Sidings and buffer stops: why and where
Benjamin | TrackDrawer.com · published 5 November 2026
A stub siding is a track that ends on one side; the buffer stop at the end keeps rolling wagons on the layout. You use sidings to park a loco or wagons, to load and unload, to shunt and as the platform track of a terminus. Put them where you can reach them easily and make them longer than whatever has to stand on them.
What a siding is for
On almost any layout a siding is the simplest addition: one turnout, some straight track and a buffer stop. It gives your train something to do besides going round in circles.
- Storage siding. A loco or a whole train stands off the main line so that another one can run.
- Loading and unloading. A track beside a shed, a factory or a loading dock, where goods wagons are dropped off and collected later.
- Shunting. Two or three sidings side by side make a small yard where you sort wagons and make up a new train. A shunting puzzle is an elaborate form of this.
- Terminus. In a station where the tracks end, every platform track is a siding. What that means for your timetable is covered in terminus or through station.
The designer's measurements show what a siding adds. On 240 x 120 cm with Märklin C track the Auto-designer lays a plain "Oval R3" with 32 pieces and 5.69 m of track. "Oval R3 with siding" has 37 pieces and 6.69 m: five more pieces give an extra metre of track for shunting. On smaller boards such as 180 x 90 cm, sidings inside the loop are often the only addition that fits; the results per system are in an H0 layout on 180 x 90 cm.
What a buffer stop does and does not do
A buffer stop holds back a wagon that rolls out slowly or that you push a little too far while shunting. It will not stop a train running into it at speed: on a model it derails or knocks the buffer stop loose. Nor does the buffer stop cut the power. A loco that reaches the end keeps pushing until you stop it.
That is why many modellers build a short stopping section in front of the buffer stop:
- Analogue control. Make the last length before the buffer stop switchable on its own, with a break in one rail (two-rail) or in the centre conductor (Märklin three-rail). If the loco runs onto it while the switch is off, it stops by itself. To leave again, switch it on briefly.
- Digital control. The loco stops when you tell it to. If you want that to happen automatically, feedback on the last length reports that the loco is there and the command station brakes it.
Which buffer stops does each system have?
In our catalogue some systems have an end piece with buffer stop: a short length of track with the buffer stop mounted on it, which you fit as the last piece.
| System | End piece with buffer stop |
|---|---|
| Märklin C track | 24977, and 24978 with an illuminated buffer stop |
| Trix C track | 62977 (80.5 mm) |
| Fleischmann Profi | 6116 (105 mm) |
| Kato Unitrack H0 | 2-170 (109 mm) |
| Minitrix | 14991 (50 mm) |
| Fleischmann piccolo | 9116 (57.5 mm) |
| Kato Unitrack N | 20-046 (62 mm), 20-048 (50.5 mm), 20-060 (35 mm) |
| Tomix Fine Track N | 1421 (112 mm) |
| Märklin Z | 8991 (15 mm) |
For Märklin K and M track, Roco geoLine and Roco Line, Piko A track, Tillig, Hornby and Peco, among others, our catalogue lists no end piece. There you let the last piece of track end and fit a separate buffer stop on it. It then does not count as a piece of track in your parts list.
How long should a siding be?
A siding next to a running line has three parts: the turnout with its compensating curve, which puts the track at the right spacing, the usable length where wagons stand, and the end piece. With Kato Unitrack H0, turnout 2-840 with compensating curve 2-270 is 375 mm long along the straight and end piece 2-170 is 109 mm. To park a loco with three 250 mm coaches, 1 m in all, the siding becomes 375 + 1000 + 109 = 1484 mm long. In N with Minitrix, a loco and three 136 mm wagons come to 158 + 544 + 50 = 752 mm. The length of the turnout group for each system is in the table under the passing loop.
Three rules of thumb for the usable length:
- Shunting with a loco. The loco pushes the wagons in and has to get out again itself. So the siding must hold the wagons plus the loco, otherwise the loco is still standing on the turnout.
- Loading siding. Count the wagons you want beside the shed, not the whole train.
- Room at the buffer stop. Do not leave the last wagon touching the buffer stop. A few centimetres of slack stop you pushing the whole rake away when coupling up.
If the turnout group will not fit, you can leave out the compensating curve. The siding then runs off at the turnout angle, which often fits a corner of your board better than a parallel track.
Where to put sidings
- Inside an oval. The space between the two straights is empty on many boards. The Auto-designer lays sidings and small yards there if your collection has the turnouts.
- On the operating side. On a siding you couple and uncouple wagons. Put it where your hand can reach, not at the back against the wall. If you draw your room in TrackDrawer (with Pro), the app warns about tracks beyond your arm's reach.
- With a straight before the end. On a straight, wagons stand in line and the couplings engage better. An uncoupling track just in front of the siding lets you drop off wagons without touching them.
- Not in a walkway. A buffer stop at the edge of the board is the first thing your sleeve catches. Keep a few centimetres between the end of the track and the edge.
Sidings in TrackDrawer
The Auto-designer hangs sidings on the straights of a shape when your collection allows it. You can tell from names such as "Oval R3 with siding", "Station on R3, plus 2 sidings" or "Yard on R1, plus siding". It makes each siding as long as the board allows and closes it with your system's end piece. If you ask for a station and your system's end piece is missing from your collection, it tells you that a siding needs a buffer stop. For systems without an end piece in the catalogue the siding stays open and you add the buffer stop yourself.
Enter your track and let the Auto-designer put sidings and a yard inside your loop.
