Re:Which way is forward for a Goat?
while not a hard and fast rule-if run as a pair-in the yards-window end first-coupled nose to nose-but not always-this is BN and UP practice here in Denver-im sure its for seeing brakemen and coupling cars
road units are typically reversed, with one cab facing front and one cab facing back -the ones in the middle are usually willy nilly-although the long coal units always seem to have the head end groups all in one direction and the pushers as well-sometimes pushers will have one unit rearward facing
it is very common to see multiple units of all styles -even for very short trains-many industry sidings often have steep grades below the mainline, and this is why multi units are used- ive seen 2-3 gp50s, used to move half a dozen lumber or scrap metal cars from local industry sidings
more is better-
and while no expert, ive never heard the term 'goat' used for this type of loco-'cow' yes-and that only when used in combination with a 'calf' which is a diesel motored non-cab unit-like a b unit -(a slug is a traction motor only unit-used for more tractive effort i guess)
goat-only heard this in reference to very old much smaller steam units, typically confined to a small industry or work area
-ie shop goat,
i could of course be in the dark