What's the doghouse for?

[morrisf]

Seen elsewhere on the web...

Question: What's the doghouse for?

Answer: It's where you wind up after your wife finds out you spent a week's take-home pay to buy a K27.

[Charlie Mutschler]

The 'doghouse' was for the head end brakeman to ride in on freight trains.  This kept him out of the engine crew's way, and gave him a vantage point to look back over the train for hot boxes, dragging brake rigging, shifted loads, or any other potential problem.  The D&RGW used the doghouse on several different classes of motive power, both standard and narrow gauge.  On the narrow gauge the doghouse was only used on one K-27, No. 453.  The doghouses were commonly utilized on the three larger classes of 2-8-2's - K-28, K-36, and K-37.  None of the small power on the D&RGW narrow gauge - 2-8-0s and 4-6-0s - had doghouses. 

Other standard gauge railroads used dog houses, including Norfolk & Western, Northern Pacific, and Pennsylvania. 

Happy modeling. 
Charlie Mutschler
-30-