Eruopean railroads run a lot of push-pull -- including at speeds up to 200 km/h (125 mph).

Of course these top speeds are only on appropriate high-speed track without grade crossings.

But, the commonly held perception that there are no grade crossings in Europe is not true. I've traveled on engines in Europe and there are still plenty of grade crossings, even on main lines, though in segments where speeds are typically below 60 mph.

The one major concession that the Austrian, German, and Swiss railroads make in push-pull operations is that during extremely bad weather in the Alps -- heavy snow -- they often put an engine in front of the cab car for extra weight when hitting a possible snow drift. (Main lines usually have enough train activity that there would not be much snow build up on lines between trains during moderate snow fall.

Yes, they do have modern rotaries in Europe for when things get really bad.

-- Ernest