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Encyclopedia > Zig Zag (railway)

A railway zig zag is a way of climbing hills in difficult country with a minimal need for tunnels and heavy earthworks. For a short distance (corrosponding to the middle leg of the letter "Z"), the direction of travel is reversed, before the original direction is resumed. Disused railway tunnel now converted to pedestrian and bicycle use, near Houyet, Belgium A tunnel is an underground passage. ...


Zig zags suffer from a number of possible limitations:

  • The length of a train may be limited by length of track at the top and bottom points.
  • Reversing a train without running an engine around to the rear of the train is hazardous.
  • The process is slow.

On the other hand, zig zags may be a quick and cheap alternative to expensive and slow to build tunnels. In rail transport, a train consists of a single or several connected rail vehicles that are capable of being moved together along a guideway to transport freight or passengers from one place to another along a planned route. ... The word track can mean more than one thing. ...


Alternate names

  • In the United States, Zig Zags are called switchbacks.

Location of zig zags

Completed in 1891, the Kalamunda Zig Zag line was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perths growing railway system. ... The Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag which operated between 1870 and 1910 to take trains from cliffs overlooking the Lithgow valley to the valley floor. ... The Khyber Pass (also called the Khaiber Pass in old documents) is the most important pass connecting Pakistan with Afghanistan. ... The Cascade Tunnel is a 7. ...

See also

  • Zig Zags are often an alternative to a spiral
  • Hillclimbing (railway)

  Results from FactBites:
 
Videotrip - interesting videos, trips, travels, expeditions and more (358 words)
The Zig Zag Railway near Lithgow in Australia
Zig Zag Railway, bottom points the yards and storage sheds for the steam engines of the zig zag railway.
The Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway at Lithgow in New South Wales, Australia on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag which operated between 1870 and 1910.
Sydney Day Trips. Zig Zag Railway (595 words)
The original Bottom Road of the Zig Zag is mostly still in use as the current main line, with the present locomotive depot located on what used to be the connexion between the Bottom Road and the Zig Zag.
Zig Zag services start from the Bottom Points at an altitude of 993 metres, originally the first switchback, and proceed uphill along Middle Road, through a short tunnel and over two viaducts to the Top Points, originally the second switchback.
One of the odd features of the Zig Zag Railway is that although it was originally standard gauge, as the main line is now, it has been rebuilt as a narrow (3 feet 6 inches) gauge line, since available rolling stock was of that gauge.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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