Someone asked about the five-rail track that could be seen in a photo I posted on another thread, and I had an e-mail last weekend from someone who was asking "What the hey is that?". It's not really appropriate to post details of that other thread, so I am providing more details, and photos, and links to previous posts about it here.
It is a section of five rail track made from Atlas Flextrack. A loco goes both ways on it, both times useing the center of the five rails as its outside rail on that trip. It is about seven feet long. I made this in order to make a double reversing-loop mainline loop without switches, and frankly, because it is bizarre and I thought it would be fun. When I madeit, I had no idea thatthis is actually been done in the real world. "Gauntlet track" as it is called, is used to run two or more tracks through a narrow space (like a single-track bridge or alongside a single platform at a small rural station). Len2 on this forum, who is the repair wizard at my local LHS and knows a lot about toy and real trains, told me there is actually some of it in North Carolina.
Tthis is a link to a discussion of making the five-rail section track out of Atlas flextrack last year.
https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/9173459981694190
Here is a link to a posting of a video showing a BEEP and short train running through it both ways, taken during the mess of my track replacement last October.
https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/9173460006811826
The guantlet section forms the "common route" used both coming and going in a 54-foot around twisted dogbone loop that goes over and under itself, as shown in the photo below.
