I’ve found a slightly longer report on the left handed engines in
the 1886 Railway Age.
A “Left-Handed" Engine.
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 let 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