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Chuck -- I think the answer is "yes" with respect to passing sidings, but "no" as to whether a double-tracked tail track was used -- at least in the examples I've found. The examples I have in mind are the NP's Stampede Pass switchback, used during 1887-88, and GN's Cascade switchbacks, used between 1893 and the opening of the first Cascade Tunnel in 1900. There is a photo on p. 80 of Charles R. Wood's "The Northern Pacific: Mainstreet of the Northwest" showing what is described as the summit of the Stampede Pass switchback in 1887. There is what I interpret to be a short double-ended passing siding, but it doesn't parallel a tail track so much as it loops around one of the switchback turnouts. The text notes that trains over the pass were then limited to 5 cars (freight or passenger) and 2 locomotives (one at each end of the train). Accordingly, a long siding wasn't necessary. A small, gable-ended wooden structure, with a rudimentary platform, is seen close by the passing siding. In Woods's "Lines West" there are also photos of the GN's switchback line. A couple of photos of Madison (later named Scenic) show what appears to be a customary passing siding, with depot and water tower alongside, but not located on a tailback. The water tank is right next to the siding, but the depot is located well up the hill from the tracks. There appears to be a wooden platform immediately in front of the depot, with a wooden railing on the side facing the tracks, and a long wooden staircase leading down to trackside. You might be able to find more detailed information on these switchbacks from the NP and GN historical societies.
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