ugly trains

600px-B181_colbert.JPG
I Apologize For Bumping, but let's continue. This locomotive looks indescribably awful
 
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There's nothing ugly about either of these.

The KiwiRail units are similar to early Baldwin switchers even though I think these are GE or EMD exports.

The Indonesian units are GE exports. They have other units in Indonesia from EMD that are related to the SD70s and SD40-2s and look very similar.
 
I don't have a preference on PC. They're just black locomotives. If you showed them to someone who knew nothing about the nightmare PC was, they'd probably like it. I know I liked it the first time I saw a PC engine (and at the time I was too young to know about the mayhem that ensued). Personally, I like the way PC engines look - minus the multi-billion dollar bankruptcy.

The first time I saw a Turbo Train, I thought I was looking at a smooth tugboat that got shoved on rails;
https://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/RESTRICTED/turbo/turbo.10.jpg

The Rio Grande Krauss - Maffie - 4000s look like a disproportionate baby
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileS...ARGE/inlineImage/true/ISB GM&O 1900 color.jpg

This is called the Talgo-1. Thats all I know about this round triangle with two little T-rex arms.
https://railtrain.pro/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Talgo-I-1.jpg

And if it's ugly trains you want, might I point you to this AMAZING video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-URiF3OwA
 
kaw4014 said:
I don't have a preference on PC. They're just black locomotives. If you showed them to someone who knew nothing about the nightmare PC was, they'd probably like it. I know I liked it the first time I saw a PC engine (and at the time I was too young to know about the mayhem that ensued). Personally, I like the way PC engines look - minus the multi-billion dollar bankruptcy.

The first time I saw a Turbo Train, I thought I was looking at a smooth tugboat that got shoved on rails;
https://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/RESTRICTED/turbo/turbo.10.jpg

The Rio Grande Krauss - Maffie - 4000s look like a disproportionate baby
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileS...ARGE/inlineImage/true/ISB GM&O 1900 color.jpg

This is called the Talgo-1. Thats all I know about this round triangle with two little T-rex arms.
https://railtrain.pro/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Talgo-I-1.jpg

And if it's ugly trains you want, might I point you to this AMAZING video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl-URiF3OwA
Click to expand...

I rode the UA Turbo in 1975 between Boston Back Bay and Penn Station. On my journey, the PC was still running a mix of old equipment in various colors all run down and ready to drop dead. From what I was told and later read the PC really didn't want the New Haven and they did everything they could to kill it. Eventually they did kill it by letting the bridge burn accidently on purpose, and by letting the bridge across the Hudson burn, it effectively hurt the EL. The PC became in effect Conrail and continued to destroy their competition, meaning all the roads that merged in such as the Lehigh Valley and Erie Lackawanna.

Both of these roads had faster connections to Chicago and Buffalo than either the Pennsylvania or the New York Central, and the PC, meaning Conrail by this point, wanted to keep the freight on their home road. Up until the bridge burned, the EL also connected to the New Haven directly at Campbell Hall, NY which allowed freight to avoid the former Boston and Albany line and go on and connect directly to the Boston and Maine and other northern lines, and above all avoid the New York and New Jersey metro area which was under full control of the PC on both sides of the Hudson.

The Lehigh Valley ran a fast service up from New Jersey up to Buffalo directly via Sayre, PA and then straight up and across NY State. This line competed directly with Conrail again on the NYC. Conrail neutered the Lehigh Valley at Sayre, PA. If either of these lines remained, things would be a lot different today. The Erie also had built a straight as an arrow line across Ohio and Indianna straight to Chicago. This line was wide and much faster than the Water Level Route by the NYC with piggyback freights flying along at 70 mph on jointed rail. Imagine what could have been done with today's welded rail.

It was the PC that killed off the potato traffic on the BAR by letting the produce rot. Up until the PC came along, the BAR shipped the potatoes by rail rather than truck. The freight would be moved on the MEC and B&M in long unit trains to Worcester where the goods were handed off to the NYC and New Haven, and also moved across the B&M to Mechanicsville where they connected to the D&H. When the PC came along, they didn't bother to forward the cars as they should have, and the potatoes rotted. This cost the BAR the business and hurt them forever as this lucrative market moved to trucks.

It all appears as if they didn't care about anyone or anything. Perhaps it was due to them not getting out of their own way, but it was more of a selfish attitude and bad business. When Guilford was formed. The former MEC and B&M management, who had kept the MEC profitable and the B&M who was bailed out and running at a profit, were replaced by former PC guys. The first thing they did was let the infrastructure rot, engines to burn up and die, and standing derailments to occur. Sound familiar? It wasn't uncommon for idling engines to catch fire in Lawrence, MA or in the same yard have boxcars and tanks fall over as they sat there. I know because I talked to crews there when I lived in the area. The company also went as far as to discourage branch line business and rip up branches even as businesses requested service. Most of the then active branch lines in eastern MA are gone now thanks to Guilford. When they took over the Delaware and Hudson, which went from an okay operation to a dead one as the management managed to pillage that line and kill off business.

I concur the Rio Grande Krauss-Maffe units don't look quite right. The SP also had some as well and there is one running on the Niles Canyon line. The hydraulic direct control is much different than the normal diesel electric operations too. There's a video on it on YouTube.

That Talgo unit looks foolish! The New Haven also trialed that unit along with another two ACF units with one looking totally weird, but I couldn't find the picture of it I wanted. The other unit looked more normal being a Baldwin diesel of some sort connected directly to the passenger train cars behind. Another purchased much later was a Talgo-connected Fairbanks Morse trainset that was also sold to the Boston and Maine. This had a standard C-Liner in the front with low slung passenger cars trailing behind. The units were introduced in the 1950s and lasted only a short time. There were some operational issues with these from what I heard. The biggest thing is the president of both the B&M and NH Patrick McGuiness sold off the B&M train without permission and ended up in jail for it.
 
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JCitron said:
I concur the Rio Grande Krauss-Maffe units don't look quite right. The SP also had some as well and there is one running on the Niles Canyon line. The hydraulic direct control is much different than the normal diesel electric operations too. There's a video on it on YouTube.
Click to expand...

The Krauss-Maffei models for Trainz are based on the prototypes, which had a cowl carbody, like F units, while the one at the Niles Canyon Railway has a roadswitcher carbody, like Geeps. Interesting fact: when the locomotive came to the Niles Canyon Railway, it was just a shell of itself, now it's almost a 100% complete locomotive. Also, the trucks it came with were ALCo trucks. The museum managed to find some former ML4000C (The locomotive model) trucks in France on MOW equipment about to be scrapped. They managed to buy two trucks, shipped them back to California via the Panama Canal, and reunited with the locomotive model they were used on. Here's the website covering the restoration: https://sp9010.ncry.org/
 
I don't normally knock steam, but for me anything from Aveling and Porter - hideous looking machines - or any Garratt locomotive. Absolutely awful things.

Cheers,

PLP
 
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In response to the new zealand photos, the locomotive in the foreground (DH 2868) looks MUCH better than the background locomotives. (DL's 9095 & 9135)
 
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