- Switcher
A switcher or shunter (
Great Britain : shunter;Australia : shunter or yard pilot;USA : switcher (or switch engine), exceptPennsylvania Railroad : shifter) is a small railroadlocomotive intended not for movingtrain s over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been brought in, and generally movingrailroad car s around - a process usually known as switching (UK: shunting). They do this inclassification yard s. Switchers may also make short transfer runs and even be the only motive power onbranch line s.The typical switcher is optimised for its job, being relatively low-powered but with a high starting
tractive effort for getting heavy cars rolling quickly. Switchers are geared to produce hightorque but are restricted to low top speeds and have small diameterdriving wheel s . Steam switchers are eithertank locomotive s or have special (smaller) tenders, with narrowcoal bunker s and/or sloped tender decks to increase rearward visibility. Headlights, where carried, were mounted on both ends. Diesel switchers tend to have a high cab and often lower and/or narrower hoods (bonnets) containing the diesel engines, for all round visibility. Slugs are often used because they allow even greater tractive effort to be applied. Nearly all slugs used for switching are of the low hood, cabless variety. Good visibility in both directions is critical, because a switcher may be running in either direction; turning the locomotive is time-consuming. Some earlier diesel switchers usedcow-calf configurations of two powered units in order to provide greater power. Now, the vast majority of switchers are diesels, but countries with near-total electrification, likeSwitzerland , use electric switchers. Small industrial shunters have sometimes beenfireless locomotive s and a few of these are still at work inGermany .Switching is hard work, and heavily used switch engines wear out quickly from the abuse of constant hard contacts with cars and frequent starting and stopping.
British and
Europe an locomotives of this type tend to be much smaller than the common size in the United States. Current British shunters are Class 08 and Class 09.tation pilot
A station pilot is a shunting engine based at a major passenger station, used for moving trains or carriages between platforms, assembling trains, and other passenger train shunting tasks. It is a predominantly British term.
Station pilots are no longer used in the UK as the majority of passenger trains are formed with multiple units; the few locomotive-hauled passenger trains are shunted by the train engine rather than a dedicated station pilot.
ee also
*
Hydrail switcher
*Road switcher
*Rail car mover - some of which resemble HiRail trucks
*Road-rail vehicle
*Unimog
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