Ugliest Steam Engine?

[Anonymous]

The ugliest steam engine I've ever seen in my life was from South Africa. It resembled a cross between a UP Big Boy and a light mountain. The tender and engine were one piece and were black, and it had an assortment of red wheels that were arranged like
4-6-6-2-4 or something. Talk about your night mares... But in spite of all that, it ran like a top. It looked like someone bought one of those build it yourself steam engine kits and just went crazy!.

[cspmo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tatans

To cspmo: Just what was that N&W M-2? It says it was experimental, were they trying to scare animals off the tracks?? just what was the revolutionary purpose of this engine?

I don't know anything about this locomotive, I just came across looking for photos of a
N.&W. 1218.

[bikerraypa]

That grotesque little B&O "teakettle" engine you always see in HO scale. I don't even know if the prototype was real, but it is dog-butt ugly. [xx(]

Ray out.

[brokemoto]

Almost any PRR steam is ugly, especially M-1s, T-1s and those USRA Santa Fes to which the railroad afffixed BelPaire fireboxes.

Q hudsons were homely.

P&LE/B&A K-6, but I would be tempted to commit certain crimes for one in N scale.

The CN mikados with BelPaire fireboxes.

Some of those D&H consolidateds

Whatever that B&O thing was that looked like a 4-4-4-4, but i forget what it really was.

ATSF jointed boiler or double boiler articulateds (ran lousy, too).

Triplexes, Erie or Virginian.

Some of the shop switchers concocted by Sacramento for various parts of the SP.

[Virginian]

The N&W M-2 was an M class 4-8-0 that was fitted with all kinds of proturberances and a casing to make it into an "automatic" switcher. The firing controls and I believe some of the throttle/cutoff functions were automated. Supposedly they were quite a bit more efficient that the standard 0-8-0 switchers. The aesthetics were lost on everyone but whoever came up with them.

[underworld]

No such thing!!!!! At least I don't have one.

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

Hi, everyone. I think the ugliest steam engine was the Commodore Vanderbilt. Uggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh. I don't like that streamlining at all! ugggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AggroJones]

So many people have ripped on the Big AC's. I guess the Cab-Forward is one of those unique things you either love or hate.

[vsmith]

B&O Camels from the mid 19th century were hands down the ugliest things ever made. These "mud diggers" looked like someones workshed got hit at a crossing and lodged on top of the boiler.

http://www.toytrains1.com/images/trains/bo-2002-24.jpg

http://www.toytrains1.com/images/trains/bo-2002-25.jpg

[RedLeader]

Ugly? I'll show you ugly... when design and engineering go bad...
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/fontaine/fontain2.jpg[/image]
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/flaman/flaman2a.jpg[/image]
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/brotan/brotan2b.jpg[/image]
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/tripleboiler/triple4a.jpg[/image]
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/chimney/cramp.jpg[/image]
[image]http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/USAhp/horatio2a.jpg[/image]

[MidlandPacific]

Any Pennsy duplex, and any ATSF mallet - the ugliness of the latter derives from those horrible jointed boilers, and the former looks like an Art-Deco nightmare. I also dislike skyline casings, like the ones on the SP AC-9s: why bother? They were just a maintenance headache, after all.

[tatans]

To cspmo: Just what was that N&W M-2? It says it was experimental, were they trying to scare animals off the tracks?? just what was the revolutionary purpose of this engine?

[lupo]

there are no ugly steamengines, only ugly disiesels

[SPFan]

Just about any of the anthracite burning engines with the oversized fireboxes make my list. Reading and D&H were the prime offenders.

Pete

[Anonymous]

Hands down...Camelback.

Trevor

[Anonymous]

NO COMMENT! I have a habit of making people mad at me over such simple topics as kits vs RTR, why would I knowingly go into this topic with my mouth yapping! However, ugliness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I find I am attracted to what many of you are thinking ugly; cab forwards, camelbacks, climaxes. These are the truly interesting designs of steam locomotion. The reason for each existing is to remedy some problem which existed, and each did so.

To be honest with you, I don'think about there being ugly, or beautiful steam locomotives. Some, I like the design of, better than others. To consider them ugly would need me to be to emotional about the subject, and I just don't have it in me.

[Anonymous]

I'd have to go with the D&H super high pressure, use steam 4 times, compound 4-8-0. It had all kinds of protuberances on the boiler. Exceedingly Ugly.

[Anonymous]

Pennsy Q-1 and Q-2. Somthing about them just don't look right. So uncool...

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: ... pride of place for ugly has to go to any locomotive equipped with a Franco-Crosti boiler: http://www.skyrocket.de/locomotive/franco.htm

You win!!! Some of those engines make me wonder what their designers were smoking!

Chuck

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately I do not have a picture, but back in the eighties Trains had an article on "Rolling Mud Fences" which were the ugliest steam locomotives in American, the winner was an E Class Pacific of the N&W., and after seeing the picture I would agree.

Rick

[tatans]

I think we have a tie, the Q-1 and the N7W M-2, but looking at a few photos on some of the above replies websites there are still some pretty goofy looking steamers out there.
more photos or site addresses.

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by folkestonekeith

Most British steam locomotives are what today would be called "kewl" (like the A4 Mallard of the red Princes Coronation class shown above) or maybe even quaint but there was one British steam locomotive that virtually everyone agreed was ugly - the QI 0-6-0 produced by Oliver Bullied of the Southern Railway during the Second World War.

The locomotive was so ugly that Hornby even made a model of it - and it became a good seller - many people buying one just because it was so ugly!! ...would like to post a picture but have not yet sussed-out how to post a picture to the forum. We also had some 0-6-0T switchers sent over by the US Army Transportation Corps during the war which were thought of as just as ugly as the Q1 .....but we are still waiting for Hornby to make a model of one of these!!!

Keith

Well, it's not a picture, but here's a link to pictures of a Q1: http://www.semg.org.uk/steam/q1_01.html

AND: A USA "Dock Tank" 0-6-0T: http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/usa.html

The Q1 has the Dock Tank beat all to hell as far as the "UQ" (ugliness quotient goes).

However, pride of place for ugly has to go to any locomotive equipped with a Franco-Crosti boiler: http://www.skyrocket.de/locomotive/franco.htm

Andre

[tatans]

Aggro----The royal hudson IS "foreign power" !!! and I would vote for every other C.P. locomotive before a royal hudson Note:: we will be the only 2 people to include this engine in this query. I'm waiting for the first "big boy", will never happen ! (Mothers and apple pie)

[folkestonekeith]

Most British steam locomotives are what today would be called "kewl" (like the A4 Mallard of the red Princes Coronation class shown above) or maybe even quaint but there was one British steam locomotive that virtually everyone agreed was ugly - the QI 0-6-0 produced by Oliver Bullied of the Southern Railway during the Second World War.

The locomotive was so ugly that Hornby even made a model of it - and it became a good seller - many people buying one just because it was so ugly!! ...would like to post a picture but have not yet sussed-out how to post a picture to the forum. We also had some 0-6-0T switchers sent over by the US Army Transportation Corps during the war which were thought of as just as ugly as the Q1 .....but we are still waiting for Hornby to make a model of one of these!!!

Keith

[selector]

The Garratts show up here alot. They weren't pretty, but they were all business. Over 40K lbs of tractive effort, but they hung wayyyhay over the inside rails on tight curves. The earth shook when they went by.

[Don Gibson]

EASY.

ALL the ATSF Mallet's cica 1900 - jointed boilers, external steam pipes and all.
2-10-10-2 #3100 - and Especially The 4-4-6-2 #1368? UGH-LY! I had it in brass, too.

[steveblackledge]

QUOTE: TherearenouglysteamlocomotivesTherearenouglysteamlocomotives--just keep it up, take a few deep breaths every couple of minutes and you'll all be just fine.
Tom

TOM's right, how can a living breathing work of art be ugly, now on the other hand you have those "Infernal Combustion" machines, some of them ARE ugly

[Anonymous]

Also those german streamliners. I love the SP cab fowards, although the only ones
I've seen are the little DCC HO scale ones in operation.The SRR(soviet rail road) 4-14-4
were pretty ugly too. I've never seen a ugly 4-8-4 worldwide.

[Anonymous]

The fireless & the byer garratt. they bolth look like mutuant steam.