When a train enters an empty yard track, does it move as far forward as possible without fouling the switch or does it stop somewhere between the foulding points in front of and behind the train.
That's going to depend on what the train is 'in' that track for.
If you are going to be building a train back up toward the fouling point of a 'finger' in a ladder you'll get the most capacity on a track if you spot the first car down at the end. But you might leave it a bit ... or more than a bit... forward if subsequent 'kicking' moves that car back against set brakes...
Some of your language appears to concern 'yard' tracks acting like sidings, with effective fouling points at either end. There it is critical to operate so that no combination of action or mistakes lets a car or cut pass the fouling point unintended... let alone remain there. Prudence would dictate switching with the end of a cut reasonably far from any such location...
Get inside the track and get the train in between the clearance points so they don't block or foul someone else. Double the train into a second track if you have to (older yards are so much fun- and protect the shove - do what the yardmaster or trainmaster tells you to do with the train and the power.)
T&E crews will yard the train in accordance with the instructions of whomever controls that particular yard. They may be told to pull the train to the clearance point on the engines end of the yard; they may be told to just get the rear of the train in clear of the clearance point and then cut off and leave space on the engines end of the track; they may be told to pull into a track with the rear end just in the clear, make a cut at the clearance point on the engines end of the train and the set the balance of the head end of the train over to one or more designated tracks. The crew may be given instructions to make cut(s) at specific car number(s) and set what is ahead of the cut to specific track(s).
The options are only limited by what the person controlling the yard may desire. (some moves may require penalty payments to the crew(s) as they may violate craft contracts - but in the world of PSR 'who cares, the claims won't get paid anyway'.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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