Southern Railway

[Alan]

I don't know if many, if any US hood units were set up as long hood was forward

The railroad I model, the Akron Canton & Youngstown, road engines were exclusively Fairbanks Morse units all of which were long hood forward.

[nodcc4me]

Alco RS-1's, 2's and 3's were long hood forward locomotives.

[G8B4Life]

Well after a little bit of reading it seems that determining which end was forward for a given class of hood units in the US could be more complex than I thought. It seems that, up to a point in time at least which end was forward could be road specific; which end was forward was a choice. Perhaps an early benefit (which after a while they discovered was no benefit to the bottom line) of the catalogue approach to diesels by US builders.

From my very limited knowledge of US diesel history it looks like most of what I'll call gen 1 units (early FM, ALCo, EMD) were long hood forward, a carry over from steam. As things got bigger and the boiler in front mentality went away short hood forward became the norm. Here, in my state that took until the mid 70's to happen with hood units.

Alan, to validate one of my points, which way forward were your FM's wired from the manufacturer? and if SH forward did you bother to change the forwards direction to be LH forward?

- Tim

[PatP]

The only engine I operated was an MP15DC. If you google mp15dc images WR Grace #212 is the first hit. I ran #121 and #122 for a little while (6 months, maybe). They were set up as hood forward but we always pulled toward the cab. Those engines would push forward better than they would pull, which was directional gearing (they ran faster backward). I wonder if the same would've been true with the "gen 1" units. The gearboxes would've been streamlined to non-directional later on to cut manufacturing cost. Of course, I ran a switcher, not a road engine.

Just a thought,

PatP

[Alan]

Alan, to validate one of my points, which way forward were your FM's wired from the manufacturer? and if SH forward did you bother to change the forwards direction to be LH forward?

That's a good question. I never paid attention. I have no way of running a non-RP equipped loco so I swap them to RP straight out of the box. FMs, at least my H15s and 16s, are marked F on the long hood sill so I would assume Atlas wired them forward that way.

Not being a railroad man I have no clue why but the AC&Y often ran two units lashed short hood to short hood. Perhaps having the cabs close together served a useful or convenient purpose. I run my models the same way because it is how I remember them and how my photos show it. The AC&Y often ran single power either direction depending on whatever suited the switching situation at the moment. The only time they reliably had long hood forward was when a train left Brittain Yard, their only major yard.

I believe there was also a perception in the early days that long hood forward offered additional crew safety.