I'm not sure if this is the right section and sorry if it's a stupid question, but I'm trying to plan a railway and not knowing how railways work I'm not 100% sure how to correctly plan the layout.
My question is, if a freight train is dropping off it's wagons does it leave them on the mainline then goes off about its business for a shunter to move the wagons onto the sidings. Or does it normally go onto a passing loop leaving the load for the shunter?. Also if it's a terminal freight yard how does the loco leave the train and get out of the sidings?.
Any help great fully received.
Dave
Wagons would never be left on the main line for later collection - after some bad accidents in the early days of railways the Inspectors would not allow this sort of practice. At a less busy station the brake van and some wagons might be left on the main line while the train engine swapped some of the wagons from further forward in the train with wagons in the yard. If the yard was bigger or the main line too busy to allow this then it would be arranged so the whole train could be brought into the yard, either by reversing over trailing points or by entering a loop via a facing point.
Except at large yards the train engine would do the shunting. Where a yard was only used in one direction all the sidings would have their buffer stops at the back end of the train except one, the headshunt, which the loco would use to shunt the other sidings. For a yard used in both directions trains in one of the directions would have to run round before and after shunting, so it might be easier for some of the wagons to make an "unnecessary" trip to the end of the line and back so the yard could be shunted in the easier direction.
In the very largest yards the whole train would be brought off the main line into a "reception road" and the loco would probably go to a nearby shed. Shunters would then distribute the wagons to the correct sidings.
Shunters or station pilots might be seen more often in connection with passenger or parcels workings. Coaches with passengers on board would not go into goods yards but could be shunted on the main line. A shunter could attach/detach coaches/vans at the rear while the train stood on the main line, but the train engine would probably do attachment/detachment if it was at the front of the train.
Thank you that makes things a bit clearer .
Dave