Oh, those Russkies!

[54light15]

You have to admit, they make some handsome locomotives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1KXudVNZNg 

 

[Overmod]

Who cares if the P36 is a comparatively small design by our 4-8-4 standards?  Kolomna was certainly -- and justly! -- proud of them.

And I got to hear how the Germans pronounce 'Boxpok'!

Note the interesting editing, where they quietly take out the distance time-delay from whistle and exhaust in the long telephoto shots.  Someone was thinking.

[selector]

Funny you should say that, OM...it has always been a bone of mine to pick with so many videos and films where a big fun fires, one can often observe direct fire if there's a tracer involved, and then there's a big boom down-range as soon as one sees the fall of shot.  Nope...never gonna happen that way.

These locomotives look to be about the same weight and size, including driver diameters, as a Mike intended for freight service.  I wonder why they felt they needed two of them for that short train...unless.....

[Overmod]

selector

These locomotives look to be about the same weight and size, including driver diameters, as a Mike intended for freight service.  I wonder why they felt they needed two of them for that short train...unless.....

And you forgot to mention the bad slip ... doubleheaded ... with a nine-car train.

A Voyce Glaze design, or a Oaul Kiefer design, these things ain't.  But that doesn't make them any less fun to watch than, say, NKP 587 or Southern "Project 4-5-0-1"

[7j43k]

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And I got to hear how the Germans pronounce 'Boxpok'!

 

 

The regular way, I see (hear).

 

 

Ed

[Overmod]

7j43k

The regular way, I see (hear).

Alas, the regular wrong way.

(For those who don't know, the second 'o' is long.)

[Flintlock76]

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7j43k

The regular way, I see (hear).

 

 

Alas, the regular wrong way.

 

(For those who don't know, the second 'o' is long.)

 

As in "Box-Spoke?"

[Overmod]

Flintlock76

As in "Box-Spoke?"

Why, yes.  Yes, it is.

[Flintlock76]

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Flintlock76

As in "Box-Spoke?"

 

 

Why, yes.  Yes, it is.

 

 

Makes sense, the spokes are boxy!  

[charlie hebdo]

But for a German,  it is pronounced the same as a long O as in Lok (locomotive).

[Overmod]

charlie hebdo

But for a German,  it is pronounced the same as a long O as in Lok (locomotive).

Which is where I get into terrible trouble.  I was taught very carefully, by more than one teacher, that the first "O" sound in 'lokomotive' was as in a quickly-spoken 'loh', and that's the way I remember (perhaps, in retrospect, a bit selectively!) German railroaders saying it in the mid-Seventies (the only time I heard native speakers using that word in those pre-Internet days).

Then I come up against the dreadful fact that ESU pronounces it 'lock', essentially just as in Firelock1776, and at least one native German speaker over on the MR side does, too.  Try as I might, I can't make my mouth do that.

Perhaps this is a regional thing of some kind.  Perhaps I'm just plain wrong.  But if the long 'o' sound of 'Lok' is applied to a German 'Boxpok' ... it would be just as true to the right semantics of the tradename as 'spoke' is.  

[charlie hebdo]

It is somewhat regional but it is not pronounced as in 'Firelock' ('ah') rather more a drawn out 'uh' sound as best I can do it in English phonemes.

[Overmod]

So the English might be like 'luck' drawn out a bit?

That I think I can do.

[charlie hebdo]

Try 'look' crossed with a little hint of  'oak' if you can.  Not really hard.  

[charlie hebdo]

And this isn't some supercilious Malbec description from the Wine Snob. 

[Overmod]

charlie hebdo

And this isn't some supercilious Malbec description from the Wine Snob. 

Damn, that's good!  You get extra style points in my book!

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

I can't really speak to steam locomotive esthetics but the Russians have managed to come up with some of the ugliest diesel locomotives and railcars on earth.

[Flintlock76]

CSSHEGEWISCH

I can't really speak to steam locomotive esthetics but the Russians have managed to come up with some of the ugliest diesel locomotives and railcars on earth.

 

Different design philosophy.  As far as the Russians are concerned it doesn't have to look good, it has to work.  

[Overmod]

Flintlock76

As far as the Russians are concerned it doesn't have to look good, it has to work.

Well, there are some limits.  The Tu-4 and -144 do come to mind, as does a certain class of diesel-electric that had recognizable Alco-GE casting numbers in its very Russian engine block.  And certain opposed-piston locomotives that often make Alcos look like hydrogen fuel-cell power by contrast.

And not that they can't make it look good when they want -- see the Raketa class of lake hydrofoils.  Foose or Coddington could do no better...