switchman vs operator

switchman and operator both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
switchman	Yes	No	No	No
operator	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, operator is a hypernym of switchman; that is, operator is a word with a broader meaning than switchman:

Other hypernyms of switchman include manipulator.

switchman (noun)	operator (noun)
a man who operates railroad switches	an agent that operates some apparatus or machine
	someone who owns or operates a business
	a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficulties
	a speculator who trades aggressively on stock or commodity markets
	(mathematics) a symbol or function representing a mathematical operation