The empty train is sitting on the transfer track, a small section of track that is not used during normal rides. This allows a place to store an unused train. Transfer track is used on every coaster with two trains. Switchback's magic comes from the portion of track the train with passengers is about to encounter.
The steel supports of the lift hill are in the background, and the train on the right is coming down the first drop. The bottom left of the picture shows the track that is the entrance to the loading platform. You may have noticed that the rail leading into the station is not attached to anything. That is because Switchback is the world's first wooden shuttle coaster! The train with passengers is falling down the lift hill, and it will soon keep traveling forward and pass through the coaster's course. In other pictures, you will see how it reverses direction and heads backward toward this area. On its return trip backward, it has enough speed to go partially back up the first drop. Gravity will again pull it down toward this flat section of track, but sets of brakes will stop it in the middle of this image. Once the train is halted, a small section of track in front of it will move sideways so the flat section connects to the station's track shown in the lower left.
©2018 Joel A. Rogers.