NYC No Wonder the Central Switched to Hudsons

acptulsa May 26, 2021

  1. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Was the NYC the only railroad that managed to build ugly Pacific types?

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    Boston & Albany 593

    Nice enough body. Nice enough legs. Butter face!
     
  2. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Your photo didn't come through. But, how can you possibly call this ALCO product "Ugly"?

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  3. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Last edited: May 27, 2021
  4. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Fascinating how so many different looking Pacifics were created in just 20 years. Every railroad and locomotive builders had different concepts of how the same locomotive should look.

    Thanks for a wonderful link.
     
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  5. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    And yet, even the homeliest were at least somewhat pretty steamers. And the prettiest are among the most gorgeous.

    The N page is superb, but of course I like the S pages, even if the Soo mounted their headlights too high. Hate to admit it, but the SP had some almost as pretty as the Southern's. And Santa Fe 3441 is a famous shot from her Gulf Coast years.

    The A/B page is nice too. That seems to be the only link I can post. But there's at least a few beauties on every page.
     
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  6. Dave1905

    Dave1905 TrainBoard Member

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    The B&A, like the D&H, tended to have some rather ugly engines, not all, but definitely some.

    Actually most roads had some losers in the looks department. Ironically some of the ugliest engines are those that intended to look good, the streamlined engines. The UP's streamlined steamers were no the best.
     
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  7. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Well, I liked the looks of the NYCS Hudsons, but then even the NYCS had some uglies.

    HKV5430sm.jpg
     
  8. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    when I tried to upload the ugly, it just posted the original. OK, ugly.

    HKV6771.jpg
     
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  9. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Neither the Burlington nor the Seaboard are either. As for the C&EI, well. I just shake my head. Guys. That engine looked a whole lot better before you tried to make it look--like that.

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    [​IMG]

    Some car customizers make ugly cars look good, and others make good looking cars ugly.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2021
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  10. mmi16

    mmi16 TrainBoard Member

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    Beauty is always in the eye of the beer holder!
     
  11. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    That site I linked to has a rare pic on page S1. When the Santa Fe first started rebuilding 3450 Class Hudsons and 3400 Class Pacifics with 79" drivers about 1935, the first few got Scullin disc drivers, NYC style. They later got switched to Universal disc drivers, same as the rest of their classes. But the site has a pic of 3420 in 1939, still wearing her Scullins.
     
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  12. sd90ns

    sd90ns TrainBoard Member

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    Nothing looks more dated than 1960's "Futuristic", with the possible exception of; 1920's, 1930's, 1940's and 1950's futuristic.
     
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  13. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    True. But sometimes I think certain of those visionaries...

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    ...had a better twenty-first century planned than the one we got.
     
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  14. mmi16

    mmi16 TrainBoard Member

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    Best Streamlined steam locomotives (4 were done). Retained their streamlining from their creation in 1947 until they were replaced by diesels in 1956 as well as following the train from its original Baltimore to Cincinnati routing to its Detroit to Cincinnati routing. The streamlining was designed by B&O's Industrial Engineer Ms. Olive Dennis.
     
  15. sd90ns

    sd90ns TrainBoard Member

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    I sometimes think the writers of "Terminator" had a better future planned than the one we got.
     
  16. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    As did most Sci-Fi authors, especially Isaac Asimov.
    Most of us can't understand, let alone accept true visionaries like Leonardo Da Vinci.
     
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  17. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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  18. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    It's amazing how American those Pacifics came out looking, considering how British they looked while still naked.

    [​IMG]
     
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  19. RailMix

    RailMix TrainBoard Member

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    One interesting thing to note is that toward the end of the steam era, larger boilers resulted in less height of domes and sandboxes to maintain clearances. This inadvertently resulted in a sleeker looking locomotive than those built earlier, which had (in my opinion at least) a handsome appearance all their own, just perhaps a bit more "quaint" then newer power.
    The D&H and perhaps some other eastern roads (not sure which ones), on the other hand, did have some locomotives that were very strange looking due to their experiments with high pressure boilers and other modern appliances
     
  20. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Not exactly relevant to the NYC (though several shots show locomotives and trains crossing their tracks), but chock full of Pacifics. Also switchers, Canadian Confederations (4-8-4) and a misidentified Wabash Hudson. All were headed to or from Dearborn Station in Chicago.



    All footage appears to be just after the war. Wabash 700 and all the Santa Fe 3400s are beautifully rebuilt.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2021

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