TPBO

[FCIN]

Here it is:
I double-checked and it is a switch-back, but as you said there is plenty of room on the tail end, unlike many model railroads.

Okay, I see it now, was looking at the industrial spur going down to the Bridgestone/Firestone plant and not along the L&N (CSXT) main line.

Yep, plenty of room to work that building - looks like you could clear 6 or 7 - 50ft cars and a loco on the tail. Probably at one time there was a switch at each end, but railroad removed it for whatever reason. Railroads don't like to install switches or have to maintain them if they aren't needed. They'll pull a switch from an industrial track that is no longer used and put it some place else.

The old Southern Railway (NS) yard in Harrodsburg, KY, is actually accessed by a switchback move (along with a couple of other locations on NS around here). There is only one active customer and an occasional team track car set out there now, so NS removed the switch at the east end of the original siding.

**** EDIT **** EDIT ****
Justin;
I just remembered a spot on an industrial spur that you might find interesting and really does fit the "there's a prototype for everything" line... Take a close look at this location: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.97...4&t=h&z=19 The facility (Metal Coaters of Georgia) holds one coil car at a time and you'll note that you'd have a tough time pulling and spotting cars in there. But there's a trick involved here - The company does their own switching with a TrackMobile that you can see in the photo and in street views.