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The genesis of the Cab Forward is a bit complicated but here's a quick rundown. *The first two units, 4000 and 4001 were built as conventional 2-8-8-2s and then turned around with the cab in front. These were built in 1909 and classed as MC-1. *The next fifteen were built as cab forwards and with the engineer on the left as the reversed first two were built. They were erected in 1909 and numbered 4002-4016 in class MC-2. *MC-4 consisted of 12 more built in 1911 and numbered 4017-4028. *MC-6 (there was no MC-3 or MC-5; the MC stood for Mallet Consolidation) were 20 more constructed 1912-1913. That ended the Mallet Consolidation program. •MM-3 which stood for Mallet Mogul (2-6-6-2) comprised 12 units constructed in 1911 supposedly for passenger service. Their front trucks were totally unsatisfactory and were soon replaced with four wheel high speed trucks, making them into 4-6-6-2. These were the only Mallet Mogul cab forwards built. In the twenties, all of the MCs and MM were rebuilt from mallet compounds to simple expansion locos, turning the MCs into ACs, but they never had their two wheel front trucks replaced and remained 2-8-8-2s, though the rebuilding saw the engineer's controls moved to the right side. The MMs were rebuilt into AMs and renumbered into the 3900s. *Class AC-4 was constructed in 1928 with 10 "flat face" units. *AC-5 was built in 1929 with 16 machines, and AC-6 saw 25 units in 1930. These numbered 4100 - 4150 and no more of this design were built. *AC-7s were built in 1937 and had the new cab design on the 26 members of this class. *From 1937 to 1944, AC-8 saw 28 units, AC-10 saw 40, AC-11 saw 30, and AC-12 saw 20. All had more or less the same cab design as the AC-7. See Kalmbach's wonderful "Guide to North American Steam Locomotives" for more. *Of all the cab forwards built, only 4294 survives, and it may be visited at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA. All the rest were scrapped. *Very few cab forwards were involved in collisions or mishaps. #4107 exploded on the Siskiyou Pass in 1929 when the water injector failed and the crown sheet was exposed. The engineer was killed and CFs never ran over the Siskiyou Pass again. This same engine in 1951 ran into some flatcars on the Modoc Line, kicking the first one up and into the cab, killing the crew. Also on the Modoc in June 1942, 4038 ran off the tracks and rolled on its side. The engineer survived but the fireman was killed. In 1951 on the Modoc, sabotage of the track put 4147 on its side in the ditch, but the crew walked away unharmed. All that happened in these wrecks would have likely been similar in a traditional back-cab locomotive. AC crews claimed their rides were cooler in the summer than sitting behind a backhead would produce. *In the end, cab foward won because all the diesel locos today are built with their cabs on the front. It just takes a while for a good idea to catch on :-) John Sipple, editor Model Railroad News Magazine
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