geysergazer posted:Because of crew safety I'd be surprised if the nose is aluminum.
The "skin" of the nose just may be aluminum, as all the structural strength is under that "skin". In fact, the units on the California Commuter trains out of LA have fiberglass nose pieces, for easy replacement when basing into vehicles.
That nose was designed to withstand a lot of impact energy, as in a loaded stone-truck crossways on a grade crossing.
As I just stated, above, the strength is all hidden under that nose "skin".
That is why those windshields are actually pretty small. In this pic it is easy to see the bolted-on quickly replaceable lower nose-piece (in case of the inevitable grade-crossing crash.
