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From: carnellp@usrcv1.DEC
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: Signals and Safety
Message-ID: <1567@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: Fri, 7-Mar-86 11:45:24 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.1567
Posted: Fri Mar  7 11:45:24 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 10-Mar-86 08:17:46 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.DEC.COM
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 39


>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.

Actually, the original reason for these gauntlet tracks had nothing to do with
freight service. They were put in by the Pennsy around 1964 when the old
Beltway station was built so that the trackage would retain its 100+ mph FRA
rating for through trains. You see not all trains stopped at the Beltway
station, as a matter of fact most of the through trains were Metroliners. The
advantages for freight trafic just came as an extra bennie. All freights are
supposed to use the third track, behind the platforms, and so wouldn,t even use
the guantlets. 

I have not been back there for a few years but I think the gauntlets were
removed when the station was moved to the Metro station. Instead, large wooden
blanks were attached to the platform edge and the freights just chew them up
and they get replaced a lot. 

But if you are a gauntlet fan, there is still the B&P tunnel gauntlet in
Baltimore. This one is for the freight trafic. It shifts the northbound track
two feet towards the center of the tunnel to allow for hi-cude and other over
sized trafic to make it around the one curve in the tunnel without hitting the
sides. Amtrak just finished a three year renovation of the tunnel during which
they had hoped to widen the area around the curve and thus remove the gauntlet.
The result was that an entire block of houses in East Baltimore had their
fronts collapse into the street one morning. The gauntlet is still there. 

Paul Carnell
Syracuse, NY

"In the end the only thing I
 can truely call my own are
 my opinions. Let's keep it
 that way!"