I could imagine an autonomous, on-demand rural train service. Due to the low expected traffic, it seems like you could just build some additional sidings and use a more conventional design.
You might also find the Python library pandas useful. Its “DataFrames” can mirror your excel data 1:1 and you have convenience methods like to_excel(). Easy to combine with numpy for performant matrix math.
XLSX just becomes a container for storing/sharing your data, and while Python is used for analysis. I would use matplotlib for plotting rather than embedding in the sheet.
U-turns are quite a dangerous manoeuvre and really need to be executed properly to ensure safety.
I remember taking my Colorado drivers licence and it wasn’t covered at all in the written/practical exam. I practiced a couple times at traffic lights with a turn arrow with my parents but that was it.
For my Dutch lesson license (we rent a car a few times a year) u-turns and 3-pt turns were covered extensively. How fast you are going and which mirrors you’re checking in which order. They also test these “special manoeuvres” in the practical exam in a very healthy way. The roads also have a lot more medians which helps blunt driver stupidity.
As a frequent train passenger, I’m not overly concerned.
Seems a bit too weak to derail, probably only delay.