If Train A is traveling eastbound at 40 miles per hour, and Train B is traveling westbound on the same track at 55 miles per hour, how will they get past each other? Answer: A rail siding.
source/image: BNSF Railway
Sidings are a crucial piece of BNSF’s rail network. The more sidings, and the closer and longer they are, the less time it takes for multiple trains to move through an area.
That’s why projects to lengthen sidings and add new sidings to the network are so important.Sidings may be used for marshalling, stabling, storing, loading and unloading vehicles.
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Sidings connected at both ends to a running line are commonly known as loops,otherwise they are known as single-ended sidings or dead end sidings, or (if short) stubs.Common sidings store stationary rolling stock, especially for loading and unloading. Industrial sidings go to factories, mines, quarries, wharves, warehouses, some of them are essentially links to industrial railways. Such sidings can sometimes be found at stations for public use.
