# Switching - long hood or short?



## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Say you're running an old switcher, like an S4, and you're working a stub-end yard. Which end would you run "forward"? By forward I mean the end that you use to couple onto the cars you need to pull out of one track and shove over to another track?










You guessed it, it's my trusty ol' S4 and my stub-end yard.










Seems you'd want to run short (or no) hood forward since you'd have better vision on what you're doing. On the other hand, would you want to be constantly looking over your shoulder? And constantly slamming into boxcars five feet away?

JackM


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

The prototype was used either way......ahhh don't be cheap, put couplers on both ends, and make them Kadee's.......!!!!! Have fun.....


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Most switchers, at least the ones I'm familiar with, have seats that swivel and the control panel is set up to run either way. And diesel-electrics don't actually "know" which way they're running, forward and reverse have no meaning other than to the operator. That being said, some locomotives, including switchers, had an "F" to designate the front. Steam switchers usually had the sloped back tender to give them better visibility when running tender forward. 

So, in reality, it doesn't matter. Because, if you think about it, when switching a stub-ended yard, you're running forward and reverse nearly an equal amount of time, and as far as running into boxcars, you would have a Switchman on the ground anyway. During the heyday of the S-4's, the Brotherhoods would have insured a sufficient number of people to watch what the engineer was doing.

More than likely, whatever end of the switcher was pointing whichever way when it arrived at the yard would be the direction it stayed pointing, unless they used it in a wye, or turned it around on a turntable. And, it might be the preference of the engineer himself. In eastern Denver, there's a switch yard on the UP that uses a GP15-1 and an MP15, with the cab of both locomotives in the middle. The engineer that I've always seen operating the yard sits in the MP15 cab with the long end in front of him, and the entire GP15-1 in his way the other direction. Occasionally, they've even included an ex-MP GP38-2 (no dynamics) on the end and switched with all three locomotives.

BTW, something a lot of modelers get wrong - or don't know, is that normal switchers have wide-swing couplers and they can't be pulled in a train. Moving them from point A to Point B involves coupling between two road locomotives that have the normal locomotive couplers that don't swing to keep the couplers on the switcher centered. Putting switcher behind a road locomotive and hooked to a freight car is a BIG no-no.

This wouldn't apply to the MP-15, since it is actually classified as a road-switcher. It also uses the standard EMD Blomberg B trucks and is capable of 65mph and can MU with other road units.

Robert


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

> seats that swivel and the control panel is set up to run either way


 I guess that was really my question. So I gave the (USAT) S4 interior a serious look and I can see that it would be tolerable to operate in either direction. (I was envisioning the engineer operating with his right hand bent behind his back to man the throttle. That would get tiring quickly.) Kudos to USAT for putting in a more realistic cab than I knew was there.

JackM


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack;

Since the Porter steam locomotives I ran at the tourist railroad always were facing south, I learned very quickly to turn around when running north and operate the controls with my right hand. It's not that hard to become an ambidextrous hogger.

Cheers,
David Meashey


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

What Fred said, hood end is irrelevant, functioning couplers on both ends as you may have to couple one end or both ends depending on the switching being done, that's how they work the real world.


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

Just look at the policy that each road had on the subject which would only apply to road switchers anyways as a switcher "par définition" wouldn't have a direction as it is constantly shifting directions. For instance it wasn't hard for me to learn that on the PRR the front was long hood forward. If you look at hood diesels especially road switchers they usually haf a rellatively large F painted on the frame under the running boards showing which way is front.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Sorry to all, I thought I put everything out in plain sight:

- I can't look at the policy that each road had on the subject because I *am* the road (CCRR doesn't really exist)
- yes, the rickety old S4 yard switcher changes directions a lot, but only to go back for another cut of cars
- it's working a stub yard, thus it does practically all its coupling on only one end; no run-arounds
- having the S4 on the bench, I took a look into the cab and realized that the controls are positioned so the engineer is equally comfortable in either direction. But my question remains much the same:

Would the engineer prefer to practically have his nose to the boxcar with every crash of the couplers, or would he rather have the long hood between him and the boxcar? (Let's presume management of the railroad hasn't issued any edict on how it must be done.)

JackM


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## MJSavage (Dec 27, 2007)

As an engineer I preferred to have the long end toward the cars. It was no problem making the joint either way but I had much better visibility pulling the cars out of the yard and watching to make sure the switches (turnouts) were lined for the move. I felt mostly blind if I had the short end against the cars.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

MJ- Thanks. I never would've thought of that!

JackM


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## s-4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Pretty sure I have my crew sitting sideways in my S4. Having served as fireman on an s4, I can say the view is fantastic from the cab end of the loco. I don't remember if it made coupling any easier, as the ALCOs do not have the lower windows like the EMDs had. Certainly you had a better idea of where you were, but there's always someone on the ground to signal you in anyways. The biggest advantage to running cab first is crossing vsibility and again visibility at the station platform. We always oriented the engine with the engineer on the platform side. This way he always could see the platform patrons from either approach.


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

Either way, you're operating blind 50% of the time. If you're looking at the switches pulling the cars out of the spurs, you're looking at trailing points that you just entered to grab the cut. When you reverse and head back into the yard, your view is blocked by the cars themselves. So, you have to trust your Switchman to have the points lined for your move, or if you're making a blind shove, you just have to make the best of it. Which way your locomotive is facing won't make any difference at that point.

Most modelers don't switch realistically anyway. They pick out one car out of the yard and go after it, and put it where they want it. In reality, an entire cut would be pulled out, and each car moved to the correct track and then cut off. This way the Switchman, using a switch list, doesn't have to walk the entire yard looking for each car individually. Of course, modelers don't have the real estate for most yards. Even a very small switching yard can be a mile long. In 1/32nd scale, a scale mile is 165 feet. We're lucky to have an entire layout with that much track...

In 1:20.3, a scale mile is 260 feet.

Robert


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