That last one Rusty posted looks like a GE !!
When I posted that photo, there were many reasons I used the word "gorgeous", and I should have been clearer.
I agree with William 1 that this locomotive is "big and imposing". Yes, it looks like a one-eyed elephant, but it represents more than that to me.
When I look at that photo, I see the sum of many men's achievements. The loco truly is big and imposing. The platforms are scrubbed clean and look like you could sit down and eat off them. The trainmen's uniforms are as clean as a porter's. These are proud men and I think you can tell just from their posture that there is a general level of satisfaction that came from being associated with this enterprise.
Everyone's efforts were based on 100 years of experience in this industry by the time that photo was taken. If you think about what steam locomotives looked like just 25 years before this, it's plain to see that this was something new. The thoughtful composition on the part of the photographer underscores this. Railroading was in the process of turning a corner and I'm sure the designers thought of this as the latest and greatest, with more to come. Little did anyone know that steam would be dead in 15 years along with for-profit rail passenger service 15 more years after that.
For one brief, shining moment, however, the most talented designers of a proud company got together and created something powerful and worthwhile. The guys who ran her were happy to be involved likewise the staff and custodians of the station.
This was the top of the mountain for rail service, they just didn't know it yet.
For me, it's all gorgeous.
SJS
Plus 1. Amen
Serenska posted:Gorgeous
...
no argument here! 
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jim pastorius posted:Hot water: Spell check said it was two words so fight with them. I first spelled it "streamlined".
It has nothing to with whether it's one word or two. Hot was commenting on your misspelling of one of your words.
I am fortunate to own one of the 3rd Rail locomotives and the train. It looks fantastic running in the dark with the room lights out. The white drivers have a light shinning down on them.
Another nicely streamlined locomotive is the New Haven I-5 Hudson.
NH Joe
Rusty Traque posted:Things could get uglier...
Rusty
"Thar she blows!!!"
Capt'n Ahab would have loved it.
As noted above about the Chrysler Airflow, and carried through for the mid-thirties DeSoto, Hupmobile, Nash Ambassador, Studebaker President, and other "streamlined" models, the public was not enchanted and voted with their dollars for less radical styling on the few automobiles they bought during that period.
Think this locomotive had an Elesco feed water heater sticking out in front of the smoke box (as opposed to a sunk FWH in the smoke box), which may account for it's bulbous, "WC Fields nose" appearance. The sheet metal had to accommodate the protrusion.
laming posted:Rusty Traque posted:Things could get uglier...
Rusty
"Thar she blows!!!"
Capt'n Ahab would have loved it.
Only if it was painted white...
Rusty
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Kinda' cool, I've never seen a model of it.
Not a bad resemblance for a toy
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For those of us that appreciate this engine, here is a short clip from YouTube that I thought may be of interest.
I was going to offer up a Rolly-Poly bug.
Or maybe a steam powered Observatory.
New Haven Joe posted:It looks fantastic running in the dark with the room lights out.
NH Joe
Well, first of all, I'm not sure how the room could be "dark" with the lights on. Secondly, many ugly things look better in the dark.
ecd15 posted:New Haven Joe posted:It looks fantastic running in the dark with the room lights out.
Well, first of all, I'm not sure how the room could be "dark" with the lights on. ...
ask a Hollywood director, they do it all the time.
looking deeper into this photo, i now wonder what the finish was. the running board skirting looks glossy, but the central boiler shell looks like more of a mat finish or perhaps some sort of just bare metal anodized finish? anyone know?
must have been a &*$%# to service.
cheers...gary
mark s posted:Think this locomotive had an Elesco feed water heater sticking out in front of the smoke box (as opposed to a sunk FWH in the smoke box), which may account for it's bulbous, "WC Fields nose" appearance. The sheet metal had to accommodate the protrusion.
Mark S I think you're right. In looking through my book Steam Power of the New York Central (Staufer), I found this photo with the caption: "4915 after 'Mercury' shroud was removed." It still has the same drivers too.
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Serenska posted:Gorgeous
Steven J. Serenska
This proves beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 
For steam I would go along with you on the T1 for sure and the GG1 for the electrics.
Thanks. Now I'm mentally scarred. 
T1? GG1?
Now we're talkin'.
George
