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Ugliest locomotive?


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If beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, there must be a severe case of myopia among French Tramway stylists…

 

Exhibit 1: - Marseille Bombardier Flexity Outlook

 

Exhibit 2: - Strasbourg Bombardier EuroTram

 

Exhibit 3: - Paris Alstom Citadis T2

 

Exhibit 4: - Paris Siemens Avanto S70 Tram-Train

 

And finally the Clincher: - Lyon Alstom Citadis T2/T3

 

The thing is with each of these, is that they were deliberately styled like that. In all cases there are examples elsewhere of the same vehicle types but with much more conventionally (and atractively) styled ends so Why oh Why! :O

Leave it to the nation (France) that is notorious for producing the ugliest cars (2CV, Renault 4, Renault Migraine, etc.) vans (Renault C van), tanks (Everything so far) to also produce some hideously ugly things on rails. 

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Both fairly desperate attempts to obtain performance and economy from original designs that failed to deliver either. The T14s (bottom picture) became sufficiently OK in those terms to outlast the rest by getting on for three decades. However, all of the LSWR Drummond 4-6-0s were so ill-proportioned that there was nothing to be done to improve their looks.

 

Few of the others survived long, demoted from their intended express role to coal hauling or just consigned to store pending scrap or the recycling of their numbers and tenders for "accountant's rebuilds" into H15s and King Arthurs.

 

John

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The main problem with this one, I think, is how high the boiler appears to be pitched because of the flat running plate for the front 1/3rd of the loco.

 

I think, if the running plate was raised just before the cylinders to a 'half-height' between the height of the buffer-beam and the height of the running plate over the drivers, it would help to cancel the 'slab' front end.

 

Regards,

Matt

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I visited the Hornby dealer here in Tokyo (yes, there is such a thing) a while back out of curiosity, and the proprietor was most excited to meet a real British person, anyway I was curious to know what kind of people are into British OO gauge here (Japan being very much an N gauge country), apparently it's mainly collectors who like colourful stream engines. Which is understandable, as Japanese steam locomotives come in a number of fetching shades of black, often pulling coaches in lively shades of brown.

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I remember reading something by an American guy, who stated that British locos look rather 'feminine'. I think I know what he meant. Traditionally there was a concern for neatness, rather like the concern that many ladies have that any pipes in the kitchen should be 'boxed in'. 

 

I think this attitude was starting to break down even before the first world war. Subtly at first. With the BR standards you see much more 'American' styling, with more of the gubbins on show for easy maintenance. Practical, but less tidy, less pretty. Add that to the loading gauge, and you find that once boilers get above a certain size, it's impossible for boiler mountings to be well proportioned. So engines, especially big engines, start to look squat.

 

But whether an engine is ugly or not is definitely in the eye of the beholder. And even ugly engines can exert a certain charm. Always fancied a model of a Hoy 2-6-2 tank myself, and I don't think pre-group engines get any uglier that that.

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Leave it to the nation (France) that is notorious for producing the ugliest cars (2CV, Renault 4, Renault Migraine, etc.) vans (Renault C van), tanks (Everything so far) to also produce some hideously ugly things on rails. 

 

Dunno, I think the Belgians have given the French a run for their money. Do a Google Images search for "NMBS Type 10" and "NMBS Type 36"..... Both classes shared the same boiler.

 

Type 10 is what happened when a Stanier Princess got it on with a Gresley B17 outside of wedlock.

 

Type 36 is...well.....ever seen a wheelbase like that?

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To me the Southern's Q1 is truly hideous!

I absolutely agree!

I was so astonished to find it was a British locomotive that a friend and I spent more than a week nursing his Chummy Austin 7 down to Tonbridge from Liverpool and back  in the 1950s to check one out for real.

We then rode on the 4DD from Dartford before venturing back north; we spent 3 days on the road home fettling that Austin 7.

 

I've enjoyed seeking out the "ugly" ever since.

Isn't there something exclusive and therefore very collectable about the truly hideous?

 

dh

 

PS

Tangoman? RU an LNER fan?  (or perhaps orange)

Do you not see a hint of a P2 or an A4 about a Q1? :jester:

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