Surprising comments from an Engineer

Well they are just all the same aren't they. (Says the woman that believes that nothing good happened on railways after 1924.)
 
Just shows there is no personality in a modern loco. Not like the steam locos of the past. In the days of steam one driver (engineer) could get quite a lot more performance out of a given loco than another driver. Each loco had a personality of it's own and responded to a really good driver and fireman.

Cheers.
Bill69
 
Well they are just all the same aren't they. (Says the woman that believes that nothing good happened on railways after 1924.)
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Stop
 
...Each loco had a personality of it's own and responded to a really good driver and fireman.

Cheers.
Bill69

A kettle driver is only as good as his/her fireman.

As for the OP, if you drive them daily, it's just a job so unlikely to get exited about much. It quickly loses the novelty factor if it's steam or diesel.
 
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Not a surprising comment from the professional engineer. As pfx said the novelty goes away. That being said most engineers are more concerned with getting a comfortable, good unit that is a comfortable pleasant place to work and doesn't make the shift any harder than it needs to be. A unit with a clean cab and no subtle little faults is a favorite, the dirty unit with a laundry list of "not bad enough to get fixed" issues is despised. The later unit can turn a simple short job in to a nightmare. Additionally with multiple unit consists there are preferences on how they get set up, if you look at pictures of locomotive consists you will often see older units bracketed by newer ones. Often the lead unit had a nice cab while the second was, mechanically, the preferred unit. This could be because certain units did a better job in terms of real world performance while other units had a nicer ride and crew accommodations. As an example, the Bangor & Aroostook (BAR) had a habit of sticking a BL-2 in MU consists as the second engine as they tended to be "sure footed" but uncomfortable as a lead unit.
 
Crews at CN wanted clean cabs and good seats. I remember mechanics going out to change a seat when the engineer wasn't happy with it. The high-back seats were definitely a big improvement over the old round cushion style. In the years when the SD-40 was showing it's age, I remember an engineer complaining about his cab heater cover rattling. The cover hooked on at the top and was secured by two screws at the bottom. The screw holes were worn, the screws would work out and the cover would loosen and rattle. I put bigger screws in the cover and it seemed good but next day when the units came back the cover was off the heater. After looking inside the short hood I found no cover and then learned that the engineer had thrown it out the window.
 
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