shunting neck

English

Noun

shunting neck (plural shunting necks)

1. (rail transport) A length of dead-end track, e.g. alongside a main line, used for the purpose of allowing a train to shunt back into a siding or rail yard without the need for the train to occupy a running line.
   • 1949 May and June, “A Middlesex Inn Sign”, in Railway Magazine, page 142:

     This tunnel was 326 yd. long, and the portals were designed by Brunel to represent Norman archways. It was converted into an open cutting, between 1887 and 1889, to make room for the shunting necks of the sidings at Bristol East Depot.

Related terms

• headshunt