DISCUSSION 2 MODULE 2

What do you understand by mountain railways? Describe in brief the various types of
alignments used for mountain railways.

A Mountain Railway is a railway that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through
the mountains by following mountain valleys and burrowing underneath mountain passes, or it
might ascend a mountain to give transport from the highest point to the lowest point or vice
versa. Mountain railways often use narrow gauge tracks to allow for tight curves in the track
and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge, and hence construction cost and effort. Where
mountain railways need to climb steep gradients, they may use steep grade railway technology,
or even operate as funicular railways.

Alignment Mountain Railway is quite zigzag and not straight in order to gain heights easily. The
type of alignments normally followed are zigzag, switch-back, and spiral.

Mountain alignment - the levels in mountains vary considerably, and if normal alignment is
adopted, the grades would become too steep, much more than the ruling gradient (allowable
gradient). In order to remain within the ruling gradient, the length of the railway line is
increased artificially by the ‘development process’. The following are the standard methods for
the development technique:

Ø Zigzag line method - in this method, the railway line traverses in a zigzag alignment (Fig.
3.1) and follows a convenient side slope which is at nearly right angles to the general
direction of the alignment. The line then turns about 180° in a horseshoe pattern to gain
height.

Ø Switch-back method - in the case of steep side slopes, a considerable gain in elevation is
accomplished the switch-back method (Fig. 3.2). This method involves a reversal of
direction achieved by a switch, for which the train has to necessarily stop. The switch
point is normally located in a station yard. In Fig. 3.2, A and B are two switches and A1
and B1 are two buffer stops. A train coming from D will stop at B1 and move in back
gear to line BA. It will stop at A1 again and then follow the line AC.

Ø Spiral or complete loop method - this method is used in a narrow valley where a small
bridge or viaduct has been constructed at a considerable height to span the valley (Fig.
3.3). In this case, normally a complete loop of the railway line is constructed, so that the
line crosses the same point a second time at a height through a flyover or a tunnel.