HO gauge switching layout: Shenandoah Valley

[Prairie Trains]

Just a tidbit of information. CSX_UK I am not sure about how it is done in the US but here in western Canada major industries are mostly located in larger cities and would be switched by the main railroads. This means that a switch job would do this work. This means there would not be a conductor but yard foreman. He and the engineer would be on the ground together as the railroads adopted DCC for yard and industrial switching a long time ago. Most yard engines are radio control with the engineer using a belt pact to control the engine while he pulls pins and throws switches with the foreman. On some warehouse jobs they still use a caboose because it is quicker to just revers move back to the yard when finished. You can see trains of up to 20 cars or more backing though the city with two men standing on the caboose platform and no one in the engine on the other end.