Left
handed but for Aurora, from the 1886 Railroad Gazette -
There is now being constructed in the locomotive shops a “left-handed ” switch
engine. This may seem a trifle strange to most people, yet such is the case. It
is made after the style of the five new switch engines recently made here, but
instead of the engineer sitting in his usual place on the right hand side of
the cab, the situation will be reversed and he will occupy the left hand or
fireman's side. The engine is for use in the upper end of the Aurora yard,
where the tracks curve so that the signals are obliged to be given on the
left-hand side of the engine. As it is now with an ordinary engine, the fireman
is obliged to receive the switchman's signals and transmit them to the
engineer, thus making delay and liability to accident. With the new engine the
engineer can take the signals himself and thus be responsible for a correct
understanding of them.
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ