Question about double-heading.
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 8:21 pm
I was just thinking about whipping up some double-header Connies for the game, and was wondering about something. The big cowcatcher out the front is not the sort of structure that's meant to carry high tension loads. It's basically meant to work in compression, like when you hit a cow.
So it occurred to me that back when they were using such locos on real freight trains, the cowcatcher would be a real problem if you were wanting to double up on locos. You couldn't hook up to it because you'd pull it apart. You could have a long chain coupling from the front of the loco. That would be ok under tension, but then what happens when you have to slow that train down? You'd be shoving the cowcatcher into the back of the tender in front, and it pokes out so far that you couldn't rely on buffer beams to make things behave.
Which leads to my question: when they were double-heading such locos (and I assume it must have been done sometimes) did they remove the cowcatcher from the B unit?
I've had a look around, but can't find any information or pictures yet. Does anyone here know?
So it occurred to me that back when they were using such locos on real freight trains, the cowcatcher would be a real problem if you were wanting to double up on locos. You couldn't hook up to it because you'd pull it apart. You could have a long chain coupling from the front of the loco. That would be ok under tension, but then what happens when you have to slow that train down? You'd be shoving the cowcatcher into the back of the tender in front, and it pokes out so far that you couldn't rely on buffer beams to make things behave.
Which leads to my question: when they were double-heading such locos (and I assume it must have been done sometimes) did they remove the cowcatcher from the B unit?
I've had a look around, but can't find any information or pictures yet. Does anyone here know?