I need to dig up the rest of my shots of the Promontory engines I took in September, it's tough to get good shots of the backhead based on the angle they have the displays stands at.

I've talked with two people (both was experience in steam locomotive cabs) who rode the cab of this engine during the Centenial events. Both said it wasn't exactly the smoothest ride they'd ever had. And keep in mind, The General is mostly a product of several rebuilds and very little of the original locomotive as built remains today.

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I'm no expert, and have never actually had a steam cab ride (!), but from the descriptions above, I wonder about spring rates between the William Mason, the General, and the McConnell-Kloke locomotives.

Might be the springs are longer on the General and the Mason, and shorter on the replicas. Could also be the springs are newer and stiffer on the replicas, too.

Took another look at those cab shots of the York and at the video of the 119, and noticed a lot of openings for that spring rigging to come into the cab like it does. Can you imagine how drafty and cold those cabs would be in the winter? Those 19th century railroaders must have been as much of iron as their locomotives, including the brakemen riding the tops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKnko3mBhWE

I'll second Kelly's comments about the Mason. I've been on its crew for about 5 years now and honestly it rides just as well as our SW-7. The only glaring exception is the need to crawl through self guarded frogs.