Re: Don't forget the accessories!

Keith Wrote:
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> It is hard to hang a headlight if there is a
> feedwater heater in the way too.
>
> Placement is probably a combination of optimizing
> the technology of the day with the--ahem--fiscal
> restraint not to move parts about later.
>
> Seems like the smaller AT&SF locos had the light
> up high, and then it moved to the center of the
> smoke box. Likewise the D&RGW SG locos.

Maintenance comes into play as well. Working on focusing a headlight on a dark night when it’s high mounted in front of a hot smokebox on a tall locomotive is not fun. There is only so much you can do while holding on with both feet and one hand while trying not to get burned when you can’t see what you are doing. On small engines, a high mounted headlight is still easy to reach while standing on the pilot deck. Not so on large standard gage engines.