PC: where has this one been?

["Bill K" <pontiac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

How am I getting a message back that I sent over a month ago? wow!

Bill's Syracuse rail page 
 
http://www.dreamscape.com/pontiac/rail.html

----------
: From: Bill K <pontiac -AT- dreamscape.com>
: To: penn-central -AT- smellycat.com
: Subject: PC: Re: More on long hood forward
: Date: Thursday, May 07, 1998 1:23 PM
: 
: I hope they plan an exception to this for locals and shortlines and so
: forth, unsignalled track also.  Otherwise it would cripple small roads,
: making them need 2 engines where one would do the job....
: 
: Bill's Syracuse rail page 
: Updated with pictures!
: http://www.dreamscape.com/pontiac/rail.html
: 
: ----------
: : From: Walter B. Turner <lnrr -AT- juno.com>
: : To: penn-central -AT- smellycat.com
: : Subject: PC: More on long hood forward
: : Date: Thursday, May 07, 1998 9:21 AM
: : 
: : From:
: : http://www.kalmbach.com/trains/trains.html
: : 
: :     Norfolk Southern tragedy sparks
: :     locomotive operating debate
: : 
: :     In the wake of the March 25 fatal collision between Norfolk
: :     Southern and Conrail trains in Butler, Ind., the Brotherhood of
: :     Locomotive Engineers has asked the Federal Railroad
: :     Administration to bar railroads from running locomotives long-hood
: :     forward.
: : 
: :     The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the
: :     collision, in which NS Detroit-Kansas City RoadRailer 255
: :     apparently went through a red stop signal before slicing through a
: :     Conrail double-stack train that was crossing the Butler diamond
: :     eastbound on the former New York Central main line. One NS
: :     crewman, Howard L. Rose of Peru, Ind., was killed as the 88-car
: :     NS train's diesels, SD50 6508 and SD40-2 1640, struck and crashed
: :     through the moving Conrail train at about the sixth car.
: : 
: :     In making its April 14 request of the FRA, the BLE claims that a
: :     contributing factor in the crash was that the NS lead unit was
: :     running long-hood forward. "This dangerous situation places the
: :     engineer on the left side of the cab, the side of the locomotive
: :     opposite trackside signals," the BLE said in a press release. 
: : 
: :     "Most signal systems are designed to be observed from the right
: :     side of the locomotive," BLE President Clarence Monin said. "The
: :     momentary loss of view of a signal as it is obstructed by the body
of
: :     the locomotive could result in loss of information essential to the
: :     safe operation of the train. Railroad rules require continuous
: :     observance of the signal as you approach it."
: : 
: :     But in NS SD50's like the one involved in the Butler accident, the
: :     control stand is on the right side of the locomotive when it's
: : running
: :     long-hood forward. Does that--and the fact that many NS
: :     locomotives set to operate long-hood forward have the control stand
: :     on the right--change the BLE's position?
: : 
: :     "It doesn't matter whether it's on the right or the left--running
: :     long-hood forward still disturbs the visibility," says John Tolman,
a
: :     BLE special representative who confirmed that the student engineer
: :     at the throttle of NS 255 was, indeed, on the right side of the
cab.
: :     Tolman did credit NS, however, for switching to short-hood
: :     operation on its more recent locomotive orders.
: : 
: :     Citing the ongoing NTSB investigation, NS spokesman Rick Harris
: :     declined to comment on the BLE's rulemaking request. NS and its
: :     predecessor roads, Norfolk & Western and Southern Railway,
: :     traditionally ran their locomotives long-hood forward since the end
: :     of the steam era. Most NS diesels built since 1990, though, are set
: :     to operate short-hood forward.
: : 
: :     At one time, the railroads considered running long-hood forward a
: :     safety advantage in the event of a grade-crossing accident. The
: :     more metal between the cab and the collision, the better off the
: :     crew would be. Some crews prefer running long-hood forward for
: :     that reason. But long-hood forward operation also means that the
: :     crew is riding behind the locomotive's fuel tank. Tolman cited a
: :     1991 NTSB study of 29 accidents that involved the derailment of 83
: :     locomotives. Of those, 55 experienced fuel-tank damage, and 25
: :     experienced fires.
: : 
: :     Under the BLE proposal, trains would not be allowed to operate
: :     with the lead unit in the long-nose forward position over a
distance
: :     of 5 miles or greater or when a locomotive engineer is at the
: :     controls of a train for more than one hour. The FRA says it is
: :     reviewing the BLE request.--Bill Stephens
: : 
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