Rail yard

Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or unused locomotives stored off the main line, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic.

Yards are normally built where there is a need to store rail vehicles while they are not being loaded or unloaded, or are waiting to be assembled into trains.

For freight cars, the overall yard layout is typically designed around a principal switching (US term) or shunting (UK) technique: In the case of all classification or sorting yards, human intelligence plays a primary role in setting a strategy for the switching operations; the fewer times coupling operations need to be made and the less distance traveled, the faster the operation, the better the strategy and the sooner the newly configured consist can be joined to its outbound train.

A large freight yard may include the following components: Freight yards may have multiple industries adjacent to them where railroad cars are loaded or unloaded and then stored before they move on to their new destination.

In the UK, a stabling point is a place where rail locomotives are parked while awaiting their next turn of duty.

A large Amtrak and Metra coach yard just south of Chicago Union Station . About 25 percent of all rail traffic in the United States travels through the Chicago area.
Yard for Amtrak equipment, located next to the Los Angeles River . The two tracks on the left are the mainline.
The "hump" of a hump yard. Railcars travel past retarders, which control their speed, and are directed onto tracks to be assembled into new trains. The control tower operates the retarders.
This map of Cedar Hill Yard in Connecticut shows a variety of different facilities, including receiving yards, departure yards, classification yards, and a repair yard.
A coach yard in Shanghai, China
Workington stabling point in 1981, with locomotives from Classes 25 , 40 and 47 parked between duties.