@Rich Melvin posted:Another aspect to this that doesn't get mentioned often, is the entrenched mindset that was in place on the railroads when diesels came on the scene. With steam locomotives, the railroad had essentially been running "long hood forward" for decades. The mind-set was that the crew belonged at the back of the locomotive.
As the advantages of the diesel became known, the ability to run short hood forward and provide increased visibility to the crew was realized. Slowly the mind set changed to where a low, short hood forward locomotive became the standard.
A little known fact, concerning EMD GP type units; no matter which end the customer selected & designated the "Front", the short-hood end was ALWAYS designed and constructed as the "Front", i.e. the number one traction motor was at the short-hood end. All EMD electrical and construction drawings showed the short-hood end as the "Front", regardless of where the customer requested the control stand location and the letter F was placed.
