Most road locomotives have a short hood and a long hood on either side of the cab, and the normal way to lead is short hood forward, with the best view of the track. Leading with the long hood puts a long engine compartment between the engineer and the track, making signals, crossings and people harder to see. Crews run that way when there is no wye or turntable handy to turn the unit.
Heard on the job
Only got one unit and she's long hood forward, so call those crossings out loud for me coming into town.
Also heard as
- LHF
- long end forward
- running backwards