Chuck, I recall hearing years ago that the SOO kept its F's longer than most railroads because the cabs were warmer in those sub-zero winter months. Have you heard anything to the contrary?
|
I had heard those rumors about Soo F's being kept for supposedly having warmer cabs in the harsh winter environment the Soo operates in. All I can go by is on the eastern end of the Soo, after around 1973 every effort was made by most crews to have the F's trailing if possible. I know the hostlers at Sault Ste. Marie normally turned the power placing the F that had trailed in from Gladstone back in the trailing position heading west.
|
Warm cabs were indeed the reason F-units became the preferred units across the cold, wintry North Dakota prairies. I remember at Soo Tower, Minot, North Dakota, watching the 700's get the point until crews discovered their cabs didn't hold up well in the bitter winds of winter.
|
|