Always wondered if your name was because you are interested in Cabforward engines. If so, can you give me a little information on them. I have some pictures of them, but not much information.
Thanx
Jen
as i recall, cabforwards were steam engines as big (or nearly so) as the up big boy… they were built for the ‘espee’ (sp)…
i believe they hauled freight as the big boy did, a lot of it over steep grades… i believe the history says they were used mostly in espee’s truckee, ca, division…
the conditions of hauling a payload at speed caused much smoke to draft back to the cab, making visual observations difficult… someone got the idea of turning the engine around and hooking the tender to the cowcatcher… this effectively put the smoke behind the engineer and into the face of the caboose crew, where it belonged… the end of the cab was enclosed to protect the cab from debris, wind and the bodies of animals who were deaf or drunk…
the turning of the cab could put the engineer on the other side of the picture…
what attracted me to the cabs was that the cab looked to me like the front part of a streetcar, which i was partial to beforehand…
…I believe another reason for the engine turnaround was the operation through snow sheds and many tunnels…Since you mention it, the “front end” sure did remind one of an early street car.
i hope someone with cab knowledge will see this and subtract from my ignorance of cabs…
a link to a cabforward reference would be appreciated…
what did they haul and where? what time frame were they in service?
how did they compare with engines of that size (big boy)?
how were controls arranged?
why wouldn’t up use the design? was it sp vanity? was it already too late in the day for steam?
The cab forward type (4-8-8-2) was used by espee. this type evolved when espee recived thier order of 2-8-8-2s but because of the smoke in the long tunnels and snow sheds one engineer ran his enine tender first and hooked the train up to the cowcatcher and ran the rest of the trip that way. Other engineers soon followed and eventually the cab was turned around and the tender was put behind the engine.the engines used oil as their fuel and it was piped to the fire box.
hope this helps.
thank you,
gd, for the input… i would like to know more details… if you / others have more to offer or refer to, i’m interested…
The primary reason the cabforward desighn never spread beyond the “SP” is simple. The Cabforward locomotives were oil burners, all conventional locomotives were coal burners, It is mighty diffacult to pipe coal to the front of the loco.
David
partial
Get out your favorite search engine and go looking for this book
Cab-Forward
Robert J. Church
Kratville Publications 1968
2566 Farnam St.
Omaha, Nebraska
THE definitive work on the subject. May have been reprinted, I think . . .
Once you read it twice, you can then rightfully use your moniker.
Partial
ACs, as they were known, were just about universal power both in service and on location. They were everywhere on SP pulling and/or pushing everything.
The cab controls were the regular way around, engineer on the right, signal, side.
Classic winter on Donner configuration, rotary on each end of an AC. Clear snow going in either direction.
Go to Sacramento and look at the one in California State Railroad Museum. Worth the trip, even from where ever you are. Repair your ignorance.
Always wondered if your name was because you are interested in Cabforward engines. If so, can you give me a little information on them. I have some pictures of them, but not much information.
Thanx
Jen
as i recall, cabforwards were steam engines as big (or nearly so) as the up big boy… they were built for the ‘espee’ (sp)…
i believe they hauled freight as the big boy did, a lot of it over steep grades… i believe the history says they were used mostly in espee’s truckee, ca, division…
the conditions of hauling a payload at speed caused much smoke to draft back to the cab, making visual observations difficult… someone got the idea of turning the engine around and hooking the tender to the cowcatcher… this effectively put the smoke behind the engineer and into the face of the caboose crew, where it belonged… the end of the cab was enclosed to protect the cab from debris, wind and the bodies of animals who were deaf or drunk…
the turning of the cab could put the engineer on the other side of the picture…
what attracted me to the cabs was that the cab looked to me like the front part of a streetcar, which i was partial to beforehand…
…I believe another reason for the engine turnaround was the operation through snow sheds and many tunnels…Since you mention it, the “front end” sure did remind one of an early street car.
i hope someone with cab knowledge will see this and subtract from my ignorance of cabs…
a link to a cabforward reference would be appreciated…
what did they haul and where? what time frame were they in service?
how did they compare with engines of that size (big boy)?
how were controls arranged?
why wouldn’t up use the design? was it sp vanity? was it already too late in the day for steam?
The cab forward type (4-8-8-2) was used by espee. this type evolved when espee recived thier order of 2-8-8-2s but because of the smoke in the long tunnels and snow sheds one engineer ran his enine tender first and hooked the train up to the cowcatcher and ran the rest of the trip that way. Other engineers soon followed and eventually the cab was turned around and the tender was put behind the engine.the engines used oil as their fuel and it was piped to the fire box.
hope this helps.
thank you,
gd, for the input… i would like to know more details… if you / others have more to offer or refer to, i’m interested…
The primary reason the cabforward desighn never spread beyond the “SP” is simple. The Cabforward locomotives were oil burners, all conventional locomotives were coal burners, It is mighty diffacult to pipe coal to the front of the loco.
David
partial
Get out your favorite search engine and go looking for this book
Cab-Forward
Robert J. Church
Kratville Publications 1968
2566 Farnam St.
Omaha, Nebraska
THE definitive work on the subject. May have been reprinted, I think . . .
Once you read it twice, you can then rightfully use your moniker.
Partial
ACs, as they were known, were just about universal power both in service and on location. They were everywhere on SP pulling and/or pushing everything.
The cab controls were the regular way around, engineer on the right, signal, side.
Classic winter on Donner configuration, rotary on each end of an AC. Clear snow going in either direction.
Go to Sacramento and look at the one in California State Railroad Museum. Worth the trip, even from where ever you are. Repair your ignorance.