с использованием трехмерного массива покажет разницу.
>>> a27 = np.arange(27).reshape((3,3,3))
>>> np.r_['1', a27, a27]
array([[[ 0, 1, 2],
[ 3, 4, 5],
[ 6, 7, 8],
[ 0, 1, 2],
[ 3, 4, 5],
[ 6, 7, 8]],
[[ 9, 10, 11],
[12, 13, 14],
[15, 16, 17],
[ 9, 10, 11],
[12, 13, 14],
[15, 16, 17]],
[[18, 19, 20],
[21, 22, 23],
[24, 25, 26],
[18, 19, 20],
[21, 22, 23],
[24, 25, 26]]])
>>> np.r_['-1', a27, a27]
array([[[ 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2],
[ 3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5],
[ 6, 7, 8, 6, 7, 8]],
[[ 9, 10, 11, 9, 10, 11],
[12, 13, 14, 12, 13, 14],
[15, 16, 17, 15, 16, 17]],
[[18, 19, 20, 18, 19, 20],
[21, 22, 23, 21, 22, 23],
[24, 25, 26, 24, 25, 26]]])