Worst looking locomotive topic. Antidote to Best Looking Locomotive topic.

[Davey]

Ref Adam 88's post on the 7th April, would I be correct in thinking that was designed to haul the 'Buttocks Express' ?

 

Davey

[Davey]

On 10/08/2020 at 22:52, pH said:

This looks like a relative:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/152467-worst-looking-locomotive-topic-antidote-to-best-looking-locomotive-topic/&do=findComment&comment=3882082

 

That's no way to talk about your mother-in-law Phil!

 

Davey

Edited September 9, 2020 by Davey

[SD85]

On 15/03/2020 at 17:31, jonny777 said:

For EMUs I would have to say these things. 

 

 

 

I mean, they already had the cab design of the 442s. To cut costs they could have ditched the curved cab windows; but who in heavens name thought this was a decent front end design for a 21st century train?

 

 

Have to agree with this one in the EMU category. They look a lot better post rebuilding with extra coaches added and gangways installed, and apparently became a lot more reliable too.

[SD85]

OK, late to this topic, and I've only read the opening and closing pages, but here are some of my thoughts:

 

1) I grew up on Network SouthEast in the early 90s and their livery was around for much of the decade. THAT is the railway scene of my childhood and I won't have a word said against it - to me it's as iconic as BR lined express green. Plus it's colourful, and the livery that immediately followed it was dull Connex grey with a piss-yellow streak down the side - drab doesn't cover it.

 

2) The turf burner was OK in terms of aesthetics, it had a utilitarian look, and it worked well as an engine too.

 

3) I've never found the Q1s ugly - they're a really good example of 1940s modernism applied to a loco, and are the 'form follows function' doctrine taken to its ultimate extent.

 

4) The Drummond Paddleboxes were fine looking locomotives as built but started to lose their sleek outlines when Urie superheated them. Maunsell's later removal of the splashers may have improved them from a maintenance point of view, but completely compromised their aesthetic.

 

5) Bulleid Pacifics are not to be criticised. The original Art Deco stylings of the MN class were very aesthetically pleasing, the problem was that in operational terms they didn't work as well as hoped, so the design was soon compromised with various rebuildings of the front ends, which sometimes looked odd. The class looked better when rebuilt. The Light Pacifics had a neater outline in original and rebuilt conditions.

 

6) Contrary to popular opinion, I rather like the Class 70s; they have a sheer brutal uncompromising look about them, and the US lineage is clear in the gangways down the side of the loco.

 

 

So without further ado, here are some of my nominations (all from British railway systems):

 

* BR Crosti boilered 9Fs. How to ruin a good looking freight engine. The Crosti variants just look ghastly - some may find the ruggedness appealing but to me they just look weird. The fact that the boilers didn't work as well as expected compounds this.

 

* Fowler 2-6-2 tanks. Look very underboilered, with weird long smokeboxes. The Stanier variant is an improvement aesthetically, but not by much.

 

* Thompson Pacifics. All of them, really, though the A2/3s look okay sometimes. The rebuild of Great Northern was a horror, almost certainly done to make some kind of personal point - there was no need to choose the pioneer Gresley Pacific for that. The P2s were then converted from good locomotives (with some issues) into mediocre Pacifics. The A2/3s were at least their own design and not desecrations of previous masterpieces, but they still look weird. What on earth was the thinking behind the driving wheel spacing? And the cylinders are about halfway down the boiler. It's like someone took Triang A3 and fitted a Jinty chassis to it. Good locomotive names, though.

 

* LBSC B4X. This is a bit harsh, as they weren't ugly locos per se, but in original condition as B4s they were very attractive - the rebuilds made them look rather average. This was reflected on track too as the retention of the original motion and motion plate during rebuilding compromised their performance. Basically a demonstration in how to turn an elegant and effective loco into a nondescript and average one.

 

* The Ljungstrom turbine locomotive which got tried out on the LMS in about 1927. Seemed to be a one piece engine and tender unit with crank rods.

 

* Virgin Voyagers. My least favourite train on the network at present. Unpleasant to look at and travel in - I actively avoid using them and would even consider taking a Pacer instead.

 

* Class 175s. Not the most elegant of designs.

 

* The Ffestiniog's Fairlies in the 1970s and 80s. The management didn't seem to have aesthetics as a priority at the time. Merddin Emrys prior to its rebuild into classic Victorian lines in the late 80s just looks wrong, really boxy and odd, with straight sided smokeboxes that jar with the outline. Earl Of Merioneth at least has the caveat that it was a new loco and deliberately built to a more modern design, but until its appearance was softened in the late 80s and 90s it just looked too raw. The decision to paint the wheel tyres of both locos white did not help either - this is a particular issue I have in terms of livery; white wheel tyres on any railway stock just look awful, they give off an unflattering 'toy train' vibe. (This was also a perennial problem with Hornby's wagons in the 90s).

 

* Several less successful diesel classes never seemed to look quite right aesthetically.

Edited September 10, 2020 by SD85

[rodent279]

Totally agree with you on Bulleid Pacifics and Q1's, but I like Crosti 9F's. I don't think the subsequent rebuild did them any good. There is an Italian Crosti boiler loco still working, 741.120, and it has an exhaust both sides of the boiler- I wonder if that would have made the Crosti 9F's visually more acceptable? I've every intention of going to Italy to sample it on the mainline as soon as the current pandemic is over.

But then I like odd, as anyone who knows me will agree!

 

Edit: it doesn't have an exhaust both sides of the boiler-what I thought was an exhaust turns out to be an air brake pump! Still makes the loco look more balanced.

Edited September 10, 2020 by rodent279

[88D]

On 10/09/2020 at 07:06, rodent279 said:

Totally agree with you on Bulleid Pacifics and Q1's, but I like Crosti 9F's. I don't think the subsequent rebuild did them any good. There is an Italian Crosti boiler loco still working, 741.120, and it has an exhaust both sides of the boiler- I wonder if that would have made the Crosti 9F's visually more acceptable? I've every intention of going to Italy to sample it on the mainline as soon as the current pandemic is over.

But then I like odd, as anyone who knows me will agree!

 

Edit: it doesn't have an exhaust both sides of the boiler-what I thought was an exhaust turns out to be an air brake pump! Still makes the loco look more balanced.

I preferred the look of the rebuilt Crostis to the original and to the standards. No smoke deflectors leads to cleaner lines - there might be a few exceptions.

[Welly]

On 31/08/2020 at 22:56, newbryford said:

"High Peak" - the shunter used at Buxton Lime Industries quarries at Tunstead.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dodger5450/15988299178/in/photolist-qmQdjE-xadinz-pGiTXu-VFijtH-yJWtoS-K6nAaa-uwVvb7-sESmVz-dgY96i-zpCsT6-tC1Auv-2jdihDJ-vTiuMt-DUo5uj-z9jZ6p-d3aEUQ-tk7MZ3-tkwcVo-dyzRBY-UWNqiN-runGn7-s8436z-srdvAo-DpJKfD-DN1K8R-yGKHuj-tkqeCc-tBwsTW-EdgqRt-yGQXF6-toyc2P-todtBo-d3aECQ-xUSHmy-tzn77u-tknP7n-sEwRoC-tkfrP6-t6UZvm-tkvjRh-axigdN-d3aFCN-tkgCrA-d3aFdN-tBQhPp-p6gJQa-d3aFZu-zhHupK-sF6s2m-tqbhLh

That doesn't look too bad to me apart from the dreary undercoat finish!

[The Johnster]

Whatever you think of the styling, it exudes an air of brutal uncompromising power!  Clayton on steroids. 

[Ramblin Rich]

On 13/09/2020 at 15:36, The Johnster said:

Whatever you think of the styling, it exudes an air of brutal uncompromising power!  Clayton on steroids. 

Very little bogie side details and slab side superstructure = easy scratchbuild!

[maico]

Really beat up loco halted in Aisne France transporting Tiger 1 tanks of the 503 heavy tank battalion.

This was Kurt Knispel's unit who was the highest scoring tank ace of World War II with a total of 168 confirmed tank kills.

[The Johnster]

To be fair to it, we’re not seeing it at it’s best, are we?

[£1.38]

 

Agudio rope-powered locomotive

[The Johnster]

What the...

[Hroth]

5 hours ago, £1.38 said:

 

Agudio rope-powered locomotive

 

Non-Steam Punk!

 

Looks like the designer had fun glueing lots of gears on it!

 

 

Make your own with Hornby accessories!

 

[£1.38]

Another view of an Agudio locomotive. It was powered by a continuous rope. This was wrapped around the larger wheels on the left of the loco. Irrespective of the speed of the rope, the driver could control the speed of the train using gears on the loco - or stop without having to disconnect the rope. The continuous rope ran at track level to power the loco and returned above the train, as seen in the photo. The system worked, but the rope kept breaking so it was eventually converted to an electric railway.

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by £1.38

[Ravenser]

7 hours ago, £1.38 said:

 

Agudio rope-powered locomotive

 

rail-mounted Victorian combine harvester...

[rockershovel]

What joy it was, in that dawn to be alive! The mid-19th Century seems to have been a golden age for more-or-less potty ideas, when things could be built that could only be envisaged before, sort-of made to work and power systems weren’t yet sufficiently developed that such ideas destroyed themselves immediately when switched on... one wonders what Da Vinci might have produced under the circumstances, whether he would ever have produced anything actually workable? 

 

I suppose it’s no more absurd than atmospheric traction, being essentially a similar idea with same sort of inside-out design logic. Rope traction DOES work well under the right circumstances, after all.

Edited October 1, 2020 by rockershovel

[pete_mcfarlane]

12 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

What joy it was, in that dawn to be alive! The mid-19th Century seems to have been a golden age for more-or-less potty ideas,

 

I think it's not just a 19th century thing. If you follow the 'Retro rockets' channel on Facebook, there's a semi-regular stream of mid-20th century magazine covers of the 'popular science' type, with bonkers futuristic railway replacements (or more likely 'railroad' replacements). It feels as though a certain type of inventor, probably with more than a little bit of the Dunning-Kruger effect about them, spends their days coming up with unworkable transport solutions. 

 

[tomparryharry]

9 hours ago, £1.38 said:

 

Agudio rope-powered locomotive

 

In terms of operation, it's not too far from san Francisco cable cars. 

[£1.38]

1 hour ago, tomparryharry said:

 

In terms of operation, it's not too far from san Francisco cable cars. 

The main difference is that the Italian system was independent of the speed and strength of the cable. A relatively thin cable was run at a relatively high speed. The gearing on the 'locomotive' allowed it to use all the power whilst moving at a slower speed, controlled by the crew on the loco.

 

Cable cars simply grip the cable so go at the same speed as the cable - unless coasting or stopping.

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, £1.38 said:

Another view of an Agudio locomotive. It was powered by a continuous rope. This was wrapped around the larger wheels on the left of the loco. Irrespective of the speed of the rope, the driver could control the speed of the train using gears on the loco - or stop without having to disconnect the rope. The continuous rope ran at track level to power the loco and returned above the train, as seen in the photo. The system worked, but the rope kept breaking so it was eventually converted to an electric railway.

 

Me wantee working r/c model...

 

Me wantee see working full size replica...

[The Johnster]

1 minute ago, The Johnster said:

Me wantee working r/c model...

 

Me wantee see working full size replica...

Me also no thinkee loco ugly, me thinkee beautiful like clock meck with all those wheels and gears going like billy-o...

[£1.38]

 

35 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Me also no thinkee loco ugly, me thinkee beautiful like clock meck with all those wheels and gears going like billy-o...

I have drawings if you want to give it a try

 

Is this ugly?

 

[The Johnster]

Mea culpee, we at cross purposes me thinkee, me referee no blow whistle game not over not that type referee, to contraption with rope and wheels everywhere...

[SHMD]

It ain't pretty!

 

 

Kev.