03-15-2009, 07:23 PM
Steam locomotives were regularly used in both directions in many places. Visibility is still pretty good when backing up with steam engines due to the way the engineer sits. One of the reasons the NKP never bought any F-units was that the most F-unit friendly route required road switching...and the poor visibility of F-units put them at a huge disadvantage against the steam engines (plus the 2-8-4s beat them outright in performance & economy on the main).
Interestingly, the forney design was intended for running in reverse. A proper forney had a blind #2 driver to negotiate tighter curves. The idea was that an 0-4-4t run in reverse would have the tracking qualities of a 4-4-0...but the rigid frame with a blind driver would allow tighter curves to be negotiated. Many forney operators, such as the Maine 2 footers, added a flange to the #2 drivers, a lead truck, and ran them forward...negating the advantages of the design.
A good example of this was the Colorado & Southern. Originally, the Clear Creek line had a turntable in Blackhawk and a wye at Silver Plume. Trains always had to back up for half of their trip in between Blackhawk and Central City. In the later years, the turntable at Blackhawk was removed (IIRC) and the other line was shortened to Idaho Springs. The locomotives would pull the trains out to the wye at Forks Creek. They'd then take have the train to Blackhawk and back up in returning to Forks Creek. They'd then take the other half of the train and head on to Idaho Springs. They'd then back up to Forks Creek, turn the engines, and return to Denver.
Here's a stuffed & mounted engine in Central City:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=237">http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=237</a><!-- m -->
and another in Idaho Springs:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=276">http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=276</a><!-- m -->
Michael
Interestingly, the forney design was intended for running in reverse. A proper forney had a blind #2 driver to negotiate tighter curves. The idea was that an 0-4-4t run in reverse would have the tracking qualities of a 4-4-0...but the rigid frame with a blind driver would allow tighter curves to be negotiated. Many forney operators, such as the Maine 2 footers, added a flange to the #2 drivers, a lead truck, and ran them forward...negating the advantages of the design.
A good example of this was the Colorado & Southern. Originally, the Clear Creek line had a turntable in Blackhawk and a wye at Silver Plume. Trains always had to back up for half of their trip in between Blackhawk and Central City. In the later years, the turntable at Blackhawk was removed (IIRC) and the other line was shortened to Idaho Springs. The locomotives would pull the trains out to the wye at Forks Creek. They'd then take have the train to Blackhawk and back up in returning to Forks Creek. They'd then take the other half of the train and head on to Idaho Springs. They'd then back up to Forks Creek, turn the engines, and return to Denver.
Here's a stuffed & mounted engine in Central City:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=237">http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=237</a><!-- m -->
and another in Idaho Springs:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=276">http://steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?Display=276</a><!-- m -->
Michael
Michael
My primary goal is a large Oahu Railway layout in On3
My secondary interests are modeling the Denver, South Park, & Pacific in On3 and NKP in HO
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/">http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/</a><!-- m -->
My primary goal is a large Oahu Railway layout in On3
My secondary interests are modeling the Denver, South Park, & Pacific in On3 and NKP in HO
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/">http://thesouthparkline.blogspot.com/</a><!-- m -->