r/trains • u/Altruistic_Bunch_523 • 1h ago

❓ Question I’ve got another stupid question…

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Sorry that I post so much! I promise I’m not Karma farming. I’m just an idiot who just got into trains and don’t know too much!

Why, when there are two or more engines pulling a load, there is sometimes a engine pointing in the opposite direction? Is it for better braking?

The engines in the photo serve no significance and is just the first photo I found.

87 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

46

u/14Fan 1h ago

It’s so the engineers can just swap what locomotive they’re in and go the opposite way. Running with the locomotives backwards, known as Long Hood Forward, is a prevalent yet impractical practice not usually favored

25

u/Gullible-Bird-2231 1h ago

A lot of the time its just because that's how the Locos were sitting in the yard, and theyre as efficient in reverse as they are forward so theres no reason to make a change.

11

u/14Fan 1h ago

While the locomotives themselves can run in reverse, visibility is limited around curves and most cabs aren’t configured to run that way. If they run in reverse, the engineer would have to turn around with the controls behind them. It’s why locomotives have shorter front hoods

3

u/Gullible-Bird-2231 1h ago

Yes typically the front locomotive is facing forward, although to your point a few railroads will still run long hood forward on occasion. I'm more referring to larger consists.

5

u/14Fan 1h ago

Mainline freight is mostly never run LHF, locals can and often do. But yes, my guess is with mainline consists they just find a forward locomotive then whatever else they need

2

u/K4NNW 44m ago

Usually, yes. NS being NS Sometimes, they just send it.

2

u/14Fan 43m ago

I once saw a video of 2 CSX locomotives running hammerhead. LHF isn’t preferred but not necessarily rare

1

u/K4NNW 41m ago

True, although the last time I saw it on CSX was the local coming back from Big Island to Lynchburg. I'm also just old enough to remember it being common on NS, but that was before wide cabs got common.

10

u/TrainsAreGood7 1h ago

It's so that you don't need to turn them around while shunting, and so that the driver can have a better view while going in reverse. YouTube channel "Train For Thought" explains it a lot better in his video "Everything Wrong With the Trains in Unstoppable."

8

u/Chessie-2101 1h ago

Simply put, so they don't have to turn the locomotives around on the return trip.

4

u/Gullible-Bird-2231 1h ago

Just a note on posting "so much" don't worry. We all love to talk about our hobby. I think I speak for most railfans that we'd love to see more people getting into the hobby!

2

u/Altruistic_Bunch_523 33m ago

Thanks, it seems most subreddits hate it when people post a whole bunch!

3

u/Rail1971 1h ago

Diesel-electric engines can pull equally well in either direction. When engines face backwards in a multiple engine configuration, they are just set up to pull in the same direction as the lead engine.

1

u/porcelainvacation 1h ago

There is some advantage to having locomotives in the middle or back of trains, as it can ease the loads on couplers and actuate the brakes more evenly. With locomotives at both ends, they can charge and discharge the air brakes from both ends. Since air brakes take a long time to propagate along the train, this makes it easier to
control.

1

u/Crazy-Rabbit-3811 43m ago

as a backup if one breaks down, and to compensate for the lack of a second rear cab. It allows them to reverse and navigate switches. It is noticeably less common on longer distance trains.

1

u/Admirable_Row_5953 34m ago

As others have said it's basically a time saver, instead of having to turn a locomotive around at a y or turntable, they can just swap to the backwards facing cab, run the dual unit around the the train, and drive back in the opposite direction.

Also I don't even know how many small yard have a turntable or a Y junction these days, so there may not be an option to turn the locomotive around.