southern railway "geeps"

[willy6]

i was reading a book on the SOUTHERN RAILWAY,of which i'm modeling. the book states that southern railway was required by the union of that era to run the "geeps" long nose forward. why? i would think visability would better on the short end.

[rrandb]

i believe it was a hold over from the steam era. they wanted the engine in front of the operating crew in case of a collision. it would allow more protection for the crew at grade crossings etc. they still had a fireman to look down one side and the engineer to look down the other. i beleive several roads originally operated there early diesels this way.

[Anonymous]

That's similar to what I heard about the NS operations too - that the NS preferred to run
long-hood forward for reasons of safety and I know the N&W had a similar policy.
I recall as a kid when I saw N&W trains on the old Clover Leaf/NKP trackage in Indiana seeing N&W trains operating long-hood forward and hearing that it was a safety practice.

[JoeKoh]

Yes I remember that too when we lived in Celina oh all the n&w trains would run long hood forward on the old NKP line.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

Southern, N&W, NYC and B&O, among others, were long front. I used to run the B&O's geeps, and I liked the long nose...extra padding. But I don't know that it was a "union requirement". I never heard that about B&O; it was just a matter of choice to the individual road, I think

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

N&W routinely ran long hood forward. An SD45 running in that fashion is a most interesting sight. Many of N&W's locomotives were also equipped with dual controls.
Shortly after William Moore left the Southern to become the head of Penn Central during its bankruptcy, an order of U23B's was delivered with single controls to run long hood forward but with low short hoods.

[eolafan]

The safety issue is also why NW had most of their diesels built with high short hoods when most others in the US were being delivered with low short hoods for better visibility. For example, I believe NW was the only road with high short hoods on the SD45 units. Jim

[locomutt]

Okay, maybe I didn't catch it,but how come
both Southern and N&W opted for high short
hood on the diesels[?]
I understood the running long hood first,
but never under stood the other[:O]

Okay, maybe Jim said it on the previous post,
they just did. Anybody know Tom Dressler[?]
Maybe he could shed a little extra light on this
subject[:)]

locomutt[:D]

[eolafan]

Believe the high short hood was to house the radio equipment but primarily (my guess here) to make for a more comfortable toilet area for the crews, and of course to house more equipment and make same easier to get to for maintenance. Jim

[locomutt]

Okay[:)]

locomutt[:D]





)

[Anonymous]

I believe that the high short hood housed the steam generator for passenger service

[eolafan]

Housing the steam generator was certainly one reason for some units having a high short hood, but not so with the freight only units. Jim

[Anonymous]

Count the UP in as one that ran long hood forward. The LNW acquired its first geeps from the UP in the early 80s. The LNW shop at Gibsland, LA rebuilt these geeps from the frame up, and had to reverse all of the controls to run short hood forward.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Many early GP's and SD's were equipped to run long hood forward, especially on the Eastern roads.

[wabash1]

There is nothing special done to run a engine long hood out. the engine will run either direction just as easy. the only thing differant is the location of the speedometer. otherwise the controls are just as easy to get to . I prefer running long hood out.