"why are train drivers' on the left in train cabs"?

Question

Have you noticed that train drivers' always seem to be on the left of the cab. It seems odd that we are right-hand drive in this country (UK) yet trains are left hand drive. any answers would be appreciated

Answer 1

I don't know why, but it's the same (actually, the double opposite) here in the states--cars steer from the left side and subway trains steer from the right.

Answer 2

It's so they can get a better view of the embankments etc.

Answer 3

In the U.S., it's the opposite (of course). Engineers operate from the right side of the cab. Because of this, I learned recently, most early auto makers (there were several dozen in the U.S. by 1910) also had their drivers sitting on the right side of the car. It was Ford that standardized the auto driver on the left side. From 1914 to 1924, one out of every three cars sold in this country was a Ford. That was enough to influence all auto makers to convert to the left side.

Answer 4

It seems that telling a Brit about which side they should be driving on offends them terribly, so it may be a waste of time.

Answer 5

It would make sense that the train driver (UK) or engineer (US) should sit on the side of the locomotive where he or she can look back to the conductor or brakeman,  who would be standing on the outside of a double track railway.  

In the US, we normally have right-hand running (except for some odd locations, such as the Union Pacific's [ex-Southern Pacific] Sierra Nevada where it is double-tracked for advantageous grades.)  

Therefore, a conductor or brakeman would be on the ground, throwing a turnout switch and/or giving hand signals to the engineer to reverse,  proceed forward, get a sandwich, or whatever.  The safest place to stand for someone on the ground is outside the double tracks, which is the right hand side.  So that's where the engineer is seated.

The other explanation is that a lot of track signals are also placed outside the railway tracks, so the engineer has full visibility to the signals when seated on the right side of the locomotive.  (There are also overhead signal bridges, but a lot of CTC (Centralized Traffic Control) signal stands are on the right side of the tracks.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Answer 6

to see the people on the platform.

easy one.

Answer 7

All above is good info.  But, we dinosaurs remember road switchers that had dual controls, so the engineer could stay on the proper (right hand, US) side, when running backwards due to lack of a way to turn the engine around when running back home.

The answer about double track is correct, and when practical, trains do run to the right.  But, just because there are two tracks doesn't make it "double track."  Though descriptive, double track is actually a means of operation.  There is also "multiple main track" where trains run in either direct on any track.  The Sierra crossing was mentioned above. Here, there is double track operation, but between Emigrant Gap and Truckee, there are in fact two tracks, but these are within the limits of a mode of operation called an "Interlocking," which is similar to Centralized Traffic Control.  Here, the trains run on either track in either direction.

This can get a person killed.  Click on my picture and go to my profile page and access my 360 to read a story of exactly how this type of operation contributed to a near fatality, in a RailTail titled "The Thermos," post of 3/25/07.