Questions for an Amtrak engineer...

[George Harris]

Just to add to the turning capabilities of a train. Freight roads use "balloon" tracks that follow the outline of a balloon. A coal train will head into a power plant and run in a circular, or balloon, fashion to where it is turned completely around and headed back in the direction from whence it came. Just draw a picture of a balloon on a piece of paper and I think you will get the idea.

Wouldn't that be the same as the loop that MrFSS indicated in his above post? :unsure:

Balloon is the more commonly used name. Think of the outline of a balloon and the path you would take from the opening up and around and back to the opening. On a map, the shape of a balloon track is similar.

 

[EB_OBS]

Just to add to the turning capabilities of a train. Freight roads use "balloon" tracks that follow the outline of a balloon. A coal train will head into a power plant and run in a circular, or balloon, fashion to where it is turned completely around and headed back in the direction from whence it came. Just draw a picture of a balloon on a piece of paper and I think you will get the idea.

Wouldn't that be the same as the loop that MrFSS indicated in his above post? :unsure:

Balloon is the more commonly used name. Think of the outline of a balloon and the path you would take from the opening up and around and back to the opening. On a map, the shape of a balloon track is similar.

Isn't it also called a 'reversing loop'?