A rose by any other name . . .

[NW Mailing List]

What is a siding?  My initial thoughts are that a turnout from a “main”
line along with an additional length of track could be referred to as a
siding.  Note that “main” could be the main line of the N&W or also the
main stem of a branch line.

To corrupt a hit from ’69:  “siding, huh, what is it good for?”.  To run
multiple trains on single track it might be handy to have a passing
siding.  At a station, it might be nice to have siding so you could unload
freight without tying up the main track.

And then there’s the concept of temporary storage or buffering.  Let’s take
the case of the A to B railroad.  The profile of the A to B is relatively
flat from A to about halfway to B where it hits some fairly stiff mountain
grades.  An A to B locomotive can handle 100 cars on the flat, but only 75
on grades.  One system of operation would restrict the length of all trains
to 75 cars and therefore all trains could get from A to B.  However, this
wastes the loco’s capacity from A to Midway.  But what if they install a
temporary storage siding at Midway?  A train could take 100 cars from A to
Midway and then park 25 of them in the siding, and take the rest on to B.
Subsequently, when a less than full train is dispatched, it could pick up
some cars from Midway siding and take them on to B, increasing operational
efficiency.

So, sidings are useful things.  But if a siding with a single track is
good, wouldn’t more than one track be better?  It would give you more
storage capacity and might allow you to rearrange sequences of cars with a
bit of shunting action.

So, what does a siding become when it grows up?  At a certain number of
turnouts/tracks, is it reclassified as a yard?   What is the magic number?
Is two enough?  Are there other factors that I am missing that play into
the nomenclature?

If you add engine servicing capability to a yard, does it automatically
become a terminal?

Inquiring minds want to know,

Jim Cochran
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