flangeway

An early type of railway that used flanged rails rather than flanged wheels.

The gap in road surfaces, running rails at rails at junctions, etc, that allows the wheel flange of a rail vehicle to pass.

The factors in determining the width of flangeways between check rails and the main rail are the thickness of the wheel flange and the clearance allowed […]

The use of a high-temperature gas torch for melting the ice out of the check-rail flangeways, was found to be effective, although somewhat tedious; neglect of this precaution may cause derailment, [...].