 

https://grammarist.com/usage/gantlet-gauntlet/

[railsquid]

There used to be one on the Bösebrücke in Berlin (picture) but apparently it was replaced relatively recently by an arrangement with a single pair of rails and sprung points at either end.  (Historical note:  prior to 1990 this was a border crossing and the one where the Berlin Wall was first "opened" in 1989, and also the first tram route to be rebuilt post-unification).

 

 

[railsquid]

Just an original-ish orange TGV running along some tram tracks. In Brno.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by railsquid

[Giugiaro]

Oh, CD changed logo?

[maihama eki]

The front of the train could be stopped at one tram station while the back is stopped at the prior.

 

I am surprised to find that the Brno trams and the TGV are the same track gauge.

[railsquid]

So you think roundy-roundy trainset-like track arrangements are unprototypical? Think again:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0935009,-102.7905358,1330m/data=!3m1!1e3

[JR East]

12 hours ago, railsquid said:

So you think roundy-roundy trainset-like track arrangements are unprototypical? Think again:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0935009,-102.7905358,1330m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

I've worked as IT Contractor a couple of weeks in Alliance, NB in BNSF Facilities. One workshop is for diesel locomotives (the one I was working in) and the other to the maintenance of coal wagons. This line is a huge coal fret line. Alliance, NB is the main facility. 

 

Very good souvenirs despite it was prohibited to shoot at that time (probably due to the post 9/11) ... what I didn't faced in Washington DC

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by JR East
typos

[bill937ca]

On 2/25/2022 at 3:43 AM, MeTheSwede said:

How common is this?

I was visiting the city of Norrköping yesterday, by means of buses, trains and trams, and realised the streets of my layout aren't too narrow for tram lines after all. This is what a double track looks like when the street narrows down to a single lane:

 

 

 

 

 

And this is not a point, it's a compressed pair of tracks returning to their normal wider configuration.

 

 

 

A piece of rolling stock in case anyone is interested.

 

 

I also learned from navigating around some major road work on foot that the city is currently in the process of constructing another tram line. It's nice to see more tram tracks are being laid.

 

 

 

Not totally unheard of. Milan used to have several gauntlet turnouts.  Lisbon has a gauntlet section on the busy tram 28 in Alfama. Carris 574 enters the gauntlet section on Escolas Gerais, May 17, 2011.

 

 

[bill937ca]

On 2/25/2022 at 3:43 AM, MeTheSwede said:

How common is this?

I was visiting the city of Norrköping yesterday, by means of buses, trains and trams, and realised the streets of my layout aren't too narrow for tram lines after all. This is what a double track looks like when the street narrows down to a single lane:

 

 

 

You want narrow streets and trams?  Lisbon is the world champ.  This is Rua das Escolas Gerais and the photos were taken 17 July 2015. This is two-way track controlled by traffic lights with auto traffic in one direction only. Waiting for the tram I watch for vibrations on the wires.

I have to plan my shot so I have an alley or doorway to duck into when the tram comes. From inside the tram you can reach out and touch the walls.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by bill937ca

[Cat]

Well, Lisbon wins for running the gantlet!
 
Here's a more leisurely example in Amsterdam:

 

[bill937ca]

Another gauntlet track location is Malostranské náměstí in Prague. Engineers determined that switch motors would be worn out by the constant all day traffic which about one set every 2 minutes in each direction.

 

Actually, come to think of it there is a section of gauntlet track in Milan on tram #3 where it passes through an arch. This is fairly common on European systems.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by bill937ca

[Welshbloke]

The Berninabahn has something similar at Alp Grüm, although theirs looks to be a way of getting the longest possible loop in the station without needing to put a set of points on a tight curve at one end.

[railsquid]

Deutsche Reichsbahn diesel (BR 118) hauling some modern DB IC double-deckers along a residential road:

 

 

[Giugiaro]

Someone forgot to check the scale of the train they ordered.