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Turnouts facing and trailing. Note that this diagram is for left-hand traffic; for right-hand traffic, "F" and "T" would be swapped. Facing or trailing are railway turnouts (or 'points' in the UK) in respect to whether they are divergent or convergent. When a train traverses a turnout in a facing direction, it may diverge onto either of the two ...
A right-hand railroad switch with point indicator pointing to right Animated diagram of a right-hand railroad switch. Rail track A divides into two: track B (the straight track) and track C (the diverging track); note that the green line represents direction of travel only, the black lines represent fixed portions of track, and the red lines depict the moving components.
Double junction, or level junction (left hand running). A double junction is a railway junction where a double-track railway splits into two double track lines. Usually, one line is the main line and carries traffic through the junction at normal speed, while the other track is a branch line that carries traffic through the junction at reduced speed.
Double trap points are a full turnout, leading to two tongues. Usually the tongue nearer the main line is longer than the other. Trap points with a crossing are double trap points where the tongues of rail are longer, so that the trap point rail nearest the main line continues over the siding rail with a common crossing or frog.
In any given country, rail traffic generally runs to one side of a double-track line, not always the same side as road traffic. Thus in Belgium, China, France (apart from the classic lines of the former German Alsace and Lorraine), Sweden (apart from Malmö and further south), Switzerland, Italy and Portugal for example, the railways use left-hand running, while the roads use right-hand running.
Nice, David C. Amtrak: The History and Politics of a National Railroad (1998) online edition Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine; Nock, O.S., ed. Encyclopedia of Railways (London, 1977), worldwide coverage, heavily illustrated; Riegel, Robert Edgar. The Story of the Western Railroads 1926 online edition Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback ...
1854 – The first railway in Brazil, inaugurated by Pedro II of Brazil on 30 April in Rio de Janeiro, built by the Viscount of Maua. [21] 1854 – The first railway in Norway. Between Oslo and Eidsvoll. 1854 – The first railway in today's Romania and Serbia (then Austrian Empire), on 20 August 1854, between Lisava-Oravica-Bazijaš.
A series of bankruptcies and consolidations left the rail system in the hands of a few large operations by the 1980s. Almost all long-distance passenger traffic was shifted to Amtrak in 1971, a government-owned operation.