I have always wanted to know why the southern only has high hood locos. If anyone knows, please tell me.

James

-- James Baker (SNBfan17@hotmail.com), November 16, 2001

Answers

When I was with the Southern, a lifetime ago, I was told that there were two reasons for this. One was the fairly obvious issue of safety. It was thought that a high hood afforded more protection in the event of a collision. The second issue was that the Southern maintained that the hood unit was a bi-directional locomotive and could be operated with either end leading. A short hood dispelled this notion and the unions would require that any lead unit be turned with the short hood leading. When the Southern instituted a run- through train with the Penn Central, the BLE demanded that the short- hood PC unit be in the lead position, short hood forward. Needless to say this demand solidified the Southern's desire for high-nose units.

Hope this helps.

Bob Hanson

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), November 19, 2001.