Good Morning, I have noticed from your pics & in real life, when you pull three diesel locos, the rear loco is running backwards, is there a paticular reason for doing this? Thanks. Mike
The reason is so they don’t have to turn them on a wye or turntable. There is a cab at each end so for a run in the opposite direction they just flip some switches and make that the lead loco.
Thats not completely true. Look at NS, Most of the older units have Dual Control Stands and either end can be used as the front. Also the Power people generally try to do that, but it doesn’t always work out that way. CN has come through here with all 3 facing the same direction. Sometimes, the second one is facing reverse. It just depends on which unit was supposed to go where. There has been times the local train here went in the yard facing reverse, when it left going back the direction it came, it was going forward. There is more to it than just that.
To answer the question Mike asked: Why does the rear engine in the consist run backwards
The main reason is so the consist doesn’t need to be turned to go the other way. Turning engines is a big hassel. And running backwards, especially, in a wide cab, is a bigger hassel, dangerous, and prohibited on some lines.
While NS2591 is correct that some NS units have dual controls, the most Clean Cab union agreements prohibit the practice now.
Nick
I’ve never seen any lead CN or CP trains running backwards up here in Ontario. CN 99% of the time has one loco running backwards and CP its about 75% of the time.
what they said. it looks more realistic (to have that in a model train consist.)
I used to run on CN back in the 80’s and 90’s and asked the same question to the people at the Power Control Center. They told me that the main reason they had the trailing unit reversed was because " In the event that an opposing train is having locomotive problems the unit can be set out for them to lift and it will be headed the right way." Made sense to me.
I understand that Standard Operating Procedure for the Santa Fe is to run the first two units facing forward, so if there is a grade crossing accident the first unit can be pulled off the consist and the next unit in line will be facing forward.
Admittedly multi-unit lash-ups operating onto a branch line would have the lokes on the head end pointed so that the lead loke was running forward and the rear loke was running in reverse - this did eliminate the need for turning at the far end of the branch. On the mainline things are usually different because lash-ups tend to run through to major terminals where there is usually an abundance of motive power pointed in both directions. Admittedly railroads do not like to turn lokes except when absolutely positutely necessary. So how about this for an answer: the reason the rear loke is running in reverse is because that happens to be the way it was pointed when the roadmaster/yardmaster/shop foreman/ superintendent of motive power/whomever is responsible for such things assembled the 10000 plus horsepower required for that particular train to get over the road. Here in the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I’ve seen them lashed up with lead unit pointed west for example, second unit pointed east, and third unit pointed west also.
Mainly b/c when the train goes the other way, you have a cab to run it from. Just un-hook them from one end, and couple to the other.
People are correct when they said most trains have the front and rear locomotive units pointed in opposite directions. But it sure is neat to see “elephant” style lashups, with the fronts forward (particularly with F units, like an A, A, B, B, and reversed A lashup.) And remember the mid-20th-century E-unit lashups that were A, B, B? Beautiful. Where’s my checkbook?
I am now a supervisor for the Ottawa Central Railway in Ottawa Canada, a shortline for sure, we run the units back to back for operational purposes, the biggest thing for us is that it takes a yard crew about an hour to turn an engine>>>> too long, back to back for always!