GWR Locos

Maybe the railfans can ride the engine, maybe even run it.

First generation British DMUs often had a glass panel behind the driver, so if you were in the first car you could look ahead, and also watch the driver in action. Unfortunately times have changed, although you can still get the same experience in some driverless trains such as the Docklands Light Railway, and quite a few airport shuttles.

Those first generation Dmu's were still in use in branchlines when i was there in the early 1990's

Fortunately a few have survived on heritage lines, so you can still have that branchline experience!

New York City subway trains were like that. The motorman was in a little box on the right hand side of the car, and the center and left hand side were used by passengers, and were glazed. I took many front end rides, looking at the railroad ahead.
One time when i was fourteen i was riding the head end on an "el" train, and there was a wheel there in front of me. So I spun it. At the next stop the motorman came out of his cab and told me not to do that, I was putting the brake on the lead car, the leads truck I suppose.

johnthefireman wrote:First generation British DMUs often had a glass panel behind the driver, so if you were in the first car you could look ahead, and also watch the driver in action. Unfortunately times have changed, although you can still get the same experience in some driverless trains such as the Docklands Light Railway, and quite a few airport shuttles.

I rode those numerous times over quite a period of years, and only once in all that time did a driver pull down the shade. I got excellent views of signals, and how the AWS worked, as well as seeing the tablets being exchanged.

GWR trains: loco in the middle of the train. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCo8CInprw&t=1919s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well, yes, but it's an auto-train. It's being driven from the cabs at the end of the coaches. The fireman is on the loco to feed the fire and operate certain controls, including the injectors, blower, and I think the reverser. The driver has control of the regulator, brakes and possibly the whistle via connecting rods.

Possibly Steam was piped up to the front cab , and the whistle located there ??? Or air operated . I seem to remember seeing a picture where the whistle appeared to be on the cab car ???

Steam to the front cab is possible, as coaches in those days were steam-heated so there was a steam connection, although I think it would usually be closed from the footplate unless needed due to cold weather, to avoid wasting steam via the inevitable leaks. Maybe it was kept open on an auto-train. I've never operated an auto-train and I'm not familiar with the details.

Actually, since all of our trains, except the emu's, are push - pull, you occasionally see equipment moves between outlying terminals and our central maintenance facility, with the engine in the middle of the train. It always amuses me. But you never see it on live,(passengerger carrying) trains.