Getting Ready

Conductor Bill is talking with CMO, (Chief Mechanical Officer), Tim, up in the cab, (with his red Kroner cap), of Reading # 5308 before a trip of the Reading Railroad Museum. Items of interest in this photo are the distinctive V drip strips on the cab roof, a feature common to Reading diesel locomotives. A unique feature of the Alco Century series were the three class lights above the number boards. Red was an out of service unit, green a loco on a regularly scheduled train and white designated a non-regularly scheduled trip, AKA an 'extra'. A three position switch turned on the desired color light. Next to the cab door is the loco's handbrake, the chain running thru the tube below the cab. The snowplow was an option many eastern railroads orders, the plow usually enough for Pennsylvania roads that had nowhere near the snowfall of other areas.