Every time I read about the Transcontinental Railroad and the driving of the golden stake, it seems like there is only one track of rail. However, this seems inconvenient (and dangerous) to traffic that is traveling both East and West.
And, if there was only one track, how were collisions controlled without major delays on stops along the way? Would the railroad owners be able to select which traffic got through faster?
Thank you in advance!
Almost all of the route was originally single track, because the companies were mostly concerned about laying as much track as possible to finish as quickly as they were able, as well as gaining more land grants along their right of way. In fact, a lot of the original construction along the Union Pacific's east side of the route was originally very shoddy for the purpose of speed. Additionally, laying double track would have been extremely cost prohibitive. To allow traffic to pass both ways, sidings were placed along the route so trains could pull off the main route and allow higher priority trains to pass. Priority would be assigned to each train. This picture shows a typical set up that would allow for this sort of traffic management. Keep in mind that by the time of the transcontinental railroad the telegraph made communication between stations and managing traffic much easier than the early days of railroads.
Sorry there are no sources I can find dealing with such a specific subject, this is mostly coming from books I've read in the past, but I'll keep looking for a good source dealing specifically with this subject and if I can find one, edit it in here.
Only a small portion of railroads are double-tracked, mostly ones that are incredibly busy.
The famous pictures of the Golden Spike show the two railroad's locomotives nose to nose. Although the Union Pacific had built a wye the previous night to be able to turn its locomotive and return to Ogden, the Central Pacific had to back up 70 miles. A siding apparently allowed them to run the locomotive and tender around the passenger cars so they weren't pushing the entire train, but it still wasn't optimal.
Here is a report from the Sacramento Bee, published Thursday, May 13.
"Turn Table. There is no turn table here at present, and the locomotives of the C.P.R.R. have to back with their trains a distance of seventy miles ere they can turn, which, with a water car before it as it goes, is both awkward and unsafe. The U.P.R. is similarly situated. But this will soon be remedied, as the former Company will commence immediately the construction of a turn table, and the latter broke ground yesterday (Sunday) for a Y track, which answers the same purpose."
Are there any parts of it still in use? If so, by who?
