# The Death of the End Cab Switcher?



## Never Get Old (Apr 16, 2016)

I love love love end cab switchers! I saw one that CSX is still using on Monday. When I was a kid, they were everywhere.

Why are they dying off? Why aren't manufacturers making new ones? It seems like their smaller size would be attractive for fuel economy at least, if for no other reason?

-Never Get Old


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## ebtnut (Mar 9, 2017)

I think there are several factors involved. First, more and more trains are in dedicated "unit" service which don't need extensive switching and sorting. The era when there were lots of line-side industries that received or shipped supplies and equipment is largely gone. Second, switchers aren't really set up for road work, whereas older Geeps can serve a dual role.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

My local shortline has a pair of second-hand MP15AC's, which have "Blomberg" trucks (the same kind of trucks on Geeps). Two or three times a day they switch reefer cars in and out of a huge cold-storage facility I can hear and sometimes watch from my job.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

In the 80's and 90's the Long Island RR used MP15's to pull commuter trains on their non-electrified branches.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

In many cases railroads just use older downgraded power for yard work. When spending money on new units, best to focus on road switchers that can be used for local work as well as yard switching.


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## Never Get Old (Apr 16, 2016)

Well, I have to ask then, why did they ever become so popular in the first place? Was it is visibility from the cab where the engineer could see absolutely everything close up?

Oh well, I love them. I just custom painted three of them in N scale Seaboard Coast Line colors since no manufacturer has ever done them in N. That should keep me happy for a long time.

-Never Get Old


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Never Get Old said:


> Well, I have to ask then, why did they ever become so popular in the first place?


The design absolutely makes sense for yard switching, with the low carbody and lots of visibility.

Keep in mind also, that the first generation of diesel switchers was also replacing steam engines, and built specifically for yard service with low-horsepower engines and lots of visibility.

However, today, trains are longer, cars are bigger, smaller yards have been consolidated and replaced by major classification yards, so switch engines are handling much more tonnage than they did 50 years ago and in big yards they're just not powerful enough, and also many older roadswitchers are being bumped out of mainline service. While some newer switch engines have been built recently (and now the trend is towards those GenSet locomotives with a bunch of really small power plants on a frame so they only use as much power as they need in situations where smaller locomotives can still get the job done) rather than spend a lot of money on new switch engines, many railroads just spend the money on upgrading and replacing road power and older engines get retired to the yard.

And of course, those smaller switcher designs are often ONLY useful in the yard, lacking features for road service, while a duel-use road switcher has the flexibility to be used on freight trains as well as yard duty.

(Obviously, that is not universal, and each railroad approaches their motive power strategies differently...)


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## FRED On Board (Jan 2, 2014)

Certainly, end cab switchers are not totally dead among Class 1 roads, as I see them from time-to-time in UP yellow...And four or five years ago, I saw two in brand new UP yellow paint being moved south toward Houston as part of a mixed freight consist.


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