Author Topic: "On the cab"  (Read 1221 times)

Wayne Laepple

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"On the cab"
« on: February 19, 2023, 11:45:36 AM »
I have been doing a bit of research on camelback locomotives as used by most of the anthracite railroads in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The cabs on these engines were quite narrow since they were straddling the boiler, and often the firebox behind the cab was wider than the cab. For this reason, as well as trying to stay cool, the engineer often sat on the cab window sill, in much the same way that engineers on some of the Maine two-footers also sat on the window armrest.

My research came across the the term "on the cab," which apparently commonly used to describe this practice on the wide gauge railroads. Have any of you folks heard this term in connection with the narrow gauge?
« Last Edit: February 20, 2023, 10:28:11 AM by Wayne Laepple »

Keith Taylor

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Re: "On the cab"
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2023, 01:05:46 PM »
Wayne, back when I started on the railroad (longer ago than I care to think about!) there were still quite a few engineers around that had started in the steam days. In particular I had many conversations with the late Charlie Strunk. In his later years Charlie had been the senior engineer for the High Iron Company and their many excursions in the New Jersey, and Pennsylvania region. I never heard Charlie use that term…but I know he spent plenty of time with his butt on the cab window sill. Charlie ran the last trips on the CNJ with center cab locomotive 774.
Keith