Abstract: A method for positioning railroad freight cars at specified positions while using robust positioning devices. One end of a train is prepositioned inside a comparatively wide area and a buffer device is activated. The locomotive pulls the train in a direction of travel until the activated buffer engages with a counter-buffer. The locomotive then exerts an additional tractive force so that the train is lengthened, whereby the front end of the first car, thus of the car coupled to the locomotive, is arranged in the area of a second counter-buffer device. A second buffer device is subsequently activated in a similar manner. The locomotive now decreases the tractive force so that the train is drawn together and so that the second buffer engages the second counter-buffer. The described positioning can be effected in the same manner by applying a pressure pretension onto the train.