Greg,
Modern Diesel Locomotives use an eight notch throttle, whether from an AAR style (upright) control Stand or from the table top type of throttle.
The only control that is not "Notched" is the dynamic brake.
Both EMD and GE are compatible with this system.
A 16 notch throttle was mentioned, These were used on the GTEL (Gas Turbine Electric) locomotives that UP had. They were long gone before I hired out. I got that information from some of the engineers that preceeded me in the seat.
On some of the early Diesel locomotives that were MU'd for road service, like the Great Western's SW-1's and the GW's SW-7's, there was a control on the stand that would allow you to keep your electrical in straight series for switching, or allow series-parallel for road use.
On the BN 99 (SW-1) that was used on the Sterling-Cheyenne line there was a double sided knife switch inside the electrical box that had two tags, one side for "Switching" the other side for "Road".
Rick