An article processing facility includes an article carrier movable along a track and having an article gripper, and a pair of article racks for temporarily supporting articles. Each of the article racks is configured to be shiftable between an extended position and a retracted position. When an article for loading gripped by the article gripper is to be delivered to an article loading and unloading station but an article for unloading is present at the article loading and unloading station, the article for loading is stored temporarily on one of the article racks, and thereafter the article for unloading at the article loading and unloading station is temporarily stored on the other article rack.