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Yeah, I love the bulldog nose.  It really ought to be called the Bondo nose, though.  I've seen photos of the things being fabricated on the assembly floor of EMD.  It looked like the Bondo got slathered on with a shovel, then sanded into shape with a mechanical sander...But I digress.  I wouldn't stick a shovel nose on an E-8 for a couple of reasons.  First, it makes the locomotive look longer than it is, and let's face it, it's big enough already.  Just a personal opinion, but the shovel noses reminded me of the ALCO DL-109's- the bulldog nose says EMD all the way.  And I am arbitrarily, unreasonably, foolishly perhaps, an EMD fan.  I chalk it up to a badly misspent youth watching EMD bulldogs pull fast (relatively- the NHRR was not real fast back in 1968), named, passenger trains while ALCO products moved freight.From a visibility point of view for the crew, the sight lines for the standard bulldog nose might have been a little tougher than the sloped nose of the shovel head.  Then again, they might not have been.  Any engineers out they have any idea?I've watched and talked to maintenance guys work on F units as well as "hood" units.  They have mixed opinions.  They like the idea of being able to access a busted part through a side door, especially when they can spread their tools all over a catwalk.  It's not so easy to do maintenance on a cowl unit, according to them.  To get to the engine components, or do electrical work, you are stuck in a really cramped space between the component needing work and the outer wall of the cowl.  If you have to remove a component, it goes through the roof- a really large plate requiring a crane- or through the midget access doors on the side.One guy told me that God intended tools to be kicked off the side of an engine, to fall onto the ground five feet below, rather than into the guts of the engine.  I watched him do both... Still... if it's raining outside and you are doing a field fix, it's better to be inside a cowl unit than getting soaked on the catwalk of a hood unit.I'm not sure if I like the modern day look or not.  The Genesis is a stainless steel shoe box that is functional but unlovely.  The simple lines made it easy for the draftsmen to draw, and cheaper to build.  The Coastliner locomotives remind me of the prototype UP diesel they rolled out for the Overland Express... all that's missing is the big ole (functional?) grill on the nose.  That's a little too retro for my taste... but everyone has an opinion on looks, and they all differ.  So I'm not going to go there any further, because I've already opened up diversions of EMD vs. GE, bulldogs vs. safety cabs, and Lord alone knows what other continuing arguments railfans debate...
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