Do switcher engines ever end up in branchline or local service? Meaning as multiple switcher hook-ups. Were any past roads known for this?
Also when was the technology made available to use multiple diesels as one power unit on a train?
Southern Pacific used its switchers for local service.
The LV had SW8’s equipped with dynamic brakes and operated them in groups of 3 or 4 engines on coal branches, they were called “pups”.
Found a video on youtube last night of the Milwaukee in the midwest. Shows a set of 4 SW1’s on a branch line as that was the heaviest loco allowed on said line.
SOO used to have a Muscatine job out of Nahant that had a GP something (depending on what they had on hand) and a MP15 in old Milwaukee colors.the Switcher faced south and lead down.
Of course some terminal roads use switcher for everything.Our local one used nothing but switchers till they were absorbed back into the parent companies.
upjake
Depending on what the rail road ordered when purchasing diesel switchers would depend on multiple unit capability. As for when units were set up in multiple goes back to almost the beginning of the diesel driven locomotive. The FT were draw bar conected in multiple units. That was before the world war 2 era. As for mixing diferent manufactures of locomotives together came much later. You couldnt hook a Baldwin with an EMD and Alco. That came much later in the second generation of diesels. By then Baldwin, Lima, and Hamilton were gone and GE was coming on strong. It wasnt till the 1960s you will find an EMD hooked to a Uboat or Century.
Pete
Upjake–
Even in the steam era, Southern Pacific used some of their 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 switchers for local service out of their Roseville, CA yards. They would send them either east up a second track built against the westbound traffic to Loomis and Penryn, CA to gather fruit reefers in season, or send them west toward Sacramento to service local industries on their main line. For the most part, both lines were a fairly straight shot, so they didn’t have to worry much about ‘nosing’ without a lead truck.
Tom
Was/is it possible to use a sole switcher on a local freight if it is a short train or does fuel capacity become an issue? For example, could a single NW-2 or an SW8 with a ten to twenty car train travel round trip from a city yard to a suburban or small town business customer that is thirty to forty miles out?
SP’s diesel switcher locomotives intended to leave yard limits had number boards, and usually had multiple-unit connections added and were numbered in a different series than switchers. Before road switchers were commonly available, the SP used diesel switchers, often in multiple units, to work some branchlines and local freights.
For instrance, in 1955 and 1956 the SP bought 70 S-6s. Fifty-eight occupied switcher numbers 1033-1090, while another twelve were considered road units fitted with MU connections and were numbered 4634-4645.
Another example but from 1950-51, SP bought four sets of cow-and-calf model TR-6 locomotives. Numbered 4600-4603 and 4700-4503, each pair came with solid drawbars connecting the units.
Also, SP bought SW8s and SW900s in the first half of the 1950s ready for road service with MU connections and sometimes with dynamic brakes.
Mark
In Indiana during Penn Central era,a NW2 would work the yard from 8-5pm.Then from 6-1amwould take up to 20 loads 30 miles south on a branchline.
What time period are you interested in? From about 1980 on nearly all engines have the capability to be used in either service. They key is what trucks they have. EMD purposely made the GP15 as a dual purpose engine. Later the MP15 ac or dc was a dual purpose engine if it ran on Blomberg trucks. Now you will probably never see one of the SD80 or 90s or equivalent GE engines used in a yard (except possibly as a hump engine) but many short lines only had switchers. The Cambria and Indiana and the Shawwmut line come to mind. Whether they had passenger service is another story. I would add that gearing on most was probably such that anything but a leisurely pace was probably not practical.
Progressive Rail in Mpls/St.Paul suburbs does it now - a single SW1500 hauling trains on the old MN&S high line. I lived along the line after Progressive took over in 2001, I don’t recall ever seeing anything other than one of their engines being used on the trains.
The Minneapolis Northfield and Southern bought a number of GM switchers in the sixties (SW-1200’s followed by two SW-1500’s) that along with two SD-39’s replaced the old Baldwin and FM engines they had. On the high line they usually used two switchers back-to-back, since it is a dead-end spur with a run-around track at the end. On “mainline” trains it wasn’t uncommon for them to use 4 switchers together, or 2-3 switchers with one SD-39.
The Milwaukee line mentioned earlier was originally built as a 3’ gauge line in SE Minnesota (converted to standard gauge in 1903), and as noted often featured multiple SW-1’s because of the light nature of the line.
The Montour RR (which was abandoned in the mid-1980s) used multiple SW7s and 9s on all of their trains. Those little SWs were perfect for the curves and light rail used.
Just to follow up my earlier post, that’s basically what the MN&S was doing, except they usually used two engines…an SW-1200 and SW-1500 back-to-back would haul a train from Soo’s Shoreham Yard north of Minneapolis, thru the western suburbs of Minneapolis around to the southern suburbs like Bloomington and up the “high line” to Richfield, and then make the trip back. I’m sure it must have been at least 30 miles or more one way given the roundabout route. By the time I saw them in Richfield they only had cars for that branchline but back in the sixties that alone would be 10-12 cars and a caboose.
But the principle is the same. Progressive Rail now serves the highline from Lakeville south of the Minnesota River. It must be around 20 miles one way I’d think, but they haul about as many cars with one engine as MNS did with two.
SP was a frequent user of switchers as light road engines as others have mentioned. In addition to some having MU capabilities and some of those having dynamic brakes.( http://espee.railfan.net/sptr06.html - scroll down about halfway), those used in light road service also had some variant of the SP light package. This Baldwin S-12 ( http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/s12_photos/2150_sp-s12-bob_dengler.jpg ) is equipped with a gyralite in addition to the headlight and both are a large distinctive housing. This FM H12-44 has a gyralite above the headlight ( http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/h12-44_photos/1491_sp-h12-44-don_jewell.jpg ). Note also the train indicators on the hood just forward of the cab.
Maine Central also used switchers as road engines. The first diesel replacements for steam helpers at Bartlett, NH were MU equipped SW7’s and later SW9’s. These were also used as engines on the mixed train. MEC’s Alco S-4’s were all MU equipped IIRC, but the earlier ones only had MU connections on the cab end. MEC’s SW-7’s/9’s were also used on the Rockland Branch in freight service and, in the 70’s were often seen on the Bucksport Branch which served (and still does) a large papermill.
UP used cow-calf combinations of either SW7’s or NW2’s (a UP fan will probably know which) on Cajon in the late 40’s as helpers as well as pairs of MU’d FM H20-44’s. However, I believe the FM’s were actually designed as road engines from the get-go and t
How about in the early CP/SP days? Peter Smith, Memphis 
Virtually every railroad in the country used switch engines in local service at some point in time or another.
As has been mentioned earlier, some carriers raised the use of switch engines in local service to a fine art. Southern Pacific ordered the predominant majority of their switch engines with m.u. capability and the “road package” which included oscillating headlights front and rear, classifcation lights front and rear and number boards. SP SW1500’s were ordered with Flexicoil trucks for road service. Lehigh Valley did, in fact use dynamic brake equipped SW8’s on the Hazleton Branch in Pennsylvania. The often ran in sets of three to five or so, were mu equipped and were assigned to coal drags out of Lehighton, PA.
It is not uncommon for roads prior to the 1980’s to assign switch engines to local service, and for that service to frequently require the use of multiple locomotives.