Which direction to run a NY SW7

There should be a small "F" on the front of the loco.

Long hood forward, see the F under the center front stanchion

Actually, they ran in both directions.

The ICRR used to operate their SW 14's long hood to long hood. The Illinois Terminal used to do the same at times, but, the IT would marry-up SW's with Geeps and even SD 39's.

Rusty

Interesting to note the model and picture don't show multiple unit handrails and associated wiring.  Many small railroads MU'ed their units in either direction, always one unit facing the opposite direction, for the return trip.   Click on the triangle.  Done with Atlas models/Lionel generic electronics available to Atlas. 

What D500 said. The NYC and others ran the locos with the F or number 1 end to be designated as the front, number 2 end as the rear, the  A side is the right side, and the B side is the left side. Per the AAR  for freight cars there is no F of course, and the A end is the end with no handbrake, the B end is the handbrake end and the sides are R and L.

Which way is the engineer facing?

the F on the locomotive denotes front

john f penca jr posted:

the F on the locomotive denotes front

Oh, I always thought that was for "foto".

I got to ride along on a Burlington Northern (ex-Frisco) branch line in the 1980's that was operated with an SW-1500.  It was about 20 some odd miles one way, with no turning facilities at the far end.  The locomotive simply operated long hood forward for one half of the trip, and cab forward on the other half.  My memory of the engineer's seat was that it was basically a padded bar-stool type seat bolted to the floor with no back on it, so even though the loco was set up to operate long hood forward, it wasn't that much of an inconvenience to run it for a somewhat long distance in the other direction.

Moral of the story - operate the switcher which ever direction you prefer.

Like all diesel locos, they can be run in either direction. The railroad indicates with the F which is the front of the loco

Matt Makens posted:

Like all diesel locos, they can be run in either direction. The railroad indicates with the F which is the front of the loco

Actually that "F" is a Federal requirement for all locomotives, other than steam.

The "f" has nothing to do with which way the locomotive actually runs.  It is there becasue for safe operation it is necessary to know which end is the front. That would be true even on a center cab locomotive with dual control stands.

The conductor or brakemand on the ground is giving signals to the engineer to go forward or go backward.  The F defines what is forward.

In my railroading days, I was on a lot of switch engines on several railroads.  I don't recall ever seeing an engineer's seat without a back. Normally when the engineer was looking forward, the control stand was on the left and running backwards was less comfortable for the engineer;  OF course in switching service the locomotive had to run equal distance in both directions.

In yard switching, the F end was usually toward the yard and away from the lead because the ground men passing signals were usually on the yard tracks ahead of the engine.  But you wouldn't often see a special run to the turntable just to have the engine facing in the direction most convenient for the engineer.

Atlas SW cab detail.  Picture right is front. 

Hot Water posted:

john f penca jr posted:

the F on the locomotive denotes front

Oh, I always thought that was for "foto".

This made me laugh!

WindupGuy posted:

I got to ride along on a Burlington Northern (ex-Frisco) branch line in the 1980's that was operated with an SW-1500.  It was about 20 some odd miles one way, with no turning facilities at the far end.  The locomotive simply operated long hood forward for one half of the trip, and cab forward on the other half.  My memory of the engineer's seat was that it was basically a padded bar-stool type seat bolted to the floor with no back on it, so even though the loco was set up to operate long hood forward, it wasn't that much of an inconvenience to run it for a somewhat long distance in the other direction.

Moral of the story - operate the switcher which ever direction you prefer.

The Frisco practice was to run cab-forward--I'd have to go looking to see which end the early units had the F on.  If you note pics of paired SWs & NWs and similar units, they were almost always coupled hood-to-hood rather than cab-to-cab.  Obviously, they could run in either direction, but the crews apparently liked the view with the cab in front.

Hot Water posted:

Matt Makens posted:

Like all diesel locos, they can be run in either direction. The railroad indicates with the F which is the front of the loco

Actually that "F" is a Federal requirement for all locomotives, other than steam.

While it is a federal requirement for all locomotives other than steam, the federal government did not choose the front of the locomotive, the railroad did.

The letter F on the frame of diesel-electrics is required only so that parts can be identified by axle number (starting at 1 in front and increasing toward the rear of the locomotive), right or left side*.  It is not required there for the purpose of giving hand or lantern signals for movement.  

For purposes of passing signals, the Engineer sits on the right side of the locomotive, and that is how the determination is made to signal forward or reverse movement from the ground.  I don't know how railroads like Burlington and Norfolk & Western, both of which had large numbers of locomotives with dual controls, handled it if the Engineer used the control stand on the official left side of the locomotive.  Big Jim, can you help on this?

New York Central SW7's had one control stand and the long hood was the designated front.  In yard operations and industrial switching, End-cab locomotives like the SW7 frequently have to be operated with the cab leading part of the time.  For hand and lantern signals at those times, Trainmen and Switchmen signal "back up" when they want the engine to move in the direction of the cab end, whether it is leading or trailing.  Of course, on a single control SW7, the Engineer is running the engine from the left side when operating point to point with the cab leading.  Normal operation puts the Engineer on the right side looking toward the front of the locomotive, so an SW7 is running forward when the long hood is leading.

*  Examples:  Number 2 traction motor suspension bearing;  left rear step well;  right rear cab door;  R3 wheel (right wheel on number 3 axle);  L2 roller bearing cap;  L3 lower gear case cover.

I can see the logic of why "F" would mean front.  I have the Legacy NYC engine described above and also an MTH NYC switcher.  I run them both both ways but there is something "cool" about the cab leading the train.  What I like most is how slow both of them crawl around the tracks.

John

I've heard stories that at times it was simply the engineer's preference (especially if they had a convenient, close-by wye or turntable).  Switching a yard or industries, the engineer may wish to have the cab facing the train cars, for its excellent view of the cars being coupled and uncoupled.

Being sent out on road duty however, may see the engineer preferring to run hood forward for better crew protection against grade crossing accidents, cattle on the tracks, or other track obstructions.

But since turning facilities started disappearing after the fall of steam, it probably wasn't that big of a deal which way the loco ran, since they ran just as well in either direction anyway.

On Conrail forward was determined by an understanding between the engineer and the train crew at the beginning of the work shift. It stayed that way through the entire shift unless circumstances changed and it was then only changed by having a job briefing and through mutual agreement of the entire crew. As was stated above the F was on the locomotive for reporting defects so that if there was a defect on the 2nd wheel right side the mechanical department was on the same page as the person who wrote it up.