Find the most efficient way of shunting the carriages to enable the trains to continue their journey?

Question

Two passenger trains each with four carriages face one another on a main line. Adjoining the main line is a siding. The siding is only long enough to take an engine and two carriages.

Answer 1

Islamic terrorists will fix this problem.

Answer 2

We'll call the trains A-B-C-D-E AND 1-2-3-4-5 (with the engines being A and 1 respectively).

Disconnect between cars 3-4. Drive 1-2-3 onto siding. Move E-D-C-D-A past siding to cars 4-5.
Drive 1-2-3 off siding. Back up with E-D-C-B-A-4-5 so that E-D are on siding. Disconnect between D and C. Drive C-B-A-4-5 away.
Back up with 1-2-3 and connect to C-B. Disconnect B from A. This still leaves E-D on siding, and A connected to 4-5. Drive 1-2-3-C-B past siding.
Back up 1-2-3-C-B onto siding to hook up to E-D. Pull forward off siding. Run A-4-5 onto siding.
Back up 1-2-3-C-B-E-D past siding. Disconnect between 3 and C. Pull apart, leaving A-4-5 on siding, 1-2-3 on one side, and C-B-E-D on other.
Back A-4-5 off siding to same side as C-B-E-D. Disconnect engine A from cars and return to siding.
Back up 1-2-3 and reconnect with 4-5 to make 1-2-3-4-5. Pull away and continue journey.
Run Engine A off siding and reconnect with C-B-E-D to make A-C-B-E-D. Pull away and continue journey (note engine is now "pushing" the cars instead of "pulling" them!).

Original Arrangement
E-D-C-B-A = = = = = = = = = 1-2-3-4-5
will become
1-2-3-4-5 = = = = = = = = = = A-C-B-E-D

Answer 3

I totally agree. With the total lack of discipline on the part of the parents nowadays, they and their offspring should be confined to separate carriages with no access to the rest of the train except for toilets. Then maybe after one or two trips like that they might learn to keep hold of their offspring and prevent them for interfering with passengers who have paid an exorbitant price for a ride in comparative peace - and before the do-gooders poke their two-pennorth in, I KNOW the parents have paid too, but that's no excuse to let their kids run riot up and down the train thus leaving the parents in peace! ! !