Argentina • Two spirals between Tacuara and Meseta at and on the heritage
Tren a las Nubes section of the
Salta–Antofagasta railway part of the
General Manuel Belgrano Railway.
Australia • Spiral on the uphill track at
Bethungra on the
Main Southern railway line in
New South Wales. The downhill track remains on the original steep plain 1 in 40 gradient. • Spiral on the single track at
Cougal on the
North Coast railway line, New South Wales.
Bulgaria • Four Spirals on the
Rhodope Mountain Line between
Septemvri to Dobrinishte railway between
Velingrad and
Cherna Mesta at , , and . • Spiral just outside
Klisura at on the
Sofia to
Tulovo railway. • Spiral just outside
Radevtsi at on the
Ruse to
Dimitrovgrad railway. • There used to be a spiral at at
Trinity,
Newfoundland on the former
Newfoundland Railway. • There used to be a spiral at
Rogers Pass at that was superseded when the
Connaught Tunnel (British Columbia) was built.
China at night. The route containing the spiral was replaced by
a 32-km long tunnel (at the time of completion the
longest in China) in 2014. • There used to be a spiral at Guanjiao at on the
Qinghai–Tibet Railway; it was replaced by a
tunnel in 2014. (see photo). • Spiral between Qingshiya and Guanyinshan at on the
Baoji–Chengdu Railway. • Six spirals on the
Chengdu–Kunming Railway at: • South of Baishiyan at . • Lewu at . • Wazu at . • Tiekou at . • Ananzhuang at . • Longgudian at . • Spiral at Shangshali at on the
Harbin–Manzhouli Railway. • Three spirals on the
Liupanshui–Hongguo Railway at: • Maocaoping at . • Duchuanzhai at . • Sanjiazhai at . • There are four spirals on the
Southern Xinjiang Railway at , , and on a by-passed section between Yu'ergou and Hejing that is now freight only. This line was rebuilt on a shorter route in 2014.
Costa Rica Replica of the Brusio Spiral Viaduct at on the
Tren Turistico Arenal, 10 km east of Nuevo Arenal, Guanacaste.
Croatia • Spiral between
Rijeka-Brajdica and
Sušak-Pećine at on the
Rijeka–
Karlovac railway, part of International corridor V. The spiral is mainly in a tunnel.
Eritrea • Spiral between
Asmara and Arbaroba at on
Eritrean Railways. This spiral pushes the definition of a spiral as the line crosses itself but then immediately crosses back, and it does this in a tunnel.
France • Three spirals on the
Col de Tende line between
Ventimiglia to
Cuneo as it passes through France, a further spiral on this line is in Italy. • Just north of
Fontan at . • Saint Dalmas-de-Tende at . •
Tende at . • Spiral at
Moûtiers at between
Albertville and
Bourg-Saint-Maurice used by
TGV. • Spiral partly in a tunnel at
Claveisolles at on the
Paray-le-Monial to
Lozanne line (between
Saint-Nizier-d'Azergues and
Poule-les-Écharmeaux). • Spiral north of L'Hospitalet près l'Andorre at on the line between
Latour-de-Carol and
Ax-les-Thermes. • There used to be a spiral in the Sayerce tunnel at on the former
Pau–Canfranc railway line between
Pau and
Zaragoza (Spain) in the Pyrenees. This spiral is now a footpath. • Spiral on the
Wutach Valley Railway at . The line was built partly for strategic reasons and had to be built to a reasonable gradient in order to haul heavy military trains over it. The alternative, shorter
Singen–
Waldshut route was not available for this traffic, since it crossed Swiss territory. The line is now a heritage railway.
India • There are currently three spirals on the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: • Chunbati Loop at . • Agony Point at . • There used to be a spiral at
Dhulghat at between
Khandwa and
Hingoli on the metre gauge railway, the spiral was apparently removed when the track was upgraded to broad gauge.
Iran • Spirals near Dowgal station at and extensive
horseshoe curves in the
Alborz Mountains on the
Trans-Iranian Railway.
Ireland • The
St. James's Gate Brewery,
Dublin,
Ireland formerly had an internal gauge railway with a loop in a tunnel to gain height between buildings.
Italy • Spiral at
Bortigiadas on the Sassari-Palau railway on Sardinia. • Spiral near
Lanusei on the
Mandas–
Gairo–
Arbatax railway on Sardinia. • Spiral near
Vernante on the
Col de Tende railway from
Ventimiglia to
Cuneo. There are a further three spirals on this line in French territory. • Spiral at
Casole Bruzio on the
Cosenza to
San Giovanni in Fiore line (line exists but is not in service).
Japan in
Hisatsu Line, Japan in Tokyo, Japan. • Spiral South of Echigo-Nakazato at on the
Tokyo bound
Jōetsu Line. • Spiral at
Shimizu Tunnel at on the
Tokyo-bound
Jōetsu Line. • Spiral South of
Mazeras at near Mombasa. • Spiral near Makutano station at : . • Spiral near Equator station at .
Madagascar • Spiral at Anjiro at on the main line from
Antananarivo to
Toamasina.
Mexico • Spiral between
Creel and
San Rafael at on the
Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico.
Myanmar –
Taunggyi line,
Myanmar • One spiral on the
Burma Mines Railway at . • One spiral close to
Shwenyaung at on the
Thazi-
Taunggyi line.
New Zealand •
Raurimu Spiral at on the
North Island Main Trunk. The line is single track and involves two short tunnels around a suitable hill. • There used to be a spiral at on the
Ellis and Burnand Tramway, Ongarue, which closed in 1958 and is now part of the
Timber Trail.
Norway • Spiral on the
Flåm Line between
Myrdal and
Flåm at . • Spiral on the
Vestfold Line around the town of
Tønsberg at .
Peru • Spiral between San Bartolome and Matucana at on the
Central Railway.
Russia • Spiral just north of Indyuk at on the
North Caucasus Railway route from
Tuapse (Tуапсе) through Gornyy to
Belorechensk (Белореченск). • There used to be a spiral at "Devil's Bridge", on the now abandoned line from
Kholmsk to
Yushno-Sakhalinsk on
Sakhalin Island.
Serbia • Spiral at Jatare at on the
Šargan Eight Heritage Railway in Western Serbia between from
Mokra Gora and Šargan Vitasi. • Spiral at
Van Reenen's Pass at on the line from
Harrismith to
Ladysmith.
South Korea ,
South Korea • Spiral at Hambaek 1st Tunnel at between Hambaek station and Jodong station on the
Hambaek Line;– one loop, single track. • There used to be a spiral at Daegang Tunnel at between Danseong station and Jungnyeong station on the
Jungang Line;– one loop, single track. A new double track tunnel has opened which by-passes the line with the spiral, which has since closed. • There used to be a spiral at Ddwari Tunnel at between Geumgyo station and Chiak station on
Jungang Line. A new double track tunnel has opened which by-passes the line with the spiral, which has since closed.
Spain • Spiral near
Toses at on the
Ripoll to
Latour-de-Carol, France line. • Spiral at La Granja de San Vicente at on the
Palencia to
A Coruña line.
Sri Lanka • Spiral at
Demodara railway station at on the line from
Bandarawela to
Badulla.
Demodara railway station is located above the spiral tunnel.
Switzerland Albulabahn • The
Gotthard railway has spirals and
horseshoe curves or bends mostly in tunnels on its
standard gauge, double track line. The spirals are: • North of Wassen at Pfaffensprung on the Northern approach at , this loop is followed by two horseshoe bends around
Wassen. • Piottino spirals on the Southern approach at and at . • South of
Bergün at . • Spiral East of
Grengiols at on the former
Furka Oberalp Bahn, now
Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, between
Grengiols and
Lax. Track length is 5 kilometers, while the endpoints of the spiral are only 570 meters apart horizontally and 233 meters vertically.
Uganda • There used to be a spiral at Circle Hill on the Western Uganda Extension of the
Kenya to Uganda Railway Line to
Kasese.
United Kingdom on the
Ffestiniog Railway, Wales. • Spiral around
Dduallt railway station at on the
Ffestiniog Railway in
Wales. • The line at from Moorswater cement terminal, through
Coombe Junction and
Liskeard on the
Looe Valley Line and on over
Moorswater Viaduct forms a complete spiral, climbing up to join the main line at Liskeard. Not all parts are used by passenger trains. •
Williams Loop, east of
East Quincy, California at on the former
Western Pacific Railroad now part of
Union Pacific Railroad. • Hiwassee Loop, also known as the Hook and Eye; 2 miles NNE of
Farner, Tennessee at on the former
Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway now operated as a
heritage railroad by the
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, which operates excursion trains from
Etowah, Tennessee to
Copperhill, Tennessee via the loop, as well as trains just to the loop and back from Etowah. •
Georgetown Loop, at
Georgetown, Colorado at on the former
Colorado Central Railroad. The spiral was completed in 1884, abandoned and dismantled in 1939, rebuilt between 1972 and 1984 and is now owned by
History Colorado and operated as the
Georgetown Loop Railroad. • The
MAX Red Line, a
light rail line in
Portland, Oregon, loops over itself at in the vicinity of the
Gateway Transit Center. • In the Loop District of the
Alaska Railroad at between
mileposts 48 and 51 northeast of
Seward, Alaska, there was a spiral and a
horseshoe curve both on an extensive range of timber
trestles up to 106 feet high. Track relocation in 1951 removed all of this but added a new horseshoe at milepost 48. • Abandoned spiral at Riflesight Notch Loop at
Rollinsville, Colorado at on the former
Denver and Salt Lake Railway route over
Rollins Pass. The spiral was bypassed by the
Moffat Tunnel built in 1928, and was dismantled in 1935. • Abandoned spiral called Double Circle, or Double Loop, or The Golden Circle, at east of
Eureka, Utah on the former Tintic branch of the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. It was bypassed in 1940 and the branch removed in 1943. • Abandoned spiral on the
Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad at . The spiral was completed in 1963. The spiral was bypassed by two
switchbacks after a trestle fire in 1976. ==See also==