Atomic Systems

Asked in another section had no joy.

Would it be standard practice to reverse the whole train to collect a wagon off a siding or uncouple the wagons and shift the engine only?

I suppose it all depends on the location, the service and the wagon to be picked up. Some wagons would need to be marshalled in a train in a regulated way (such as livestock wagons tending to being right behind the loco to minimise coupling shocks). Also to be taken into account is the location of the brake van and if any wagons need to dropped off at a station further along the line.

So it would not be out of the ordinary to reverse the whole train?

As, I said, it all depends. If there is a brake van fitted to the rear, you wouldn't normally couple another wagon behind it. In this situation, you could uncouple the brake van and then shunt the whole train to pick up the wagon before coupling the brake van on again. Like a lot of railway operations, there is no hard or fast 'right' way. Official BR documentation is so full of exceptions to the rules or local instructions for specific sidings/yards/stations, that's it's difficult to give a definitive answer.