Daily AncestorSwitchman
A switchman was a railroad worker who threw track switches and helped move and sort cars in a rail yard.
Freight trains were made up and broken apart in yards, and switchmen threw switches and coupled cars to send each one to the right track. The work was dangerous and went on day and night.
Switchmen are common in returns for railroad towns and big city yards.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1880 to 1920 census
Pat Hogan, 30, Switchman, R.R., Ill.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Switchman." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/switchman. Last checked 2026-10-01.