rlkitterman on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/rlkitterman/art/Long-Hood-Forward-438505299rlkitterman

Deviation Actions

rlkitterman's avatar

Long Hood Forward

By
Published:
593 Views

Description

On some lines, such as the Norfolk and Western Railway or the Southern Railway, diesels were driven long hood forward with the cab in back.  Such was the case for N&W EMD GP30 No. 522, seen here looking quite shiny in the afternoon sun at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.  Was there any particular reason for running long hood forward?  My theory is that the practice carries over from steam locomotives.
Image size
3263x2375px 1.87 MB
Make
NIKON
Model
COOLPIX S6300
Shutter Speed
8/10000 second
Aperture
F/3.3
Focal Length
5 mm
ISO Speed
400
Date Taken
Feb 22, 2014, 2:33:28 PM
© 2014 - 2024 rlkitterman
Comments3
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Patriot1776's avatar
In addition to having to do lots of switching moves on remote branch lines without turning wyes there was another reason for running Long Hood Forward, especially in the case of the Southern Railway.  It was a cheap way of affording collision protection to lead-engine crews in the days before heavily armored cabs.  Southern Railway had a massive number of rural road crossings on a lot of its lines and the risk of hitting some schmuck who decided it would be fun to try and race a train out in the countryside was particularly acute.  Even after safety cabs started to be developed, Southern Railway preferred the Long Hood Forward style of running because it still afforded collision protection without the added expense of a safety cab, and keeping the high-nose was also the cheaper option and permitted freight engines to still be equipped with steam generators for the occasional passenger haul, as Southern Railway did not relinquish its passenger operations completely to Amtrak until 1979.