@WesternPacific2217 posted:Out here in the west, Southern Pacific used Pacific class for short freight and passenger. Pacific's like 2472, operational today, pulled the commuter trains between San Francisco and San Jose. They were called upon to pull short freights on branch lines and main lines and shared this duty with Northern GS series.
Here's a tidbit - On both the SP Pacific's and Northern GS series they would move the number board from mid boiler to the front above the smoke box and back again. I'm not totally sure why SP did this, but in many of the photos I've seen, for freight the number board tended to be mounted mid boiler and for passenger service mounted above the smoke box. Does anybody here no for sure the reason?
The reason for the relocation of the Train Number Indicators from the front to halfway back on the skyline caseing, was due to the wayside station agents, and other trains, to see the train number account the bright headlight & Mars Light on the GS class locomotives. When the GS-4 class Daylights were delivered in 1941, with the Mars Light, wayside visibility of the train numbers became even more of a problem, thus the relocation. Other SP steam power without the Mars Light, retained the Train Number Indicators in the forward position.
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