Gauntlet track or interlaced track (also gantlet track) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e. overlapped) such that only one pair of rails may be used at a time. Since this requires only slightly more width than a single track, all four rails can be carried on the same crossties/sleepers. Trains run on the discrete pair of rails appropriate to their direction or loading gauge.
The term gauntlet is derived not from gauntlet meaning a type of glove, but from the expression running the gauntlet (originally running the gantlope) which means running between two confining rows of adversaries; gauntlet in this sense is a "corrupt form".
Famous quotes containing the word track:
“The weary sun hath made a golden set,
And by the bright track of his fiery car
Gives token of a goodly day tomorrow.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)