Headshunt

Platform track and run-round loop at Toyooka Station, Hyōgo, Japan, the terminus of the line from Miyazu

A headshunt (US: escape track) is a short length of track, provided to release locomotives at terminal platforms, or to allow shunting to take place clear of main lines.

Terminal Headshunts

A terminal headshunt is a short length of track that allows a locomotive to uncouple from its train, move forward, and then run back past it on a parallel track. Such headshunts are typically installed at a terminal station to allow the locomotive of an arriving train to move to the opposite end of (in railway parlance, 'run around') its train, so that it can then haul the same train out of the station in the other direction.

Shunting neck

The term headshunt may also refer to shunting neck or shunt spur: a short length of track laid parallel to the main line for the purpose of allowing a train to shunt back into a siding or rail yard without occupying the main running-line.

Run-round

Sketch of a headshunt and run-round loop

A run-round loop (or run-around loop) is a track arrangement that enables a locomotive to attach to the opposite end of the train. This process is known as "running round a train".^[1] It is commonly performed to haul wagons onto a siding, or at a terminal station to prepare for a return journey.^[2]

Because of the requirement for dedicated track, for railway staff to detach and reattach the locomotive at track level, and with the increase in push-pull passenger services, the manoeuvre is comparatively rare on public service railways.^{[citation needed]} However, many heritage railways (in the UK, at least) deliberately incorporate run-round loops at each end of the running line, partly because train services are usually locomotive-hauled, and partly because the run-round operation gives added interest to visitors.

References

1. ^ Ellis, Iain (2006). Ellis' British Railway Engineering Encyclopaedia (2006 ed.). Lulu. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-84728-643-7. 
2. ^ Jackson, Alan A. (2006). The Railway Dictionary (4th ed.). Sutton Publishing Ltd. p. 298. ISBN 0-7509-4218-5. 

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