Treadle (railway)

In railway signalling, a treadle is a mechanical or electrical device that detects that a train wheel has passed a particular location. They are used where a track circuit requires reinforcing with additional information about a train's location, such as around an automatic level crossing, or in an annunciator circuit, which sounds a warning that a train has passed an exact point. They also serve as a critical backup in the case of track circuit failure. The important difference between a treadle and a track circuit is that while a track circuit detects a train over a distance as long as several kilometres, a treadle provides detection at a single fixed location.