were 040's -060's & 080's,yard switchers ever used on main line's hauling freight & or passenger's? or they only regulated to yard switching only?

If they made it out on the main, it was serving close by local industries. The drivers were usually too small for any speed or effective counterbalancing making for a rough ride. The lack of pilot or trailing trucks didn't help in that regard, either.

Eric, thank you for the reply to my question. so I now know that when they were in the yards shunting freight cars, there was no need for pilots or trailing wheels, but they must have been BULLS in the yard? I fully understand what you said.

There were jobs called "travelling shifters" that took freight short distaces from the yards to customers. The short wheelbase kept their speed down but they could get into places a bigger engine couldn't go.

Phil Mulligan

Phil. thank you so much for the reply to my question on the shunters / yard engines. I have never heard of the ''TRAVELLING SHIFTERS'', I would rely like to see any photos of them on a main line pulling a consist. were any of them ever oil fired or only coal fired,just curious?

although this example is outside of the classification ranges you noted

the Union Railroad in Pittsburgh, PA had 9 "Union" Class locomotives 0-10-2

technically a switching loco, used all over its 200miles of track, used for haul coke and iron ore for the steel mills

The_Pine29, WOW, great unknown information on the switchers. they rely must have been a sight seeing these BULL'S OF THE ROAD, yard engines in most all of the other RR'S, pulling freight on the 200 miles of the main line? any photoes of them on the main line? thank you.

Getting back to a travelling shifter, this was more the name of a job than a type of locomotive. They generally used the same type of locomotive that was doing the yard shifting.

Phil Mulligan