Dash 8 on switching duty?

[David3]

From what I know they need certain locomotives depending on the load that they are swiching out. Last Thursday I saw a BNSF dash 9 doing yard switching!

[JoeKoh]

As Henry James and Gordon learned no engine is too big for small jobs.Csx has used a variety of engines when switching here in Defiance.Labor Day 3 years ago they had 7 engines parked in the yard.
stay safe
Joe

[JoeKoh]

As Henry James and Gordon learned no engine is too big for small jobs.Csx has used a variety of engines when switching here in Defiance.Labor Day 3 years ago they had 7 engines parked in the yard.
stay safe
Joe

[wabash1]

the answer is tonnage and need. a dash 8 will do the job but it is slow. engines are by need if that is all that is around that is what you use. there are restrictions on industry tracks but. all it takes is the cheif or superattendant to say use it and all rules are thrown out the window.

[wabash1]

the answer is tonnage and need. a dash 8 will do the job but it is slow. engines are by need if that is all that is around that is what you use. there are restrictions on industry tracks but. all it takes is the cheif or superattendant to say use it and all rules are thrown out the window.

[vsmith]

Heres a stupid question...

The other day as I was cruising around town I saw a big shiny roadunit BNSF Dash8 doing switching duty (!) at the local Brewery in Irwindale. This is a branch line now, all that is left of the old Santa Fe ROW that used to go all the way to LA before the Metro Goldline was built so I know it wasnt just parked. There were two older beat up units with it and they were pushing cars at the brewery siding off the branch line. My question is:

Do engines get "punished" and relegated to switching duty if they are "bad" little engines just like on "Thomas the Tank Engine"? I can see road crews being reassigned for infractions, but engines?

Just how are engines assigned to tasks? Dont switchers have a lower gear ratio than road engines? Wouldnt a big shiny Dash8 be too highy strung for lowely switching duty? or too big for industrial sidings (i can just hear those wheels squeeling)? Is reality as strange as fiction? Will "Thomas the Dash8" ever get back onto the mainline on Sodor, I mean Los Angeles??????

[vsmith]

Heres a stupid question...

The other day as I was cruising around town I saw a big shiny roadunit BNSF Dash8 doing switching duty (!) at the local Brewery in Irwindale. This is a branch line now, all that is left of the old Santa Fe ROW that used to go all the way to LA before the Metro Goldline was built so I know it wasnt just parked. There were two older beat up units with it and they were pushing cars at the brewery siding off the branch line. My question is:

Do engines get "punished" and relegated to switching duty if they are "bad" little engines just like on "Thomas the Tank Engine"? I can see road crews being reassigned for infractions, but engines?

Just how are engines assigned to tasks? Dont switchers have a lower gear ratio than road engines? Wouldnt a big shiny Dash8 be too highy strung for lowely switching duty? or too big for industrial sidings (i can just hear those wheels squeeling)? Is reality as strange as fiction? Will "Thomas the Dash8" ever get back onto the mainline on Sodor, I mean Los Angeles??????