[quote="Milwaukee_F40C"]Some unusual cab car and locomotive combinations have been set up in the past. Caltrain put a locomotive in the middle of a train with cab cars at each end for filming their lines. I have seen one of Amtrak's nonpowered control units at the lead of a powered locomotive, which was pulling the City of New Orleans. Not sure why they did that.[/quote]
I couldn't really tell you why Amtrak put a NPCU ahead of a locomotive, but I know when we do strange things like that on Alaska Railroad, is usually has to do with some switching or a runaround move down the line.
In September 2013, we had a charter leave Anchorage with a SD70MAC on the point, followed by a backwards facing GP40-2, followed by a forwards facing NPCU. )Note than on Alaska Railroad the NPCU's are former Amtrak F40PH's, but serve as HEP generators, and not baggage cars.) The reasoning behind this arrangement was that the train would head south to Indian. At Indian, the MAC and the Geep would be cut off, run through the siding, and coupled to the rear of the train to pull it back to Anchorage. Having the NPCU on there meant the lights and heat would stay on during this move, and having the Geep on there allowed the crew to run from a forward facing locomotive in the return trip. It sure looked goofy leaving town though!
I am not sure why the train was not operated with a locomotive on one end and the NPCU on the other for that trip, but the only thing I can think of is that some of the coaches on the train did not have the required MU wiring to make that happen.