shunting neck

noun

A length of dead-end track, e.g. alongside a main line, used for the purpose of allowing a train to shunt back into a siding or rail yard without the need for the train to occupy a running line.

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Meanings

nounshunting neck (plural shunting necks)

plural shunting necks

  1. rail transportA length of dead-end track, e.g. alongside a main line, used for the purpose of allowing a train to shunt back into a siding or rail yard without the need for the train to occupy a running line.

    This tunnel was 326 yd. long, and the portals were designed by Brunel to represent Norman archways. It was converted into an open cutting, between 1887 and 1889, to make room for the shunting necks of the sidings at Bristol East Depot.

    1949 May and June, “A Middlesex Inn Sign”, in Railway Magazine, page 142
Cite this entry
APA

shunting neck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shunting%20neck

MLA

“shunting neck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shunting%20neck. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shunting neck,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shunting%20neck.

Source: shunting neck on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.