Railway car spotting system

A railway car spotting system comprising a carriage movable back and forth along a track parallel to a railway track, means on the carriage for engagement with an end of a car on the track, a pair of sheaves rotatably mounted on the carriage, first and second anchor means disposed at opposite ends of the carriage track, a first wire rope secured at one end to the first anchor means and extending therefrom toward the carriage and around one of said sheaves and back toward the first anchor means, a second wire rope secured at one end to the second anchor means and extending therefrom toward the carriage and around the other sheave and back toward the second anchor means, means connected to the other ends of the ropes for pulling on either rope while simultaneously paying out the other one to thereby pull the carriage along its track, means for temporarily releasing from the second anchor means the end of the rope secured thereto, and means for detachably connecting the carriage with said released rope end so that when the carriage is pulled by the first rope the carriage will pull the released second rope across its anchor means and towards the first anchor means to take up slack in the ropes.