A cowl unit is a body style of diesel locomotive. The terminology is a North American one. A cowl unit is one with full-width enclosing bodywork, similar to the cab unit style of earlier locomotives, but unlike the cab unit style, the bodywork is merely a casing and is not load-bearing. All the strength is in the locomotive's frame, beneath the floor, rather than the bridge-truss load bearing carbody of the earlier type.
Most cowl units have been passenger-hauling locomotives. In this service, the cowl unit's full width bodywork and sleek sides match the passenger cars, do not allow unwanted riders, and allow the decorative, advertising paintwork desired by passenger operators. The cowl unit allows the basic structure of the locomotive to be identical to a freight-oriented hood unit type.
The main disadvantage is that the body of the cowl unit is that there is such low rear visibility from the cab of the locomotive. The SD50F and SD60F were given a Draper Taper where a thinner section of body that widens out to full width is placed behind the cab, although the roof remains full-width the length of the locomotive. This improves rear visibility somewhat, but the locomotives still cannot lead a train in reverse like a hood unit can.
Mounting this cowl has been especially challenging compared to the stock Van's cowl because there are really no surfaces to use as a reference in fitting all the others.
Even though the paint on the inside of the cowl showed now signs of damage, the resin and filler in the joint were burned and the shape of the joint was changed just as if it had been treated with a heat gun.
Since my cowl was warped and I had to rebuild it, and since my plenum(s) didn't fit, and since I had to graft on the intake scoop, and since Sam doesn't provide any mounting flanges, I had lots of extra work to do, not to mention the consternation and headscratching required to figure it out.
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