When the train taking the siding is longer than the siding, the dispatcher sets up a saw-by. The long train heads in with its rear still fouling the main, the other train pulls down the main between the switches, and the long train then pulls out the far end so the second train can get by. It takes careful radio coordination and switch handling, usually eats an hour or more, and crews dread getting one at night in bad weather.
We're 11,800 feet and Dunlap only holds nine thousand, so it's a saw-by with the coal train, in the snow.
Also heard as
- sawing by
- saw-by meet
Related terms
Siding
A track alongside the main line, connected at both ends, where trains meet or let others pass.
In the hole
In the siding, waiting for another train to pass on the main line.
Hold the main
To stay on the main track during a meet while the opposing train takes the siding.
DS
Dispatcher, as said on the radio: the person who controls train movements over a territory.