Eastern Railroad Discussion > Why the right side?

Friends,

Please forgive my ignorance, but, this is the only place I know of that I may find an answer to this question. Why has the engineer, historically, always sat on the right side of the locomotive? Thanks for your help in advance.

So the engineer can see signals which are generally on the right side of the tracks.

Whoooaaah!

Wasn't the engineer already sitting on the right side long before signals were ever dreamed of? My guess is that the signals were placed on the right side because that's the side that the engineers sat on.

Which leads us back to the question...

Why does the engineer sit.....oh you know!!!!??????

It may also have to do with the fact that US railroads were set up for right-hand running in multiple track territory, and putting the engineer on the right hand side of the locomotive put him away from passing trains on the opposing track.

You wouldn't want the engineer sitting on the "wrong" side, would you?

Most people are right handed.

If you are a right-handed fireman, try shoveling coal standing on the right (engineer's) side of the cab.

The horse-drawn coach (wagon) "engineer" sat on the right so that he could freely use the whip in his right hand. It was logical to put the railway engineer on the traditional right side.

Train weere first developed in England. Think about it. In england the steering wheel in on the right side. Duh. ( jk)


stay safe, have fun

CB

I believe it is because the first locomotives were shipped over from
England and as locos began to be built in the U.S. they used that standard.

Lets not talk about CNW. Most rr's run current of traffic to the right but CNW ran on the leftin Chicagoland. As I understand it had something to do with the commuter train stops. Having a control stand on the left side is a pain in the butt to operate. After after your on many locos of different makes, models & owners that are all layed out the same basic way. When you run on the left side you shove ahead for more power pull back to apply the brakes. Some folks dont like the desk tops due to them being different than the basic control stand layout.
JP

After reading all the threads on this topic, I am still unclear what the historical reason was. Just to add a bit more confusion, the British (as do the French and Swiss) railrads run on the left track on double track. Both, the French and Brits had (have) the engineer on the left side, thus signal observation seems to outweigh the handicap for the fireman. Interestingly enough, the Swiss, despite runing left handed, had the engineer on the right side during steam and the first few decades of the electirc times as well... This was changed to left side after WWII with arrival of modern electric engines. The reason for this was better visibility of the signals (as far as I recall).

ThomasE

Most engineers wave with their right hand---HD

gebirch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Most people are right handed.
>
> If you are a right-handed fireman, try shoveling
> coal standing on the right (engineer's) side of
> the cab.
>
> The horse-drawn coach (wagon) "engineer" sat on
> the right so that he could freely use the whip in
> his right hand. It was logical to put the railway
> engineer on the traditional right side.

I hadn't heard the right-hand/whip reason before. My understanding is that once the standard became to "drive" on the right side of the road, the driver (horseman?) sat on the left to verify clearnance when meeting opposing traffic.

WP

But if you look closely at the arrangement of the cab on old UK steam locos the engineer, or driver over there is on the left side! ???
Conductor_Bear Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Train weere first developed in England. Think
> about it. In england the steering wheel in on the
> right side. Duh. ( jk)
>
>
> stay safe, have fun
>
> CB

U.K.Virgin Pendolino and Voyager drivers look to be sat in the middle of cabs!

In the UK the Great Western Railway Drivers/Engineers always drove their Steam Locos from the Right Hand Side until the end of Steam in the 1960's, even though most signals were on the Left.