Obviously when an engineer/fireman operated a steam locomotive they had issues with visibility and line of sight with the cab being at the rear of the boiler.
I am aware that the men hung out the side window to see where they were going, but my question is, how often did they utilize the inside forward facing windows (that weren’t that big on many locos)? Could one see very well out of one of those windows or were they virtually worthless? Would an operator have to hang out the side window in incliment weather to see where they were going?
The forward facing windows were small, but provided the view of the track ahead, at least what you could see with the boiler blocking most of the view. Many times the Fireman would be watching out the window on his side and “call the signals” as a confirmation that the Engineer had seen them.
Besides switching maneuvers at low speed, hanging out the side window wasn’t done that often: 1) The longer distance view ahead couldn’t be improved very much with this slight sideways movement of the Engineer’s head. 2) If you did this at speed, there was a good chance of getting a face full of smoke and cinders. 3) In some places, lineside clearances weren’t that great. 4) A train passing by at speed on a parallel track, especially in the opposite direction, could be startling, to say the least, and you don’t want to even consider a slightly shifted load on an open car. 5) And at speed you DEFINATELY would not want to hang out the window. Imagine even rain drops hitting your face at 60 MPH. That water would not be very soft.
I’m sure on a day like today - currently -14F in St.Paul MN - you didn’t want to hang out the window!! Some steam engines did have extended winter side windows, as is commonly seen on diesels.
First I will add to what Tom said…Engineers did not hang out of the windows for many reasons from safety to being hit by cinders,bugs,smoke,etc.Now they would lean on the arm rest in order to improve their view along the boiler to the track–the view wasn’t as bad as many believe except on curves.
BTW…Even in rain the window was usually open on a steam locomotive.
The head brakeman would watch the left side while the fireman worked his fire–even with mechinaical strokers the fire had to be worked.
Diesels running long hood forward is about the same as a steam locomotive…Again the engineer would lean on the arm reast to improve the view.
The steam (and diesel, and electric) locomotives which operated in places in Japan where sticky precipitation might obscure the d’raiba’s forward vision had (and have) spinning disc window clearance devices - even on those ‘small’ front windows.
Incidentally, the view from the engineer’s seat on a GG-1 wasn’t as good as that on most steamers!
The biggest reason for sticking one’s head out of a steam loco’s side window was to look backward. The second biggest was to try to find some cooler air!
When making shifting moves, some enginemen liked to sit on the windowsill. This made it easier to operate the controls and gave better visibility around the tender. Doesn’t seem very safe, but I never heard of anyone falling out.
Actually, I have heard of an engineman falling off a ‘window seat’ on a camelback on one of the anthracite roads. The fireman didn’t know about it until the train ran a signal. When he climbed over the Wooten firebox into the cab, it was unoccupied.
The one steamer that had excellent visibility was the SP’s cab forwards. The trade-off was that the crew were right up front with no protection in the event they hit something. When Western Pacific was considering designs for new articulated loco’s in the 1930’s their enginemen were asked if they wanted cab forwards. They decided that, given the frequency of rock slides in the Feather River Canyon, they’d rather have all the iron out front in lieu of good visibility.