{{Short description|Railway track configuration to change direction where a curve would not fit}} {{Infobox rail line | box_width = | name = | other_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | color = | logo = | logo_width = | logo_alt = | image = Backshunt.jpg | image_width = | image_alt = | caption = An example of a backshunt from an industrial siding on to a mainline | type = }} A '''backshunt''' is a railway track configuration in situations where a change in (almost opposite) direction is required and a traditional curve cannot fit.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBeXS5ZUVhAC&pg=PA72 |title=Last Train to Paradise: Journeys from the Golden Age of New Zealand Railways |author=Graham Hutchins |year=2011 |page=72 |isbn=9781927147290 |publisher=Exisle Publishing}}</ref>
There are two main applications of a backshunt. # To climb or drop a steep incline using a zig zag<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/a5f19a09cf1811b8/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=3048 |last=Crespi |first=A.J. |year=1900 |title=The Birmingham New Water Works |journal=The New Century Review |volume=8 |issue=47 |pages=358–366}}</ref> # To change direction on to a parallel track, often used in industrial sidings.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZZkXRLlJZgC&pg=PA647 |title=Principles and Practices of Modern Coal Mining |author=R. D. Singh |year=2005 |page=647 |isbn=9788122409741 |publisher=New Age Publishing}}</ref>
==Example Backshunts== * Part of the old Cleator and Workington Junction Railway was maintained in Rowrah as a backshunt from Rowrah Head Quarry on to the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rrv7DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=The Track Of The Ironmasters - A History Of The Cleator And Workington Junction Railway |author=W. McGowan Gradon |year=2016 |isbn=9781473353190 |page=23 |publisher=Read Books}}</ref>
==See also== *Headshunt
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Railway track layouts