Steam Pusher Engines

[NW Mailing List]

I don't have Ken's nor Jimmy's depth of knowledge, and this may be general
application not specifically N&W, but I thought:

Pushers were generally used at the rear of the train, partly because
putting all the power at the front, especially with heavy coal trains,
caused the couplers to react unhappily.
The various railroads, and some states, had different rules about caboose
placement, in front of or in the back of the pusher, depending on
underframes and the rated power of the pusher.
For passenger trains additional power as needed was generally put up front,
usually called a "helper" rather than a "pusher", because the travel of the
coupler slack back and forth on the train with a pusher was unpleasant for
the passengers, and the china and the glassware in the dining car.

As always, I welcome informed comment.

Frank Bongiovanni

On Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 10:02 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> Sometimes, the eastbound pushers were on the rear of the train coming out
> of Roanoke Terminal. Of course all pushers north or south were on the rear
> out of Roanoke.
>
> Jimmy Lisle
>
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
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