norfolk southern c36-7 running LHF

[dash7]

Hello again, i was wondering if anyone knows did southern/ N.S often run c30/36-7's long hood forward or did hoggers prefer to have EMD's on the point? as maybe their vision was'nt impaired by the -7's "wings"? thanks again dash7

[MEC407]

I have seen many photos of of NS/NW/SOU Dash-7s and U-boats running long hood forward, wings and all. They also did this with their SD45s, which as you probably know, had flared radiators. I don't think the hoggers generally had very much choice in regards to what kind of unit was the leader or what direction it was facing.

[Allen Hazen]

For curiosity, how would an engineer's field of vision running an SD45 (flared radiators) or C30-7 (wingspan) long hood forward compare to an engineers field of vision running a Norfolk and Western A-class or Y6b locomotive "boiler forward"? My guess is that the steam engineer might have a better view of the sky ahead, but for ground-level stuff the boiler would block more of the scene than the diesel's hood.
(Diesel hoods are about six feet wide, with GE wingspan or EMD flare near the top. Large late U.S. steam locomotives had boilers with a maximum diameter of nine feet, with the widest part at or below the engineer's point of view. But the steam boiler is tapered, so I don't know how the actual field of vision from the engineer's position compares. And maybe in the steam era engineers expected to hang their heads out the side windo more often than diesel era engineers do?)

[dash7]

thanks MEC407 and ALLEN both of your replies make good sense to me now that i think about it! cheers dash7

[SOU2645]

The only units set up for LHF running were C36-7's 8531-8542 delivered new to NS in 1984. Running GE's that way absolutely sucks. The vision issue is one - the exhaust FUMES are another. They will choke you to death.
Larry