Which end went first was up to the railroad, Northern Pacific ran RS-3's short-nose first, while neighbor Great Northern preferred long-nose first. Which railroad is your RS-3 lettered for??
As far as pulling, Alco's tended to be very good pullers, so one RS-3 with a long string of freight cars would look right, either pulling or pushing them around.
BTW - when I was a boy I hated my Engli***eacher too.
Bon chance !! [:D]
