So many heritage roads have requests from people for cab rides, but not very many can be accommodated, given the typical cramped dimensions.

However, there once was a type that was more generous than most up front, in limited production, and good enough to have operated for years on CSX. I'm talking about GE's BQ23-7, originally delivered to CSX predecessor Family Lines:

http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/9 ... 174341.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/csxphotos/photo ... 3004fl.jpg

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/pictur ... BQ23-7.jpg

These good looking, dependable units could be easily replicated by a dedicated railfan group, and would be doubly useful as the ultimate cab ride unit with plenty of space, and as freight power for the other times on a heritage road that had that service. It would also be useful to revive passenger service in limited markets, such as the areas once served by the mixed trains of the Georgia Railroad.

Good grief, man! If you're going to do it, why not do it right?

Reminds me of a comment made by the late Bill Nedden years ago... The typical trolley car is three windows wide and about twelve windows long. Considering that on a fan trip, all the fans want a front window, they should have been built twelve windows wide, and only three windows long :-)

Are there any BQ23-7s still running today? Or even in existence now? I grew up along the SCL and hoped to see one running in person, but never did.

I always wondered why they didn't put cameras on the nose and show it on TVs in the coaches.

Then I rode on an "Operation Lifesaver" trip where they did just that. I started to feel "seasick", which had never happened to me on a train, even on branchlines with plenty of rock and roll. Considering this was on the UPRR mainline, smooth as silk, and with the UP coach fleet which rides like a Cadillac, it took me a moment to figure out what was going on.

Then I realized that the motion I was feeling, 7 or 8 cars back, wasn't in sync with the view I was seeing from the head end. The lack of synchronization is rather disorienting.

The same problem exists on motion simulator rides, and apparently even a small disconnect between the video and motion will cause headaches and/or motion sickness.

Unless one escaped to the proverbial quarry that you all love; none survived the first decade of the 21st century.

That reminds me of the old Montreal electric fan trips. The folks up there had a private right of way on most lines so the assigned Motorman had a cushy job-sit and watch the countryside pass while the Instructor Motorman supervised the fans driving the car. Of course, that was years ago.

Inspection locomotives, as a genre, were surely outside the box when it came to aesthetics. It would seem to require a special mindset to want to ride in that setup. The overall style statement almost reminds me of the dreaded telescope wreck. I wonder if the officials properly descended those curved front staircases while facing the locomotive.

I'm wondering what the inside configuration was? It's not like you can put coach seats in there, you've got the boiler taking up so much of the space. How were the passengers accommodated? Even ignoring the whole "If she throws a rod, you'll be the first to know..." issue, looks cramped and uncomfortable except maybe in winter.

That's an interesting question. I would suspect, given that the purpose was inspection, that they had bench seats astride the boiler, so the "inspectors" sat facing out the windows. Kind of a reverse "bowling alley" configuration.

Could that LS&MS locomotive be a Cuyahoga with their unique valve gear?

Two other points.

1. Bell mounted on tender. No doubt it would have deafened all the engineering types getting cooked sitting on the boiler.

2. Looks like those windows are set in place. No room to lift and the framing would prevent them from dropping. So, roasted at 350 for one division length till done. No wonder they said RR officials were hard boiled.

Dennis -

I agree that that's an interesting question, and your suspicions of seating arrangements may be right on. BUT, maybe that's not the way they were set up. This question of Bob's has made me realize that I have seen photos of a number of these beasts, but cannot recall ever having seen a photo of the inside of one. Isn't there a survivor or two? Might we see photos of their insides, or photos of the inside "cabin" of those long gone?

Les

I don't think so. With a boiler for support, there is no need for a heavy truss in the walls, just a shear panel to prevent racking... plenty of room for drop sash. If you look closely, there is weatherstripping at the sides of the sash, a sure sign they are movable. I think a ride would be rather fun... breezy, with lots of stack talk, but the smoke and cinders all going overhead and landing further back.

The National Museum of Transport has an inspection engine from the Reading, just recently restored, but I can't find a link to photos. It is, however, a much smaller locomotive, so the cab and seating are likely very different.

I can't seem to find the correct search terms, but wasn't one of these things from the SP being restored in the Pacific Northwest recently?