Switcher facts for kids

A switcher (US) or shunter (UK) is a small railway locomotive used for assembling railway trains. Switchers or shunters are geared to produce high torque but have a low top speed.

Images for kids

A modern US switcher, an EMD MP15DC
A switcher once used on military premises
Light dual-mode (electric and diesel) shunter SBB Tem 346
A typical British steam shunter, GWR 9400 Class
DF7G-0056 shunter at Nanxiang Classification Yard in Shanghai, China
Armstrong Whitworth 0-4-0DE No.2 (D22/1933), regular pilot locomotive on the Tanfield Railway.
TGM4 is a Soviet built diesel–hydraulic switcher at Dnipro, Ukraine
E55 Tracktronic Unilok, operated by Israel Railways at Lod, Israel
ChME3 is a Czech built diesel–electric switcher, operated by Ukrainian Railways
Diesel shunter ChME-3ME 6750 at Vilnius station, Lithuania
RailPower Railpower GG20B Green Goat
Wabtec EMD GP20D Switcher
A China Railways DF7G shunting the carriages of Beijing–Kowloon through train at Beijing West railway station
British Rail 08833 in "Liverpool Street Pilot" duties
Class Y Hunslet Diesel Shunter Operated By Sri Lanka Railways
A China Railways HXN5B in Liuzhou South Railway Station.
SM48/TEM2 locomotive at the station Skawina in Poland
DF5 Diesel Shunter Operated By Korean State Railway