From an Australian point of view where traffic of rail and road runs predominantly on the left, how many sections of left hand running are there in the US and Canada and where are they? I was always of the belief that apart from C&NW that ATSF had long stretches of LH running across the Mojave and Arizona and there is a long section of CP Rail somewhere in Ontario. I realise that the effect of LH running is got though the Left hand line because of easier grades is common.
Care to share the Southpaw sections so we can “collate” them and satisfy my curiosity please? I would be interested in location and approximate length.
Bi-directional signaling has been quite common for many years in North America.The Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway operated left handed because of grades on Proctor hill which still remains double track from Proctor to Duluth.The C&NW did operate left handed on the C&NW proper but the Omaha Road operated right handed on its double track sections. The C&NW’s 400 between Minneapolis/ St Paul and Chicago would have been operated right handed over the Omaha trackage east of St Paul.
Two locations I know of are westbounds from Toledo Ohio to Elkhart Indiana on the old NYC/CR main so that freights can enter Elkhart yard on the south side while not interfering with eastbound Amtrak trains that stop at Toledo. Shorter stretch but same logic from Inianapolis to Avon yard about eight miles out of town.
The BNSF ex Santa Fe Cajon pass line runs left handed to the flyover at Frost. This is so the downhill trains can use the steeper 3%track.
The UPs ex SP Donner pass line is left hand running over much of the western slope, although the tracks are seperated for most of that. This is so the eastbounds can use the easier grade of the newer 2nd track .
Much of the original SP-WP paired track in northern Nevada is left hand running. The WP is the eastbound and the SP the westbound track. The WP is north of the SP from Weso to ?Baeowe makeing that left handed running (although again the tracks are mostly seperated).
Thanks for the replies so far guys… any others please?
In Australia there are a few bidirectional lines nearer to the cities mainly, Adelaide where the Broad and Standard Gauge through the hills are both bidirectional so give the impression of Right Hand Running. Also where I live in Victoria, the line from about Caroline Springs to Sunshine is bidirectional as well as many prts of the Geelong Line west of Newport station. Our Drivers( Engineers) drive on the left side of the loco and the standard EMD controls for the throttle and dynamic brake are reversed. Alco GE’s had their control stands in a left hand version so that was not a problem for us.
Just a bit of feedback and thanks and hope this is of interest to you…
The significant one in Canada was roughly between Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Winnipeg, Manitoba on the CPR. The east end was at an operating point called “Dexter”, located 7 miles west of the downtown station. It was at grade, and I suspect that the trains crossed over using crossovers at grade. The west end reverted to conventional right hand running using a flyover near Molson, about 35 miles east of Winnipeg, for a total distance of somewhat under 400 miles. When the line was double tracked, in some areas the two tracks became separated and the grades were easier for eastbound trains if the train ran on the left side. The heaviest trains carried eastbound grain from the prairies heading for the lakehead terminals.
When CTC was installed in the 1980s the directional distinction disappeared. Subsequently much of the territory has become single track, using the better of the two alignments in the separated areas.
I seem to recall another very short segment may have been a double track section through the Connaught Tunnel in Rogers Pass, also on CP, for about 6 miles. In this case I think it was mostly to provide better vision ahead for the steam engineers. The second track was removed and the remaining track moved to a more central location to provide clearance for more modern taller cars in the 1960s.
In the early days there may well have been others considering the British influence, but at that time double track would have been quite rare. Even at the peak, double track territory was not particularly common. CPR had it on other large segments of their transcontinental route west of Sudbury, and also in the vicinity of Montreal and Toronto. CN featured it mostly in the Montreal-Chicago corridor, to the best of my knowledge. To be clear, these were all conventional right-hand running.
The joint BNSF/UP route up Cajon Pass in California is left hand, but the BNSF route across the rest of the Mojave and northern Arizona is right-handed.
IIRC, the section of UP main parallel to I-80 in Echo Canyon (running from the Wyoming border to the junction with I-84) is left-hand, since the north track is built on an easier grade than the shorter south track. Not sure of the length, but I believe it’s longer than the Cajon Pass run.
Back when the New York Central had four tracks it often ran as two parallel double track mains on one roadbed, which put the two center tracks in a left-hand running relationship to each other. Not sure of the locations where that might have been the case, and I rather doubt that they exist now.
Between Benson and Tucson in southern Arizona the two tracks of the UP (ex-SP) main cross each other and run left-handed for a while - but on completely separate rights-of-way and a considerable distance apart.
Can’t think of any others off-hand, but my knowledge is hardly encyclopedic.
(Of course, my prototype runs left-handed, but it’s not in North America.)
Between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming all routes of the Union Pacific mainline are Centralized Traffic Control, so trains can and do run in any direction on any track. But there is a general pattern of operation.
Eastbounds leaving Laramie generally follow either of the two north tracks, otherwise known as nos. 1 and 2. Westbound “shooters” almost always following mainline no. 3 while westbound tonnage freights descend the hill either on nos. 2 or 3.
At the twin bores of Hermosa Tunnel, the three main tracks on the west side of Sherman Hill reduce to two. Main track no. 1 continues straight into the north bore, but just short of the tunnels the route of main track no. 2 splits at a wye switch. From here, main track no. 2 can either send trains through the north bore or the south bore.
More often than not, eastbounds climbing up Sherman Hill are routed through the north bore. The train dispatcher does this in order to keep the south bore open for westbound traffic. Thus at the west entrance of the Hermosa Tunnels eastbounds usually begin running “left handed” on main track no. 1 all the way into Cheyenne.
Coming out of Cheyenne, most westbounds will run left handed all the way through the Hermosa Tunnels. Those trains with enough ponies will take the original alignment up the Hill on mainline no. 2. Tonnage trains like coal, grain, and manifest traffic (some doublestacks too) will take the newer 1953-alignment otherwise known as mainline no. 3.
When a westbound reaches the outskirts of the Hermosa Tunnels at Dale Junction, invariably the dispatcher will line the trai
To update tomikawaTT’s May 31, 2010 post, the Sunset Route is completely two-tracked now between Tuscon, AZ and El Paso, TX. While both tracks are CTC bi-directional, there seems to be a general bias toward right hand running. At Cienega Creek, AZ, not too far east of Tuscon, one track goes over the other, and from there west the line is generally left hand bias to Tuscon. The below photo shows the bridge of the track that goes over the other track, which other track unfortunately is unseen in the photo. The November 2007 TRAINS has a very good photo of one track going over the other.
Sometime in the future, Sunset Route two-tracking will continue westward, so that eventually Pomona, CA will be reached. Between Colton and Los Angeles (with Pomona in between them) the old Los Angeles & Salt Lake line enters the picture, which when combined with the Southern Pacific Sunset Route, is currently right hand biased. It is believed that when two-tracking is completed to Pomona, that right hand bias will change to a left hand bias account of the reversal at Cienega Creek in AZ.
So, tomikawaTT, the left hand running map you are mentally composing will surely and dramatically change in the next decade in the southwest as more of the Sunset Route is two-tracked.
The left hand bias between Laramie and Cheyenne WY that Bob-Fryml mentioned in his post above this one, is an operating headache for UP, as the right hand biases on each side of the Laramie-Cheyenne section clas
To call the BNSF triple-track up Cajon Pass to be left-hand running is to simplify a bit too much, in my opinion. I have stood on top of the Summit cut and watched three trains pass at the same time. One went down Track #1 (left hand). One went down #3 (right hand). One came up the middle on #2 (?). That last one could be either RH or LH, depending on your perspective.
I have also stood on old Rte 66 just below Sullivan’s Curve and watched two stack trains drag race up #2 and #3 while a manifest freight coasted down #1. That is the LHR that I think you meant. When there is a lot of westbound traffic, it is apparent that BNSF will send trains down any of the 3 tracks. I do not recall any going up track #1. Possibly during construction?
At Fullerton station in SoCal we have a triple track main that splits into a double track main going south to San Diego (Metrolink) and a double track main going east to points east (BNSF) at Fullerton Junction within sight of the station. The line runs due east/west and track 1 is on the north side.
Most passenger trains (54 -56 a day on weekdays) use right hand running. Rarely, when track work requires it, they come into the station on the left. The eastbound Southwest Chief, however, almost always hits the station running left hand. This is the station side and makes boarding the train with luggage much easier. If a Pacific Surfliner comes in from San Diego while the Chief is present, it will be on track #3: LHR. Once in a great while the Chief will come in RH on track #3. I have never seen this.
The freights almost never take the San Diego turn. I think local freights do this sometimes but I have never seen it. And they have no pattern as to running RH or LH or straight up the middle, either east or west.
Once I saw an eastbound freight come in slowly and stop right by the station cafe on #2, the middle track. The conductor climbed down and went to the cafe for two big cups of coffee. After he climbed back up a freight came westbound, also on track #2. The westbound crossed over at the switches just before the station and roared past the station on #1 (RH). Fifteen or twenty minutes later the eastbound Chief drifted in on #1 (LH) and began getting passengers on board.
While this was going on a northbound (westbound) Pacific Surfliner pulled in on track #3 (LH). The freight got a yellow signal and started to creep up to speed (he was heavy). At about the same time the Chief buttoned up and pulled out. By the time the Chief had disappeared around the curve on the eastbound main the freight engine was just getting to the end of the station. The real fun was wa
