Headshunt

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A headshunt (US: escape track) is a short length of track that allows a locomotive to uncouple from its train, move forward, and then run back past it on a parallel track. Such headshunts are typically installed at termini to allow the locomotive of an arriving train to move to the opposite end of (in railway parlance, 'run around') its train, so that it can then haul the same train out of the station in the other direction.

The term headshunt may also refer to a short length of track laid parallel to the main line for the purpose of allowing a train to shunt back into a siding or group of sidings without occupying the main running-line. A headshunt in this sense may also be referred to as a 'shunting neck' or 'shunt spur'.