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From: jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji)
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: Signals and Safety
Message-ID: <1701@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 09:52:31 EST
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.1701
Posted: Tue Mar  4 09:52:31 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 5-Mar-86 05:33:13 EST
References: <6389@utzoo.UUCP> <3236@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1680@mtgzz.UUCP> <1346@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Middletown NJ
Lines: 25

> I think you will find that the Maryland section actually has three tracks.
> Two which run the passenger trains.  In addition, there is a nearly
> parallel Chessie line from the Susquehanna to the other side of Baltimore.

Yes there are three tracks through most of MD. Two of those tracks are
maintained for 120mph and one at 110mph. Naturally the tracks of choice for
the passenger trains are the 120mph tracks, but in normal operations both
freight and passenger any of the three tracks as convenient. Conrail runs
several freights every day, to the Potomac yard from Havre-de-Grace over
this Amtrak trackage. 

If you ever go to the New Carrolton MD station you will notice that the
tracks that run next to the platform has a peculiar feature for handling
freight trains, which have a wider loading gauge than the passenger trains.
Those tracks consist of a pair of gauntleted tracks. The inner track is used
by passenger trains, so that there doors come close to the platform when
they stop at that station. The outer pair is used by freights to ensure that
they do not swipe away half the platform with them when they pass by.

There was a very nice article on the operations on the NE Corridor between
New York and Washington DC in one of the issues of Trains Magazine (which
issue I forget) last year. If any of you are interested in that subject, the
article is highly recommended.

Jishnu