Often I can see 2 or more locos like in these two pictures, pointing in different directions. I understand that they get more power this way but… You don’t need a turntable for turning the locos, is that also a reason they do this on the prototype?
yes, that is the reason they do it… it keeps the lead locomotive with the front facing forward and all they have to do is make a run around move and the train has the front of the engine pointing to the front at the other end of the train if need be…chuck
More like for the lack of turning facilities. So on branchlines without turning facilities the crew can run short hood forward in both directions. Mechanicaly the engines run equaly well forward or backward.
Thanks, I’m not that stupid after all [:D]
Right, no real reason at all. Makes no difference which way they face, but most roads prefer the short nose to the front.
That’s the answer. When the train gets to the end of the line, the crew can just walk down to the other cab and go back the other way. Turntables hardly exist anymore, except on model railroads. Wyes take up a lot of real estate, and when you get to full-scale, there’s no big hand to come out of the sky and turn your engines the other way.
Many US commuter-rail trains (the ones that take people between the suburbs and cities for work every day) run in “push-pull” mode with a locomotive on one end only. The end passenger car also has a control cab which links to the locomotive in the rear when it’s going the other direction.
Thanks for the great answer, you guys are really cool [bow]
BTW: How did they turn around the California or Rio Grande Zephyr?
I can’t speak to the Zephyr, but some of the bigger passenger terminals had loop tracks (yeah, a big reversing loop) that allowed them to turn the entire train and get it headed in the return direction. Then the train would be backed into the (usually) stub ended departure track.
Regards
Ed
does running engines in different directions have anything to do with wear on the traction motors?
No. Locomotives run the same in either direction. The reason for running short hood forward is for better visibility. Some railroads (NS in particular) have only recently (the last 10years) switched to short hood forward.
In the beginning of diesel power, “standard practice” was to run long hood forward for increased crash protection, (just like steam engines - except for SPs cab forwards and that was to keep the exhaust out of the cabs in tunnels). Over time most railroads decided in favor of better visibility (with beefed up frames) of short hood forward with NS lagging behind everyone else.
Way back when SP West Oakland had the tracks to the pier they had a large Wye. and used that for turning engines or cars such as the observation car on the streamliners.
NS was actually a leader, like her Southern and N&W predecessors. As such, they were the last to cave in to “lemming” pressure.
Many European locomotives are double-ended, with cabs on both ends. Some North American builders tried this many years ago, but they didn’t go over well; it was cheaper to buy single cab locos and m.u. them. Greater flexibility, too.
Chad,
That is one SWEET pic!
As far as turning passenger trains, some depots are/were one leg of a wye. St. Paul Union Depot in St.Paul MN for example was the SW leg of a SW/SE/NW wye. That way, say the GN Empire Builder coming from the west (North West leg) could run past the depot into the SE leg and then back in, cut off the GN engines, and then CBQ engines would take over and run the train to Chicago down the SE leg. Ditto for the return trip, CB&Q engines could pull the train up the NW leg of the wye, back into the depot, and the GN engines could take over.
In Denver the train arrives and departes from the east side of Union Station. It is turned in a wye and backed into the station (Amtrak uses the same scheme today). Denver actually has two wyes to the east (the other one is on the UP using the interchange track to the Burlington).
Boston and Grand Central had/have loop tracks. Used by the NH of course. Boston’s is gone I think.
The loops at passenger terminals were not just for engines - in fact they were actually for the passenger train to simply turn the whole train so the observation car is on the end and the rest of the consist is in the right order.
NH electrics all had two cabs and two diesels were needed for the mainline trains to Boston.
Road switchers that have hoods (GP9, H1644, GP38, etc, etc.) can run with either hood forward.
There is no real reason in consists over 2 engines that the ones in the middle face one way or another. Most RR’s try and have the end units facing opposite directions for ease of use reasons - no need to turn the consist.