Which box instructs the train to take siding and does not grant any authority?

• A. Box 3
• B. Box 4
• C. Box 5
• D. Box 7

Answer: (C)

The important idea here is how a track box communicates both what you should do and what authority you have. When a box directs you to take a siding, it is telling you to move off the mainline and onto the siding track. But it does not grant permission to continue along or beyond the mainline. In other words, you are being routed to a different track, yet you don’t receive any new authorization to proceed on the mainline or to move past that point without another clearance. This box isolates you to the siding and leaves the mainline authority unresolved, which is exactly what “take siding and no authority” describes. Other boxes would either grant you authority to move along the mainline, or give different kinds of instructions that include permission to pass signals or enter a block, which is not the situation described here.