Techman,
Not sure of the details on Electra but the point is "forward facing FE"
This generally means that the flight crew can reach all the knobs !
Several exercises were done to eliminate FE on B727, DC10 and L1011 aircraft and the main object was to move all the side panel stuff to the front. I guess they decided there was not enough front cockpit space or it was cheaper to keep the FE!!