8-16-25- New Release! - All 5 orders of NW SD40-2 and CNW SD18M rebuilds

[Amm4425]

 

[trainsmaster2142]

very nice but NW really ran them long hood foward instead of the other way?

 

[davesnow]

very nice but NW really ran them long hood foward instead of the other way?

Maybe so, but I have never understood why a railroad would use a high-nose diesel running long hood forward. I mean, even with short hood forward visibility was horrible. Why make it worse by running a high-nose long hood forward??

 

[trainsmaster2142]

Maybe so, but I have never understood why a railroad would use a high-nose diesel running long hood forward. I mean, even with short hood forward visibility was horrible. Why make it worse by running a high-nose long hood forward??

i dont know that, its like driving a steam loco again. unless its a cab forward with great visibility

 

[wreeder]

Maybe so, but I have never understood why a railroad would use a high-nose diesel running long hood forward. I mean, even with short hood forward visibility was horrible. Why make it worse by running a high-nose long hood forward??

That was mostly Southern Railroad's practice which they claimed was for safety reasons. I guess they believe the crew had a better chance in a wreck but I've never seen any evidence to support that idea. But then again driving a train is mostly an act of faith that nothing is going to go wrong. It isn't like you can really stop a freight train like you can a car.

 

[norfolksouthern37]

That was mostly Southern Railroad's practice which they claimed was for safety reasons. I guess they believe the crew had a better chance in a wreck but I've never seen any evidence to support that idea. But then again driving a train is mostly an act of faith that nothing is going to go wrong. It isn't like you can really stop a freight train like you can a car.

This is myth and was really more of a side effect. The real reason SOU and NW used high-hood locomotives set to run long hood fwd in SOU's case or having a dual control setup in NW's case is to avoid having to turn the locomotives. That is all there is to it.

Both RRs had many many stub end coal feeder branches, and turning locomotives takes a long time, so this configuration equalizes the control and visibility of the locomotive no matter what direction it is facing. On the average, there is no big visibility difference when running long hood fwd with the controls on the opposite side than running short hood fwd with a high hood. Yes there are visibility issues compared to other loco types, but this was so small it was considered acceptable to save time turning the loco. Then some say, well why have the control stand on the opposite side for the SOU high hoods? This answer is easy. Placing the controls on this side gives more trackside and signal visibility when running in the long hood direction.

These days NS high-hoods are more rare by the day, but even the new locomotives often have ditchlights on the rear because they can also lead in reverse and the controls are also set up accordingly - for the same reasons. You can still see NS trains today led by long hood forward AC44C6Ms etc.

 

[wreeder]

A few railroads (Southern and Norfolk & Western stood out) chose dual controls but ran long-hood first by agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and/or Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen; the stated rationale was to provide protection for the engine crew in the event of a grade-crossing collision. (The Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG1 electrics were designed with cabs toward the center for the same reason.)

Trains.com

 

[norfolksouthern37]

Like I said that was more of a side effect and a myth. There is no real evidence to suggest it had anything at all to do with crew safety but certainly they played to that aspect for the unions. The unions were stated as part of the motivation for the Southern to start designating the long hood as the front of the locomotive so to make use of a loophole in union rules that were originally intended to keep crews from having to run cab units backwards. So there you have the need for the change.

My previous post was the stated practical reasons, when you involve the labor unions you see why those supposed practical reasons were contrived.

It was an equalizer. It settled many disputes. It started many more but was never ever about protection for the crews.

SOU did not have dual controls in this era as NW did, though I am aware of some really early diesels like that.

 

[BNSF_EMD]

*images snipped*

So I hate to be that guy, and these models do look fantastic! But I am curious about those Phase 2 models; the radiators look the same as the Phase 1 motors? I'd been looking at the bigger radiators on Phase 2 SD40-2s as a primary spotting feature; did N&W special-order the earlier radiators on some of their later units? I found a couple pictures of N&W SD40-2s with the bigger radiators but I'm not sure it was all of their later orders...

 

[norfolksouthern37]

There is no difference in the radiator intake size from ph1 to ph2. the opening cover is changed from a wire mesh that is covered by a wider wire grid to a corrugated mesh much like the main air intake but the size remains the same.

 

[BNSF_EMD]

Ah gotcha. The phase 2 engines do appear to have the wire mesh covers in the preview images above though...

 

[norfolksouthern37]

Ah gotcha. The phase 2 engines do appear to have the wire mesh covers in the preview images above though...

Ah okay, but they don't.

Thanks.