Dog House Questions

I have been watching this stuff from the 60's over and over, as I complete the masters and proof them, so I have been noting little details each time.
In watching a doubleheader from Alamosa with 492 leading a K36, it is obvious the K36 tenders are higher(top of tender where the water goes in), and the doghouses on the K37 appear to be even higher than the top of the stacks on K36 behind them.
(1) Where all doghouses on the D&RGW NG engines the same size?
(2) Did the brakeman always ride facing backwards, and was this to see the train trailing behind them?
(3) Could the man in the dog house communicate at all with the rest of the crew?
greg