Nick, what happened to the Cabose? Is there a reason why we don't see them anymore? What is the normal complement of crew and their duties on a class 1 railroad.
Thanks Jim
Kinda like being in a motorhome in the middle of the Mojave desert during summer. That sweet aroma!
Thank you for the reply. My daughter got a good laugh as well as I.
Depends on the locomotive, and railroad.
New locomotives (mostly) have heated and air conditioned cabs, a cooler (usually still ice cooled), and a toilet in the nose. Some locomotives, (usually Canadian ones) have a hot plate and tea kettle.
Older engines have heat only (the side wall heaters are a handy place to heat your dinner), and can be noisy and drafty - Duct tape is your friend in the winter. Most have a cooler (again ice cooled) and a toilet in the nose, although the early GEs had the toilet behind the cab.
Up until the 1970s (i think) some locomotives actually had office style water coolers, with a 1 or 2 gallon bottle on water, and a stack of cups. After someone analysed the stuff floating in the water, they dissappeared and were replaced by the 8oz plastic bottles.
Now (thanks to the BLE Clean Cab agreement) most coolers are mounted in the nose. Some roads (Conrail was one) had them mounted to the front wall of the cab. Some mounted them in the middle of the cab floor (CSX).
The engineer sits on the right. The conductor on the left. Usually, there is also a third seat for a brakeman. Usually, it is on the left, in line with the conductor's seat. Sometimes, the brakeman's seat is in the middle (Conrail prefered this set up). Most NS locomotives also have a fourth seat that folds down from the wall behind the engineer.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
jp2153 wrote: I was wondering, what are the dimensions of the cab? Where does the conductor and engineer sit when the train is operating? Is there a heater or air conditioner inside? What about going to the bathroom or drinking coffee?These are questions that my 10 year old asked me and I was wondering too.Thank you
I was wondering, what are the dimensions of the cab? Where does the conductor and engineer sit when the train is operating? Is there a heater or air conditioner inside? What about going to the bathroom or drinking coffee?
These are questions that my 10 year old asked me and I was wondering too.
Thank you
The engineer sits on the right side of the engine cab, while the conductor/brakeman/person sits on the left side.
Cabs have always been heated, but old heads dispute the effectiveness of cab heaters on Alco FAs and PAs, because the cooling air for the lead trucks ran through the cab. (brilliant!) Air Conditioning started to appear in the '70's, with Santa Fe and Union Pacific being the industry leaders, and Canadian Pacific at the "other" end, adopting AC only recently on their SD9043s (I call them SD75MACs, since they are both 4300 HP, and have the same general characteristics) and AC4400s!
Toilet facilities have been in road units since the earliest E units in the '30s. Now, most units have a "dumper" in the nose of the unit. This is both a good place for it and a poor one, if the toilet gets backed up, it's a poor one! That will have the "flying squad" out in no time during a crew change! As for drinking coffee, or whatever, you're on your own, there since no two enginemen can agree on how they will deal with their coffee, water, or soda. Leaving it on the "desktop" is the only thing crews like about the desktop control stands. The complaint about them is that you can't move around to look to the rear or just squirm around during an 8 to12 hour trip over the road.
Conditions are better now than they were in the days of the GP30, always the "skull creaser" thanks to the odd contour of their cabs! Large engineers etc. are glad there are no more E or F units out there for them to squeeze into!
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