F7 Problem?

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F7 Problem?

Unread postby Whatzizname » Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:44 am

So I have seen a lot of things about the full cowl locomotives being a problem in the US because the aren't very safe because of the lack of rear vision. Which makes me think, Us Aussies have a Locomotive known as the NSW/Commonwealth class 421, They were made here in Aus and were based off your E/F class locmotives, they all had EMD Engines and all had 6 axles, Except they were made with 1 major difference. We put a cab on the other end so we wouldn't need to turn it around and we could do shunting with it, and it makes me wonder, Why didn't the Americans do this also?

Here is a class 421 as an example

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We also has Class 42s which had cabs but were used as boosters because of their normally dodgy cab conditions and the GM class which has no cab on the rear
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Re: F7 Problem?

Unread postby Chacal » Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:44 am

Actually the crews disliked the bullnose cab also because it suffered from a lack of forwards vision.
But this 2-cab loco is awesome.
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Re: F7 Problem?

Unread postby Ericmopar » Wed Feb 04, 2015 6:18 am

It had nothing to do with rear facing running. It had to do with difficulty in seeing to the rear for hand signals when doing cutouts and minor switching along the route.
The drivers had to bow down to look out their side window and look to the rear.
Funny about the complaints, yet there are plenty of locos built since then with "cowls" that have the same or similar issues.
As far as forward visibility goes, they put so many monitors and other readouts in the modern locos that the poor drivers must feel like a horse with blinders on sometimes.
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