| Posted by beano on March 9, 2022 | |
Helluva shot Bill and great info to. Pretty rare to see a F45 in BN makeup leading a hot piggybacker train down the hill to Wenatchee long hood forward. I thought it was on back giving a boost up that amazing and spectacular grade into Quincy. Great Northern did run long hood forward on their GP-7-9 loco's to as helpers out of Wenatchee to Skykomish. Ya this is definitely a great photo. I was thinking they could just about coast this baby into the yard before Wenatchee but braking on a steep downhill train is so important.
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As a 35+ years Engineer, this is possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen. No way would I have run that train.
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| Posted by Triplex on March 10, 2022 | |
Even given the situation, I find the driving position surprising. The only other times I've come across trains being driven from the second loco were when the first was a hood B-unit.
(Incidentally, I'd forgotten that F45s don't have a window in the back door, unlike most other carbody locomotives.)
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| Posted by xBNSFer on March 12, 2022 | |
The other head end crew member should have been out there on the F45's walkway calling signals on his radio at least! Not only is the engineer trying to see what's ahead looking past a full width carbody F45, he's on the WRONG side to see any signals!
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| Posted by Triplex on March 13, 2022 | |
I was wondering "Why didn't they swap the order of the locomotives?" How long might the switching operation take?
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