Gauntlet

nounStandard termRailroad

An arrangement where two parallel tracks overlap to pass through a narrow clearance without using switches.

A track layout where two sets of rails run parallel and intersect, sharing the same ties but remaining physically separate. This allows trains on double-track lines to squeeze through a single-track bridge or tunnel without the mechanical complexity and maintenance of turnouts. Only one train can occupy the overlapping segment at a time.

Heard on the job

We've a slow order down to ten miles an hour while we drag the coal empties through the gauntlet bridge.