Chapter: Civil : Railway Airport Harbour Engineering : Railway Engineering : Track Junctions and Simple Track Layouts
Gauntletted Railway Track
Gauntletted Track
This is a temporary diversion provided on a double-line track
to allow one of the tracks to shift and pass through the other track. Both the
tracks run together on the same sleepers. It proves to be a useful connection
when one side of a bridge on a double-line section is required to be blocked
for major repairs or rebuilding. The speciality of this layout is that there
are two crossings at the ends and no switches [Fig. 15.13 (a)].
Gauntletted tracks are also used on sections where trains have
to operate on mixed gauges, say, both BG and MG, for a short stretch. In such
cases both the tracks are laid on the same set of wooden sleepers [Fig.
15.13(b)].
The
salient features of the gauntletted track are as follows.
(a) Two
tracks are laid on the same sleepers with two sets of crossings without any
switches.
(b) Gauntletted
tracks can be economically used for mixed gauge, i.e., say, for tracks with
both BG and MG.
(c) This
layout is used when part of a double-line bridge is under repair. It is also
used to economize the cost of a double-line bridge.
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