In The Cab

In my world, I always wondered what happened in the cab of a locomotive (very nice Canadian cab website here!).

And this is, in my estimation, the most neglected portion of railroading and its documentation.

You can see and read and find hundreds and thousands of books and blogs and magazines and videos on trains and trains and trains and some locomotives.

But you can't find much about what happens in the cab of a locomotive.

I've solved that. And I plan to make this slightly more obvious in future posts, as limited as my exposure may be.

Above, I am in the engineer's seat of an older SD40-2 EMD unit waiting for the eastbound signal at Switch 9. The engineer was kind enough to take the photograph.

Since then, I have been given numerous cab rides up and down Donner Pass. And I've taken numerous photos from this perspective. I also found out much about the working conditions of those men and women inside Southern Pacific and then Union Pacific cabs. I was even given the opportunity, on more than a few occasions, shall we say, to operate a train from the engineer's seat. And then was complimented on my train-handling skills.

Of course, in today's environment, that will never happen again.

Many of my photographs are in 35mm and not digital. I will have to scan many of these photographs.

For those engineers and conductors, male and female, who accommodated me in these photographs, obviously, I shall not reveal your names, backgrounds, times, or any information which could even remotely place you in any kind of jeopardy.

There are more "on site" cab shots coming, readers.

MP154