Dumb question

[Danieldd4]

I don't know if this is a dumb question or not but in some photos I have seen train loco's say maybe 4 with a mile long train behind them and all the locos are facing the same direction. But then in others I have seen the two front locos facing one direction and then the back two face nose to nose? in some cases both set are facing nose to nose.... Why is this what benefit does this have..... or is it just for looks. I have seen them do this with real trains as well so there must be a purpose.. I am sure someone here can answer this question

 

[crohakon]

It can all depend on the way the locomotive was faced on the track to start. If no turn table or "y" track exist you cannot turn around the locomotive. Also, there are some railroads like the local in Muskegon, MI that run two locomotives back to back. This allows the locomotives to run around the train and still have one cab facing forward. The crew simply moves from one locomotive to the other. Hope that helps!

Also, the way locomotives are designed they have the same amount of power going forward or backward.

 

[NikkiA]

I don't know if this is a dumb question or not but in some photos I have seen train loco's say maybe 4 with a mile long train behind them and all the locos are facing the same direction. But then in others I have seen the two front locos facing one direction and then the back two face nose to nose? in some cases both set are facing nose to nose.... Why is this what benefit does this have..... or is it just for looks. I have seen them do this with real trains as well so there must be a purpose.. I am sure someone here can answer this question

I believe it comes down to a variety of factors, probably most importantly is which way the locos were facing when they were formed into a consist (assuming no turntable is available).

Secondly, some locos have improved visibility in one direction over the other, in certain circumstances. for example, for a multi-person crew, the walkway of the *back* end of a SD40 offers more visibility than the cab, for the crewmember(s) that aren't operating the controls. In colder weather however, the cab may be a better option.

If you have to do shunting operations, again without a turntable, you will want equalish visibility on each end of the locomotive sub-consist, so you will tend to want to couple the locos either nose-nose or back-back.

And finally, as I understand it, the US still has some railroads that do what we in the UK would call 'wagon-load' trains (ie, non-bulk and non-intermodal). In which case you may want to apply all of those rules to your locomotives in a way in which they can break off into two trains when the consist is split), so you may end up with:
R-N N-R R-N N-R (where R is the rear and N is the nose), which you could then break into two locomotive pairings with R-N N-R on each.

But I imagine the overriding rule is 'they get coupled together how they're facing on the track when the consist is formed'

 

[RRSignal]

In the U.S. there are few turntables and wyes left, so turning a loco isn't an option in many places. Crews use whatever they have. As crohakon addressed, it's common - especially on yard or industrial track moves - to have locos either Back to Back coupled or one loco on each end, Front ends facing opposite directions, which make drilling yards or industry easier.

 

[Danieldd4]

I kind of thought it had mostly to do with not being able to turn them around and the whole thing about splitting a train makes sense also

thanks guys

 

[cascaderailroad]

Sometimes a hostler at the engine terminal will couple 2 loco's together, and if no one separates them, they can remain together for months and months, with cab ends faciing opposite dirrections.

Often a third unit is coupled onto these matched pairs, for added tractive effort, and the first two locos may be elephant style (facing the same dirrection). As locos are pulled and swapped the dirrection gets continually changed. I seem to like mine facing: forward, backwards forward, backwards, in a 4 loco consist. But they can be any dirrection. Roads like Southern used to run long hood forward for crash protection.

 

[SuperFudd]

Not all locos work well in reverse. Maybe Diesel but not all, or even most, steam. Ex Southern Pacific 2472, a 4-6-2 Pacific still in use for excursions, was run backwards at speed for maybe 20 miles, ruining the driver bearings, putting it in the shop for a very long time. It seems the bearing lubrication doesn't work so well in reverse. I guess that fact was not in the owner's manual.

 

[Danieldd4]

Not all locos work well in reverse. Maybe Diesel but not all, or even most, steam. Ex Southern Pacific 2472, a 4-6-2 Pacific still in use for excursions, was run backwards at speed for maybe 20 miles, ruining the driver bearings, putting it in the shop for a very long time. It seems the bearing lubrication doesn't work so well in reverse. I guess that fact was not in the owner's manual.

Hmm that is interesting Glad we don't have to worry about bearings in trainz

 

[crohakon]

Not all locos work well in reverse. Maybe Diesel but not all, or even most, steam. Ex Southern Pacific 2472, a 4-6-2 Pacific still in use for excursions, was run backwards at speed for maybe 20 miles, ruining the driver bearings, putting it in the shop for a very long time. It seems the bearing lubrication doesn't work so well in reverse. I guess that fact was not in the owner's manual.

Yeah, should have clarified a bit. Steam locomotives were NOT designed to work the same in either direction. Diesel-Electric locomotives are however designed to work the same whether facing forward or backward. They are driven by electric traction motors. The diesel engine(s) are only there to generate electricity for the traction motors. Each set of trucks on a diesel-electric locomotive has one or more traction motors.

Hope that cleared that up a bit.