Inversor

El inversor es un dispositivo de control, generalmente una palanca, que se utiliza para establecer la dirección de movimiento de un vehículo ferroviario motorizado: adelante, atrás o neutro. Este último generalmente separa las ruedas del tren motriz por completo. El inversor nunca se debe operar cuando un vehículo esté en movimiento, para evitar daños graves al tren motriz. Por la misma razón, el controlador de tracción y los frenos dinámicos generalmente deben desconectarse para que el inversor funcione.

Vehicles equipped with a reverser can run both forward and backward with equal capacity, and are even equipped with lights on both ends for this purpose. Depending on the vehicle design, the only difference when changing orientation can be the driving visibility, and cooling behavior .

Reversers should never be operated when vehicles are in motion, to avoid catastrophic damage to the powertrain . For the same reason, to operate the reverser, throttle and dynamic brakes need to be disengaged.

On steam engines , cutoff is the closest feature to a reverser, albeit with more functionality.

Many vehicles only have one set of controls, facing a particular direction. To drive these vehicles in the opposite direction comfortably, it helps to use the universal control stand , or a locomotive remote controller , if supported.