We ran across what appears to be a reverser handle of unknown provenance. It is the top one (pictured above a standard EMD drum controller handle for comparison). The short little rascal measures only 4-7/8" end-to-end.

Anyone know what type of controller this small handle fits? A Baldwin or something even less common? Something electric? It seems to fit nothing local, so our guess right now is that it is not for an EMD.

ETA: Maybe it isn't a reverser handle at all? It sure looks like one.

Those look like old style EMD reversors, maybe they fit an SW-1, an F unit, E unit, or possibly an SD-7.

We have never seen an EMD reverser "bit" quite like the one on that short handle. For comparison, the following photo shows the three EMD reverser types we have run across that fit the EMDs on hand (they are shown in order of era, with the earliest one at the top, a "drum controller" type in the center and the latter "AAR" type at the bottom).

If that short handle in the original post is also an EMD reverser handle, then might EMD have actually had four different "bit" styles rather than three? If this stubby little thing isn't an EMD handle, hopefully someone will recognize what it actually is, as our knowledge of minority-builder diesel (or electric) reverser handles is alarmingly low.

Good question. With a bit of luck, Preston Cook will answer it for us...

The bottom reverser in the above photo looks like the standard shape for most Class I reversers I used over 15 years ago, but in brass. I have a brass one I bought from a co-worker/railfan and tried it in a control stand to make sure it would work. It did. I was planning on having it polished as a display piece, but a friend said it would be better to leave it unpolished.