SES,
For a RS11 the long hood would be the front, that is the way the engineer is sitting. I have two PRR Legacy RS11s but I prefer to run them short hood forward. I use the direction control when setting up a lash up so that mine start short end forward. The standard set up is long end forward.
The cab light is supposed to go out in Legacy engines once they move. I have never ran a Legacy engine in conventional and have said in the past running a Legacy engine in conventional is like taking a shower in a raincoat. My guess is this is the reason for you smoke problem. In conventional you are probably at a higher voltage in neutral than when you go forward or reverse. In command you are at 18 volts so my RS11s smoke great in neutral or running.
As far as the paint job I am sure CR did their best to cover over the LV. However when CR was starting up it depended what paint the local hardware store had. Paint marching was hit or miss. I would also of liked to see a little more of the LV visible but if you can see it in certain lights better I would think this was the way it was during the transition to CR. I generally llike these transition engines as do I like this one.
Give it some time to get use to. Legacy engines as terrific but again I strongly recommend investing in command contral (Legacy of course). My RS11s are real loud do you have your volume pod turned up?
JohnB
