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Post by nw611 on Sept 13, 2012 7:40:41 GMT -8
For many years I have been convinced that in North America all railroads were keeping the right hand on double track lines. Recently I saw some videos where trains were running on the left hand. Does anybody have an answer? Thanks. Ciao. Raffaele
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Post by TREBOR on Sept 13, 2012 7:50:53 GMT -8
C&NW ran left handed and UP still follows this practice in most ex Northwestern areas.
Some mountain areas in west, I think UP with joint BNSF will operate left handed for grade reasons. Many many other areas on many roads use Centralized Traffic Control or will operate with track warrants any track any direction.
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Post by fr8kar on Sept 13, 2012 7:59:27 GMT -8
Raffaele,
I can only speak for GCOR railroads, since I don't work back east, but I suspect there too the answer is not very simple. Two main tracks may be classified as Double Track or as Multiple Main Tracks. Double Track is how you're thinking, where the Current of Traffic is specified in a particular direction for one track and the opposite direction for the other track. Now, it's not always right hand movement, but tends to be that way.
The other scenario is that you're looking at Multiple Main Tracks. These are two or more main tracks that are used according to the timetable. In other words, movement could be specified in both directions for both tracks.
In BNSF and UP timetables the difference is made clear between Double Track and Multiple Main Tracks for any point along the line. UP timetables even have a little schematic that shows the route with any switches you would encounter along the main. BNSF timetables are a little more basic and omit the schematic, but also indicate by station what the type of track is.
I hope this makes sense - it was a long night...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2012 8:00:27 GMT -8
Pennsylvania was the biggest left hand side runner.
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Post by bnsf971 on Sept 13, 2012 8:45:23 GMT -8
Many railroads will run "wrong main" to help even out where from wheels on the track.
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Post by Brakie on Sept 13, 2012 8:55:44 GMT -8
Todays railroads seem to be bidirectional on either track.
So,expect in train from either direction on either track.
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Post by calzephyr on Sept 14, 2012 8:06:07 GMT -8
Todays railroads seem to be bidirectional on either track. So,expect in train from either direction on either track. Good point! We have left hand running on Donner Pass due to the second track being built much later than the original and lessor grades was planned on the second track. The Southern Pacific and now the UP still uses the left hand running East out of Rocklin using a flyover at Rocklin and a flyover back to right hand running before Colfax. On the Westbound trains out of Sparks, the same procedure is still used today to Truckee for the same reason except there are not flyovers now. The SP only had a single track East of Sparks. These were isolated cases and the general SP was Right Hand running on double tracks. The first picture below was taken at Newcastle showing the normal left running procedure for Eastbound trains. Notice how fast # 1 drops off the left. That is the orginal track built in 1861. Either main can be used if it is required but the #2 main is longer and the grade is much less. The second picture shows the flyover at Rocklin to allow the #2 track to run left handed. This was created when the # 2 main was installed many years ago. Larry   |
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Post by edwardsutorik on Sept 14, 2012 13:49:53 GMT -8
Pennsylvania was the biggest left hand side runner. That's a surprise to me. Could you document that? Ed |
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Post by calzephyr on Sept 14, 2012 17:40:52 GMT -8
Pennsylvania was the biggest left hand side runner. That's a surprise to me. Could you document that? Ed The St. Louis and Chicago main lines were right hand running tracks for the PRR. All of my pictures show RH only at the time of steam. Larry |
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cvacr
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Post by cvacr on Sept 19, 2012 11:18:04 GMT -8
A pretty decent summary above.
Early double track* mainlines had each track designated for a travel in a specific direction. Usually this was set up as right-hand running. CNW (maybe others?) set it up opposite. When automatic block signals were added, they were added in only the direction of travel for each track. There were rules about operating by signal indication on tracks in one direction.
When these lines were upgraded to CTC, it's now 2 main tracks* fully signalled in both directions. There is no specified direction for any track.
* Note that there is actually a semantic difference between "double track" and "2 or more main tracks" as above.
Most areas of double track (current of traffic) ABS have now been upgraded to CTC. There are still some operating examples, but it's getting pretty rare.
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cvacr
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Post by cvacr on Sept 19, 2012 11:56:08 GMT -8
Many railroads will run "wrong main" to help even out where from wheels on the track. There's very few places anymore where "wrong main" (proper term: against current of traffic) is even a concept anymore. CTC lines are bi-directional on all tracks. Actually running against current of traffic required special orders to be given and opposing trains need to be specifically held against it. By comparison, running a whole fleet of trains with current of traffic on the correct track is basically a "fire-and forget" with trains being governed by the ABS signal indications. It could be done, all the operating rules were there to support it, but it would have been a pain, and not done lightly. I highly doubt a railroad would routinely send a train against current of traffic just to wear the rails a little. If the rails are wearing out, a rail grinding train will correct the profile of BOTH rails. |
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