The worlds ugliest locomotive

[stebbycentral]

blownout cylinder

Meh...what happened to this things drivers?

Obviously, somebody put the shell on backwards!

[tatans]

ChadLRyan

What if.... The BQ23-7 became a standard for modern Locomotives?
Yes, perhaps we would enjoy & actually like something other than the style we know & recognize today (cuz We've been conditioned to them)..
So I got to thinking, why not PhotoShop a Prototype of just that, a modern unit with a 'Q' cab.....?
Opps... I did, & here is my work, an Intermountain ES44Q, a Q..   YES,  a  "Q"  ES44
I took a stock shot & went to town in Photoshop with it..
THIS IS "NOT" AN IMAGE OF AN ACTUAL MODEL!!!!
It is just something I edidted to look like one, if I were to be crazy enough to - 'eeww' - cut up an Intermountain locomotive.
Well, perhaps this is what a modern 'Q' would look like, I don't know, it is just my version of one.
Lets all be happy we still have nice locomotives with pretty stylish short hoods!!!
I personally like what is curently rolling the rails, IMHO!!!
Enjoy!!!

Who else has any "Customs" out there, lets see them!   Hope you had a laugh over this one!!

That's what its all about, some fun here... 

Chad: I must admit your locomotive is a  great looking rig, far superior to the present, and some past, "GYM LOCKERS WITH WHEELS" school of design, I guess function trumps design in this day and age.  nice work, sort of leaning towards  the U-50 eh?

[tomikawaTT]

Sir Madog

Rick,

does not strike me as ugly!

How´s this one:

JNR class C53 No. 43, a somewhat derailed attempt of streamlining a loco that did not even top 60 mph!

Fast-forward 75 years or so and look at the most recent iterations of the Shinkansen.  There's a remarkable family resemblance...

The C53 was Japan's only home-grown 3-cylinder locomotive.  It was more-or-less a follow-on to six Alco-built C52 class 4-6-2s.  I wouldn't say it was unsuccessful - but the 2-cylinder C51 class which preceeded it outlasted it by a couple of decades.

My vote for an ugly JNR loco goes to a latter-day 9600 class 2-8-0.  After half a century of upgrades and modifications it has all the appeal of a bulldog, which it resembles.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[blownout cylinder]

 

And then there was this...

 

[blownout cylinder]

BF&D

What about this one?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CO-Class-L.jpg

 

Makes a BL-2 look good.

Meh...not so ugly...

[verheyen]

A dome? On a bi-commuter train with push-pull operation?

Really now...

[BF&D]

re: Ugly and Unsuccessful

http://www.ironhorse129.com/projects/engines/npc_21/NPC_No21.htm

 

Please note that it was NOT the first cab forward:  the Italian Adriatic Line (Rete Adriatica) showed this type in Paris a year before NPC mad the clumsy and ugly Stetson:

 

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/cabforward/mucca2.jpg

[BF&D]

What about this one?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CO-Class-L.jpg

 

Makes a BL-2 look good.

[bigpianoguy]

couldn't you just put in a DOME??

[bigpianoguy]

Thinking outside the box...

[blownout cylinder]

This ALMOST looks to be Darth Vader's great grandfather....

[blownout cylinder]

Meh...what happened to this things drivers?

Or....

http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/patiala/patiala.htm

[Anonymous]

Well I would not call it a beauty, nor being elegant, but it has an appealing look of brute force.

How about some more "Ugly Things"?

Or this one:

The above topped a speed of 125 mph in 1903.

[bigpianoguy]

 

OK, it's a UP Big Boy. But this thing is bulldog-ugly.

[ChevelleSSguy]

BL2

[SteamFreak]

Okay, how about this Swiss mess.

http://aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/swissturb/swissturb.htm

This is what happens when you have too many of those chocolates with the liqueur inside.

[B30-7CR]

SteamFreak

To me, the ugliest locomotives are the following:

Steam:  Pennsylvania T1 class 'dog nose' 4-4-4-4 streamliner.

Spoken like a true diesel connoisseur. " /> The T1 is gorgeous; classic Loewy styling.

Unlike the ugliest loco in history... drumroll, please...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baldwin Babyface.

Ran through the ugly forest and hit every tree. " />

Now I'm not knocking the RF-16 Shark Nose, or the Centipede, but that thing is hedious.

[Flashwave]

ChadLRyan

What if.... The BQ23-7 became a standard for modern Locomotives?
Yes, perhaps we would enjoy & actually like something other than the style we know & recognize today (cuz We've been conditioned to them)..
So I got to thinking, why not PhotoShop a Prototype of just that, a modern unit with a 'Q' cab.....?
Opps... I did, & here is my work, an Intermountain ES44Q, a Q..   YES,  a  "Q"  ES44
I took a stock shot & went to town in Photoshop with it..
THIS IS "NOT" AN IMAGE OF AN ACTUAL MODEL!!!!
It is just something I edidted to look like one, if I were to be crazy enough to - 'eeww' - cut up an Intermountain locomotive.
Well, perhaps this is what a modern 'Q' would look like, I don't know, it is just my version of one.
Lets all be happy we still have nice locomotives with pretty stylish short hoods!!!
I personally like what is curently rolling the rails, IMHO!!!
Enjoy!!!

Who else has any "Customs" out there, lets see them!   Hope you had a laugh over this one!!

That's what its all about, some fun here... 

You know, except for the anti-glare wedges that make it look like a linmebacker, I do like that.  aybe a job for a Bluebox engine...

[ChadLRyan]

What if.... The BQ23-7 became a standard for modern Locomotives?
Yes, perhaps we would enjoy & actually like something other than the style we know & recognize today (cuz We've been conditioned to them)..
So I got to thinking, why not PhotoShop a Prototype of just that, a modern unit with a 'Q' cab.....?
Opps... I did, & here is my work, an Intermountain ES44Q, a Q..   YES,  a  "Q"  ES44
I took a stock shot & went to town in Photoshop with it..
THIS IS "NOT" AN IMAGE OF AN ACTUAL MODEL!!!!
It is just something I edidted to look like one, if I were to be crazy enough to - 'eeww' - cut up an Intermountain locomotive.
Well, perhaps this is what a modern 'Q' would look like, I don't know, it is just my version of one.
Lets all be happy we still have nice locomotives with pretty stylish short hoods!!!
I personally like what is curently rolling the rails, IMHO!!!
Enjoy!!!

Who else has any "Customs" out there, lets see them!   Hope you had a laugh over this one!!

That's what its all about, some fun here... 

[ChadLRyan]

Actually, I have dug up my BQ shell & started cleaning it up, I hope to model it in a freelance scheme & eventually post it here..  They are unique, in addition I have started a nose modification on a Kato F40PH to an F40PHM, which was a little cleaner looking than the BQ, but first impressions.. well...

Has anyone modeled (Bashed) a Speno F40PH-2M?    Like this one;

[Bomar]

I have yet to see anyone mention the GE BQ23-7 locomotives that ran on the Family Lines.  They are so homely I like them!

[blownout cylinder]

Yep...that definitely would fit the 'comparison only' rule....

Another one...I'd like to know whether there were any plans to pinstripe this...it has the flame work....

[ChadLRyan]

Well, I guess there must be a balance in the world we live in.......

Otherwise there could not be beauty like this......

Now, lets look at more contraversial locomotives...

Perhaps, we should start a thread showing our own 'Model'  locomotives, that ain't so darn pretty like....

[citylimits]

[ChadLRyan]

I still think the loco "Goggles" looks like a face mask used in the series "Dr. Who"

[SteamFreak]

ChadLRyan

Ahhh, um, ah-I donno...

While researching RFFSA, I saw this DAWG, she sure has a 'sad face'     imho.....       NO???

Wow... that's almost as homely as the Model Power F2 (which began life as the heavy metal Varney F3).

Almost.

 

Sir Madog

It´s a Czech class T 478.3, nicknamed "Goggles".

Someone really needs to Photoshop a snorkel on the front of that thing.

And the N&W Pacific Rick posted is very attractive... maybe a little ungainly, but still nowhere near in the running for ugliest steamer IMHO. Any of the  many European variations on an upside-down bathtub beat that and almost everything else hands down.

[ChadLRyan]

Thanks for telling me I'm not way,  'out where the busses don't run...'    I immediately felt sorry for it, when the paint did her no justice.. (not forgiving those windshields, -geez..) How about that ainticlimber & Snowplow detail...?   This gives Prototype modeling a whole new (free) dimention...

[blownout cylinder]

ChadLRyan

Ahhh, um, ah-I donno...

While researching RFFSA, I saw this DAWG, she sure has a 'sad face'     imho.....       NO???

 

 

A small bodied 'F' copy tends to look quite obscure, when we are used to large bodied, accomodating machines.  I (in the sense of conversation of the forum) welcome any comments & thougts on this specimen...    

Personally;     I'm off the fence, over there, & on the 'not side' & 'not looking forward to seeing it anymore'  position on this one....

( just my personal thoughts & opinions, I'm not wanting to harsh anyone's mellow! )

That looks like a sad hound dog's face....

[ChadLRyan]

Ahhh, um, ah-I donno...

While researching RFFSA, I saw this DAWG, she sure has a 'sad face'     imho.....       NO???

 

 

A small bodied 'F' copy tends to look quite obscure, when we are used to large bodied, accomodating machines.  I (in the sense of conversation of the forum) welcome any comments & thougts on this specimen...    

Personally;     I'm off the fence, over there, & on the 'not side' & 'not looking forward to seeing it anymore'  position on this one....

( just my personal thoughts & opinions, I'm not wanting to harsh anyone's mellow! )

[tatans]

blownout cylinder

Speaking of unique specimens ....I present to you a one off....

I suspect that this should win some kind of a prize....

THIS surely must win the top prize, and that RFFSA GEU23c  looks just like every other diesel locomotive (I'm a steam fan,by the way)

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

The world's first locomotive was called the "Penydarren", and it was invented by Richard Trevethick in 1804. It was an ugly critter.

 

[ChadLRyan]

Actually I found it by following the the clues left by other posters on the GMDH-1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMD_GMDH-3

Then near the bottom of the Wiki page there is a link to (1 of) the units current home in MI, they have a  couple more pix on there too. And another link.

http://www.railroadmichigan.com/smrsgmdh.html

Hope that helps.

[blownout cylinder]

Speaking of unique specimens ....I present to you a one off....

I suspect that this should win some kind of a prize....

[blownout cylinder]

ChadLRyan

And how about it's little brother, the GMDH-3 ???

 

Hmmm, Wonder if a 0-6-0 Tank chassis with new wheels would work??

 

Where did you find this ...erm..."unique" specimen?

[citylimits]

[quote user="andrechapelon"

It's RFFSA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFFSA

Here's a pic of one of their U-23C's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GE_U23C_RFFSA_3920.jpg

Andre

[/quote]

Thank you Mike, for the correction. I was reading off of the side of the locomotive – obviously its time for new spectacles.

 

I Googled the tag on the picture of the RFFSA engine and came up with an interesting page relating to this old dear: DH GMD 6031 VFRGS-RF Guido Mota.

The Google search revealed some interesting information that can best be accessed using this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMD_GMDH-1.

It was very interesting to read that these engines were built in Canada and that one of them still resides in Pakistan of all places.

Bruce

[Matt Florack]

I'm going to catch all kinds of you-know-what for this one, but here goes-

EMD GP30...

Yeah that's right, I said it...

[Anonymous]

Rick,

does not strike me as ugly!

How´s this one:

JNR class C53 No. 43, a somewhat derailed attempt of streamlining a loco that did not even top 60 mph!

[dti406]

This was the winner in a Trains article back in the 70's for a Rolling Mud Fence, the N&W E Class Pacific.

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/full/ns579.jpeg

It beat out a number of locmotives like the Santa Fe 2-10-10-2 and the jointed boiler Santa Fe 2-6-6-2's.

Rick

 

[ChadLRyan]

And how about it's little brother, the GMDH-3 ???

 

Hmmm, Wonder if a 0-6-0 Tank chassis with new wheels would work??

[mobilman44]

OK guys, its my turn.................

I've never seen a loco that was truly ugly.   However, some are much closer to that descriptive term than others.  In that regard, I do think the question has a potential for two groups of answers.

The first would be the "one off" examples, of which there are several.

The second would be for a series of the same type of locos (i.e. BL2).

My entry for the second group - and it truly hurts me to write this for I am an avid fan - is the Illinois Central steamers with that huge square sand box on top.  These locos, particularly the mountains, are massive examples of no nonsense power and strength, but those sandboxes just are downright ugly.  Ha, no wonder there are no true to proto examples of them in the modeling world (ex brass special runs).

ENJOY!

[andrechapelon]

citylimits

I like this one - it's very different from most other locomotives - I'd buy one if it was made in plastic and place it into a display case for curiosities sake.

Is there any further information on this engine? It looks like something you might find buzzing about Fords, Rouge Plant, sometime in the 1950's/1960’s 

I've googled the letters on the hood - V.R.R.S.A - assuming that I've gotten them right, but nothing there.

 

I’m with you, Ken – I like the BL-2 as well especially in FEC paint and the Proto2000 version.

Bruce

It's RFFSA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFFSA

Here's a pic of one of their U-23C's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GE_U23C_RFFSA_3920.jpg

Andre

[blownout cylinder]

Sir Madog

 

Can any loco be ugly?

Well, this one´s certainly not a beauty:

It´s a Czech class T 478.3, nicknamed "Goggles".

Looks more like it could have been nicknamed "Sir Periscope"

[Anonymous]

 

Can any loco be ugly?

Well, this one´s certainly not a beauty:

It´s a Czech class T 478.3, nicknamed "Goggles".

[citylimits]

[Flashwave]

andrechapelon

farrellaa:

What were they thinking; take some leftover unwanted automotive parts and put them on this already ugly locomotive???

 

 

That thing looks like the result of a night of unbridled (and unprotected) passion between a GE 44 tonner and a GM Aerotrain.

Andre

 

*Sniff*, I know, Isn't it beautiful? I want one, HO plastic.

[cudaken]

8500HPGASTURBINE

BL-2

 Them There Are Fighting Words! I love my BL-2's there not ugly just unique! 

 

 BL 2 fan Cuda Ken

[andrechapelon]

farrellaa

What were they thinking; take some leftover unwanted automotive parts and put them on this already ugly locomotive???

 

That thing looks like the result of a night of unbridled (and unprotected) passion between a GE 44 tonner and a GM Aerotrain.

Andre

 

[blownout cylinder]

farrellaa

What were they thinking; take some leftover unwanted automotive parts and put them on this already ugly locomotive???

 

Isn't the exhaust vents right up the middle of the windshields?

[ChadLRyan]

I think this is inspiring me to build a couple loco's!

[D94R]

The PRR T-1 Duplex and Centipedes are two of my favorites, therefore they can't be ugly!

In all seriousness though the lines of the T-1 are just beautiful, I don't know how that can be considered ugly?  The 'pedes do have a rather ugly 'only a mother can love' face to them, but that's part of the appeal.  You have a giant brute of mechanical hell clad in soft baby face lines, the contrast is stunning. 

 

The sharks carried the styling over from the T-1, so by definition, they are beautiful too ;)   Uniqueness doesn't mean ugly. 

[Sailormatlac]

PA&ERR

If I may be permitted to go offshore in a different direction:

The South Manchuria Railway had a class of "streamlined" tank locos which looked like BL-2s with cylinders and drivers.  (No photo, unfortunately.  Or, maybe, fortunately!)

 

Chuck you mean the DB-3? I don't reckon they're ugly at all. " />



Bachmann make them in HO, too!

Cheers,

Mark.

 

Kind of gives you a renewed appreciation for black and white film! " />

-George

 

Nah! That thing isn't that much ugly, at least they tried and you can feel it... even if in the end, they failed!!! They're quite "nice" in the big blue sky scheme... BTW, the other chinese freight steamer by Bachmann is quite an interesting engine...

I think there's two kind of uglinest. The first is plain ugly, don't try to undestand it, not redeemable. The second is so ugly it makes it adorable... On that account, I must say I feel absolutely no appeal in european "butter-box" locomotive design. It just drab. Feels like nobody care to make something different than a box and fill it with mechanical apparatus. Even a boxcab from the 20's have more appeal, probably because of the gently curved roof.

However, they've got exquisite other designs (I always loved Chemin de fer du Nord's steamers in France. They had a "PRR" feeling to them!).

What about Fairbank-Morse (and CLC)? There design is always off. Not ugly, but something is missing. I guess amateur of these rare beast are scarse. Shark nose are ridiculous... and Trainmaster redeems itself because it is ludicrously out of proportion!

Matt

 

[BerkshireSteam]

The T1 ugly? HA! I se to thee. The T1 was designed of the most graceful and elegant lines of the time by Mr. Lowey. They are in the same beauty category as the NYC streamlined Hudson's and SP's Northern's in Daylight colors, although that has to do more with the paint than design. I suppose next someone will claim the Hiawatha Atlantic locos were 'ugly'.

I wonder what  a full-bodied streamlined Challenger would look like...

[farrellaa]

What were they thinking; take some leftover unwanted automotive parts and put them on this already ugly locomotive???

 

[btaylorsacto]

I agree; classy, not ugly.   I've ridden in one.

[dale8chevyss]

 

 

For me, anything European (steam locos with those bumpers painted multi colors) have always been ugly.  

 

American, I would have to go with a camelback:  http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/camelback/camelbk1.jpg 

[Anonymous]

Santa Fe had some ugly fireless cookers too, the were akward looking, but yet interesting.

[verheyen]

See the far right column at http://www.petefreitag.com/cheatsheets/ascii-codes/. Then holding the Alt key type 0 and the number. For example ä is alt 0128.

Peter

BTW, what do you do to get the umlauts over a, u, o?

Andre

[Big Ugly Waz]

The DB-3, is it real ? With that paint scheme, it looks like something from the Teletubbies !!

Cheers,

Warren

LOL! According to my two year old son, Teletubbies go off!

But yes, the DB-3 is real. If the purple and yellow doesn't appeal to you, how about these?





Incidentally, you're not the bloke who's had some articles published in CM, are you?

All the best,

Mark.

Mark,

The Teletubbies have always kind of freaked me out, they're kind of creepy ! It's amazing what a paint scheme can do, the blue with the white trim on the DB-3 makes the engine look quite refined, while the camo obviously serves a purpose,........................ now the purple !!!

I'm not the guy from CM, I'm lucky they let me post here, never lone be published !! LOL

Apart from the hefty price tag of the AD60, they're definitely my favorite model ( pending the release of the 38s ) and have the best sound of any steam, due to the speakers being in the boiler. Maybe you need to buy through a third party to maintain anonymity !!!

From previous posts I know of your history with 3801, what will you do when old mate releases the 38s, they are going to be a must have item ( I need 3, 3801, 3813 & 3820, I was on the last triple header, day ). Just trying to work out which bank to rob to be able to afford em !!! LOL

Cheers,

Warren

[tomikawaTT]

Hi, Mark,

What I was referring to was the, "First," in Andre's long Franco-Crosti link.  Wheel arrangement C-1+1-B-1-B-1+1-C, with the preheaters stuck on the ends of the double-firebox boiler...

Another entry, Kiso Forest Railway #11, 0-4-2T - combines all the 'best' features of a C12 (tapered-front side tanks,) an Illinois Central rebuild (square sand box and steam dome cover,) a HUGE wood bunker, boiler set WAY low and a REALLY UGLY industrial cyclone stack, all on 762MM gauge, with 660mm drivers.  Did I mention link-and-pin couplers, on a locomotive built after WWII?  Looks rather like a mechanical duck...

An earlier Kiso aberration, confined to the stack - a turnip with an industrial cyclone top and two fly ash boxes piped to its lower end, riding the upper curves of the smokebox like saddlebags.  Makes the front end look like a recently-fed gerbil...  Apparently the entire roster was fitted with these 'things' for a time.

Of course, they beat the pants off dragging logs out of a totally roadless forest...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - possibly with some of the above)

[andrechapelon]

Mate, please don't post things like that when I'm drinking coffee. It's taken me ten minutes to clean up the mess I made when I laughed out loud - good one!

I thought I might elicit a chuckle out of you and any Pennsy fan with a sense of humor about his chosen prototype. No, make that just you. The probability of finding such a Pennsy fan is probably on a par with finding a unicorn.....a mauve unicorn.....that's fluent in 7 languages.

 I thought as much. Your tastes are far too catholic not to appreciate an engine like that.

It wasn't always thus. I happened upon a copy of "Spotters Guide To British Railway Locomotives" (at least I think it was the title) back around 1960 and bought it. I was in my teens at the time. My first reaction was that except for some of the Pacifics and the Standard 9F's, the locos were ugly as a mud fence. And then they started grow on me. Everything else followed from that. I had the good fortune to meet Alan Pegler and see "Flying Scotsman" up close when she was on display in San Francisco around 1971. About a quarter century later, I got a chance to ride a Crewe-Holyhead excursion behind FS.

Trips behind steam in several countries (New Zealand, Canada, UK, Germany, Austria and Spain) just convinced me that well designed steam could look rather different from country to country and still be esthetically pleasing.  Let's face it. All steam locomotives are beautiful. It's just that some are more beautiful than others.

EDIT: I sometimes wonder why North American railroads didn't give Garratts a decent try. What with the boiler slung between two engines, you can get a big boiler with a lower center of gravity and an unobstructed firebox of large volume. I may be wrong, but I think a 4-8-4+4-8-4 could have been built for use in North America that would have produced in the neighborhood of 8,000 HP and had an axle load and loading gauge that would have let it roam relatively unrestrictedly. Being bi-directional, there would have been no problem running a coal burner cab first through long tunnels. The only drawback to a Garratt that I can see is that adhesion weight is lost as fuel and water are consumed. The water problem could have been alleviated to some degree by the use of auxiliary water tenders.

Shoot, even the Pennsy could have avoided double heading K4's over the Alleghenies had they used a double Pacific built to Pennsy standards. Sort of an American version of this: http://users.powernet.co.uk/hamilton/bgpix/Plmat1.jpg

Regards,

Andre

 

[SteamFreak]

It wasn't our resident "historian" CNJ831, was it?

Hmmm... he was talking about craftsmanship in the hobby dying out... gee, do ya think?

A steam loco is by it's nature mechanically complex, and the trade-off between efficiency and maintenance has always been a big factor in their design.

I thought they were just a motor, worm, and a couple of gears? Oh yeah, and occasionally a flywheel.

 

I agree that one's exposure to the prototype plays the biggest role in the development of your personal aesthetic. The Crocs still look odd to me, but they're interesting at the same time, and I'm sure I would love them if I'd had more exposure. I like almost anything with siderods anyway.

But nothing can make the face of a Niagara attractive. Yuck.

[AggroJones]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

[andrechapelon]

EDIT: I didn't see Andre's responseuntil just now, but I'm glad that someone else appreciates these E-loks. Good on yer, Andre!

Thanks, Mark. I've got an SBB Ce6/8 in the brown livery from ROCO as well as the 1189 (orange livery) of the OeBB. The problem with the RhB Krokodil is that if I bought one, I'd want to model the RhB. It's just too appealing. http://www.albulabahn.ch/index_e.html

Couple of nice videos to watch there

BTW, what do you do to get the umlauts over a, u, o?

Andre

[marknewton]

Oh, Andre, you disappoint me! There's any number of American engines that were uglier.

Shhhh!! Pennsy fans are everywhere.

Mate, please don't post things like that when I'm drinking coffee. It's taken me ten minutes to clean up the mess I made when I laughed out loud - good one!

I was being tongue-in-cheek.

I thought as much. Your tastes are far too catholic not to appreciate an engine like that.

I kinda like the 310's, although I prefer the class 12 2-8-4's.

They're a big, handsom ebrute of an engine, I like 'em too. There's a Romanian copy that's been put back into traffic recently, too.

I kinda like the NSB's type 49 "Dovergubben", too.

Nice! Not an engine I'd seen before either, thanks for the links. You can tell from that photo it snows a lot in Norway, eh?

Course if you want ugly, all you have to do is go back to the 1830's B&O and their "Crabs" and "Mud Diggers".

The Winans "Camels" wouldn't win any beauty prizes, either.

Yes, I'd have to agree, although the Camel has a certain Heath-Robinson charm about it.

All the best,

Mark.

[marknewton]

I don't know about "duck's nuts" but I like the looks of most Garratts even though I never saw one except in photos. SAR GMAM's are pretty neat...

You're not wrong, Andre. I don't think there's an Garratt in Africa I don't find appealing. But GMAMs are definitely high on the list. Also NGG16s - and they're just the right size for a backyard railway!

p>I was sorely tempted to order the AD60 from Eureka. http://eurekamodels.com.au/Garratt.html

Lord, that sure is a pretty engine.

Mate, they certainly are that. And they ran as well they looked, and they were a beautiful engine to work on. I'd buy one of the Eureka AD60s myself, but the proprietor of Eureka Models is my old boss, and I'd hate to make his retirement more comfortable than it already is!

All the best,

Mark

[marknewton]

Then there's the Swiss crocodile. The one engine SWMBO won't let me bring into the house....

There you go, the "eye of the beholder" again. I like the "krokodils", I reckon they look like they mean business. I also rate the metre-gauge Rhätische locos as well - nicely proportioned and incredibly durable. I have a Bemo model of one in HOm, just for display.

Cheers,

Mark.

EDIT: I didn't see Andre's responseuntil just now, but I'm glad that someone else appreciates these E-loks. Good on yer, Andre!

[marknewton]

I know, don't believe everything you read, right?

Absolutely. But don't take my word for it either, do a bit of your own research. You'll soon see that many of the designs featured at LOCOLOCO were quite successful.

I was talking to the guys at the LHS after hours a few day ago, and one of them was leafing through a book on the CNJ and started complaining about all of the factual errors. According to him, anyway.

It wasn't our resident "historian" CNJ831, was it?

I tend to think of a design as unsuccessful if it didn't spawn more than a few experimental examples.

It depends, I think. There were some locos built in very small numbers because that's all that was required, but they were no less successful than those built by the thousands.

Most, if not all of those designs compounded the mechanical complexity of the loco instead of simplifying it, offsetting any potential efficiency increase with excessive maintenance costs.

A steam loco is by it's nature mechanically complex, and the trade-off between efficiency and maintenance has always been a big factor in their design. Look at certain French engines as an example - fiendishly complex and buggers to maintain, but also very efficient. The French railways were prepared to wear that, because they had a maintenance regime optimised for such locos.

Cheers,

Mark.

[andrechapelon]

Oh, Andre, you disappoint me! There's any number of American engines that were uglier.

Shhhh!! Pennsy fans are everywhere.

I was being tongue-in-cheek. I kinda like the 310's, although I prefer the class 12 2-8-4's. http://dampf.webmedia.hu/index.php?showpic=252&galid=6&page=

I kinda like the NSB's type 49 "Dovergubben", too. http://www.jernbane.net/norge/damp/tp49/49a463_01.jpg

'Course if you want ugly, all you have to do is go back to the 1830's B&O and their "Crabs" and "Mud Diggers".

The Winans "Camels" wouldn't win any beauty prizes, either.

Andre

[marknewton]

Andre,

Whoever designed that first (???) obviously never heard of the KISS principle.  8 cylinders, 3 crewmembers (none of whom were co-located) and a length approaching that of Big Boy, all for a paltry 3000HP, a figure well within the capability of several 2-cylinder USRA designs...I'll bet the driver really enjoyed sharing his space with that humongous flue joint and a steam air brake compressor...

Chuck, are you referring to the "Leader"? I always thought that the concept was sound, but like many of Ollie's projects, it was let down by the details. Scrub round the sleeve valves, chain drive, and Briggs-type boiler, and you'd have the makings of a good loco.

IIRC, it was only a six-cylinder engine, three per bogie, with a crew of two. I think the fireman's lot was worse than the driver's, just quietly.

(I must admit , I've always been partial to the beast. If the Central London Railway 1903 MU stock had grown up to be steam engines, they'd have looked like the "Leader"!)



Cheers,

Mark.

[marknewton]

The DB-3, is it real ? With that paint scheme, it looks like something from the Teletubbies !!

Cheers,

Warren

LOL! According to my two year old son, Teletubbies go off!

But yes, the DB-3 is real. If the purple and yellow doesn't appeal to you, how about these?





Incidentally, you're not the bloke who's had some articles published in CM, are you?

All the best,

Mark.

[marknewton]

He's right, you know. We had nothing as ugly as this:

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/steam/310-16/310-23_mvp_200903.jpg

Oh, Andre, you disappoint me! There's any number of American engines that were uglier.

Anyway, Austrian engines aren't ugly, they're just - ah - Austrian. Some of my favourites are:





And I raise my glass to the GKB, who hung on to these lovely old dowagers, and ensured they were preserved.

Any locomotive with a Franco-Crosti boiler rates very highly on the ugly scale.

You reckon? I quite like the looks of the BR 9Fs that had F-C boilers.

All the best,

Mark.

[andrechapelon]

So what we're saying, by omission, is that a Garrett is concidered to be a "handsome" beast?

All a matter of taste, nothing else. I reckon that there were many handsome Garratts - and admittedly, some bloody ugly ones!

The problem with Garratts is not ugliness, it's simply that they're unfamiliar to North American eyes. If you grew up with them it would be a different story. As a kid I used to watch double-headed AD60s storm past our back fence hauling heavy export coal trains. I thought they were the duck's nuts - an I still do!

All the best,

Mark.

I don't know about "duck's nuts" but I like the looks of most Garratts even though I never saw one except in photos. SAR GMAM's are pretty neat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRbTLWwA638 . The GL Garrats were actually more powerful as the GMAM's were designed for use on 60 lb rail. The GL's were good for 89,000 lbs of TE.

EAR 59 class Garratts were rather powerful for their size. IIRC, they were rated at around 83,000 lbs of TE and that's meter gauge. Both the SAR GL's and EAR 59's were roughly the equivalent of the standard gauge B&O S-1 2-10-2 in tractive effort. Not bad for narrow gauge. EAR 5918 is about 1/2 way down the page here: http://www.livesteaming.com/Beyer-Garratts.htm

I was sorely tempted to order the AD60 from Eureka. http://eurekamodels.com.au/Garratt.html

Lord, that sure is a pretty engine.

Andre

[marknewton]

That's the one, Mark.  Looks like the GG-1s ugly baby sister!

LOL! Chuck, you are unkind! Good description, but!

If the color scheme is accurate, I'm glad I'd only seen black and white pictures...

Apparently it is. There's not much published in English on the DB-3s, but some years back there was an article in JRM that featured a small colour photo. Allowing for the age of the photo and vagaries of CMYK printing, the model seems to be a close match. Maybe I have strange tastes, but I rather like it. I reckon it makes a pleasant change from black paint highlighted wiith dirt. But then, I like colourful engines generally - the JNR's Imperial train engines always impressed me.

Some of the other 'entries' make it obvious that ugly is in the eye of the beholder.

Absolutely. As I noted earlier, unfamiliarity is a big factor in determining how people view an object. unlike yourself and one or two other posters, the typical NA railfan/modeller is probably unfamiliar with the looks of railways outside their own country, and so they regard them as ugly. It cuts both ways. I have mates here who look at US locos that I think are quite gorgeous, yet they reckon they're hideous. When I see F units, I always look for a paper bag to put over my head, to block out the view. I can't for the life of me understand their popularity.

Maybe there should be several categories:

• Ugly and unsuccessful.
• Experimental one-offs with less than pleasing aesthetics.
• Unhandsome evolutionary dead ends.
• Wildly - and widely - successful designs that don't look very pretty.

Yes, that's how I'd break it down. Maybe I 'd add handsome, successful locos that were nonetheless mongrel things to work on or maintain, and were hated by enginemen and fitters. I'd put a certain LNER 4-6-2 at the top of that list, closely followed by a certain GWR 4-6-0...

Cheers,

Mark.

[andrechapelon]

Then there's the Swiss crocodile. The one engine SWMBO won't let me bring into the house....

 

More pics at http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ch/SBB_CFF_FFS/electric/historic/crocodile/pix.html. 

p. 

Come on, dude. I like the SBB Crocs, and I love their little brothers the RhB mini-Crocs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22097570@N05/2215335246/in/pool-92101562@N00

Andre

[marknewton]

When a rich American gets the Trabi he ordered, he states full of amazement, "these Germans, always so thorough. Bevor they deliver the car they send a plastic model..." 

How do you double the value of a Trabi? Fill the tank..

Where can you still get original Trabis? At the LHS... 

Cheers, p. 

Ausgezeichnet!

[marknewton]

So what we're saying, by omission, is that a Garrett is concidered to be a "handsome" beast?

All a matter of taste, nothing else. I reckon that there were many handsome Garratts - and admittedly, some bloody ugly ones!

The problem with Garratts is not ugliness, it's simply that they're unfamiliar to North American eyes. If you grew up with them it would be a different story. As a kid I used to watch double-headed AD60s storm past our back fence hauling heavy export coal trains. I thought they were the duck's nuts - an I still do!

All the best,

Mark.

[verheyen]

Whereby the 1st one was definitely better than the sequel, but both definitely enjoyable. If you know German, there are great Trabi jokes at these sites, among others.

• http://www.einfach-autos.de/autowitze/trabi-witze/
  
• http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/0,1518,467232,00.html
• http://www.spitzenwitz.de/witze/trabi.html
• ...
  

For example

When a rich American gets the Trabi he ordered, he states full of amazement, "these Germans, always so thorough. Bevor they deliver the car they send a plastic model..." 

How do you double the value of a Trabi? Fill the tank..

Where can you still get original Trabis? At the LHS... 

Cheers, p. 

Or a Trabant...

Go Trabi Go!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101960/

(One of my favourite films!)

Cheers,

Mark.

[marknewton]

Or a Trabant...

Go Trabi Go!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101960/

(One of my favourite films!)

Cheers,

Mark.

[dale8chevyss]

back on, "Ugly is in the eyes of the beholder," on a visit to the railroad museum at Roanoke some years ago I heard a (female) visitor comment, "Why does everyone want to get that ugly old thing back into service?"

She was referring to N&W 611...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

Obviously someone who didn't see her in working order & hear that whistle.

A HORRIBLE pic I took of her with a HORRIBLE Kodak Pocket Cam on a fan trip a few miles east of Brewster back in the spring of 1989.

 

 

 

To each thier own, but to me (and countless others) that is a slap in the face.  The J, especially the 611, is the furthest thing from my mind when it comes to discussing ugly locomotives.  Even the unshrouded WWII Js are sweet.   

[verheyen]

Then there's the Swiss crocodile. The one engine SWMBO won't let me bring into the house....

 

More pics at http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ch/SBB_CFF_FFS/electric/historic/crocodile/pix.html. 

p. 

[Packers#1]

Reading No. 60: Proving that even the ugliest of parents can have a beautiful baby!

(The No. 60 was the experimental Baldwin engine that lead to the very handsome VO660) 

 

Cheers!

~METRO 

Looks like a switcher on steriods.

[Packers#1]

Yeah, I saw those when I was browsing Wikipedia. They are pretty ugly.'Course, the second pic was a little nice.

[METRO]

Reading No. 60: Proving that even the ugliest of parents can have a beautiful baby!

(The No. 60 was the experimental Baldwin engine that lead to the very handsome VO660) 

 

Cheers!

~METRO 

[verheyen]

Or a Trabant. Buy yours here. I would.

p. 

That being said, it's the kind of ugliness that grows on you.

Kinda like a Citroen 2CV in the automotive world.

Andre

[andrechapelon]

AND the Gölsdorf http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/steam/310-16/310_23_bild1.jpg

is one of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever build, so that makes it clear that north americans dont have any taste whatsoever..." border="0" width="15" height="15" />" border="0" width="15" height="15" />

 

/stefan 

Oh yes it is. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it's not even close to seeing one up close and personal. I was at the 150th anniversary of Austrian railways and rode behind it.

That being said, it's the kind of ugliness that grows on you.

Kinda like a Citroen 2CV in the automotive world. http://www.2cvimports.com/podcast/podcast.jpg

 

Andre

[andrechapelon]

Hammerhead RS-3 and RSD-5........

What would be the purpose of the tall nose on these engines?

IIRC, the "Hammerheads" had both dynamic brakes AND steam generators in the short hood.

Andre

[Gromitt]

The Bulleid Leader class engine of Britain's Southern Railways

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_Leader_Class
• http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/leader/leader.htm
• http://www.semgonline.com/steam/leader_01.html

 

Greetings, p. 

This makes " Amos & Andy " look downright HANDSOME in comparison !

AD60 Garrett..................... GOOD LOOKING UGLY !!!

Cheers,

Warren

 

This (Bulleid Leader) is actually a steam locomotive, and in my opinion one of the most cool looking locomotives ever.

 

And a Garrett is NEVER ugly...

AND the Gölsdorf http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/steam/310-16/310_23_bild1.jpg

is one of the most beautiful steam locomotives ever build, so that makes it clear that north americans dont have any taste whatsoever...

 

/stefan 

[rs2mike]

Hammerhead RS-3 and RSD-5........

What would be the purpose of the tall nose on these engines?

[rs2mike]

Hammerhead RS-3 and RSD-5........

What would be the purpose of the tall nose on these engines?

[andrechapelon]

Andre,

Whoever designed that first (???) obviously never heard of the KISS principle.  8 cylinders, 3 crewmembers (none of whom were co-located) and a length approaching that of Big Boy, all for a paltry 3000HP, a figure well within the capability of several 2-cylinder USRA designs..." border="0" width="30" height="20" />  I'll bet the driver really enjoyed sharing his space with that humongous flue joint and a steam air brake compressor

Chuck,

It didn't need to be even USRA sized to put out good HP. When my namesake got hold of the 141R's produced for the SNCF and made a few improvements (mostly with exhausting, IIRC), they were capable of producing 3000+ HP. The 141R's were based on the GB&W 2-8-2's of 1937 & 1939. http://www.steamlocomotive.com/mikado/gbw401.jpg . The GB&W 2-8-2's were rated at 47,000 lb TE vs. 53,900 lb for the USRA lights.

According to this site, a Stanier "Duchess" class was able to put out 3300 HP on test climbing Beattock grade with a test train. http://www.lner.info/eng/stanier.shtml If you've ever seen a British Pacific up close, they are not large locos. That's pretty impressive.

Andre

 

[SteamFreak]

In the "Ugly and Unsuccessful" category, I give you the triple-boilered Belgian 2-4-2 #195.

Interesting website, but I 'd take a lot of his comments and/or analysis with a grain of salt. There are a number of engines featured at "LOCOLOCO" that had long and successful service lives.

I know, don't believe everything you read, right? I was talking to the guys at the LHS after hours a few day ago, and one of them was leafing through a book on the CNJ and started complaining about all of the factual errors. According to him, anyway.

I tend to think of a design as unsuccessful if it didn't spawn more than a few experimental examples. Most, if not all of those designs compounded the mechanical complexity of the loco instead of simplifying it, offsetting any potential efficiency increase with excessive maintenance costs.

[Big Ugly Waz]

The DB-3, is it real ? With that paint scheme, it looks like something from the Teletubbies !!

Cheers,

Warren

[Big Ugly Waz]

The Bulleid Leader class engine of Britain's Southern Railways

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_Leader_Class
• http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/leader/leader.htm
• http://www.semgonline.com/steam/leader_01.html

 

Greetings, p. 

This makes " Amos & Andy " look downright HANDSOME in comparison !

AD60 Garrett..................... GOOD LOOKING UGLY !!!

Cheers,

Warren

[PA&ERR]

If I may be permitted to go offshore in a different direction:

The South Manchuria Railway had a class of "streamlined" tank locos which looked like BL-2s with cylinders and drivers.  (No photo, unfortunately.  Or, maybe, fortunately!)

Chuck you mean the DB-3? I don't reckon they're ugly at all.



Bachmann make them in HO, too!

Cheers,

Mark.

Kind of gives you a renewed appreciation for black and white film!

-George

[pcarrell]

.....but to call Jawn Henry ugly !?!?!

Aww, c'mon......it's a box on wheels!

[Bapou]

All f those except for the RSD15 are ugly. IMO the RSD15 is pretty cool.

The Ugliest loco IMO is the newer GEs and EMDs with the wide nose. The HHP-8 is pretty close too.

 

Your kidding right? The new DEs and EMDs look good! The HHP-8 is one of my favorites! (Although I am prejudiced for electric locos) 

[twhite]

The 611 comment reminds me of one time when I was down at the Sacramento Railroad Museum staring lovingly up at the big SP AC-12 Cab-Forward, and behind me I heard a comment: "That's got to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen." 

I turned around.  There she was in all of her glory, wearing Capri form-bulging slacks, a fuzzy purple sweater and rhinestone horn-rimmed glasses with a dyed-blonde beehive hairdo.  I kid you not! 

I had to leave before I fell apart!

Tom

[Guilford Guy]

http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/nyc7189.jpg 

Not as ugly as it is cute :)

This is pretty ugly...

And this...

I'm actually quite fond of NYOW steam although the Bullmeese(2-10-2's) are pretty ugly. Their is smaller steam is quite cute.

[marknewton]

In the "Ugly and Unsuccessful" category, I give you the triple-boilered Belgian 2-4-2 #195.

Interesting website, but I 'd take a lot of his comments and/or analysis with a grain of salt. There are a number of engines featured at "LOCOLOCO" that had long and successful service lives.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Virginian]

Anyone who's looked at some of the things women wear can understand and discount the "J" comment, but to call Jawn Henry ugly !?!?!  Not in the same order of magnitude as a lot of the stuff posted.  Even the NYC's Alice the Goon pales so in comparison, I stand humbled by you guys' ability to dredge up really atrocious stuff.

[eeyore9900]

back on, "Ugly is in the eyes of the beholder," on a visit to the railroad museum at Roanoke some years ago I heard a (female) visitor comment, "Why does everyone want to get that ugly old thing back into service?"

She was referring to N&W 611...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

Obviously someone who didn't see her in working order & hear that whistle.

A HORRIBLE pic I took of her with a HORRIBLE Kodak Pocket Cam on a fan trip a few miles east of Brewster back in the spring of 1989.

 

[tomikawaTT]

Andre,

Whoever designed that first (???) obviously never heard of the KISS principle.  8 cylinders, 3 crewmembers (none of whom were co-located) and a length approaching that of Big Boy, all for a paltry 3000HP, a figure well within the capability of several 2-cylinder USRA designs...  I'll bet the driver really enjoyed sharing his space with that humongous flue joint and a steam air brake compressor...

Back on, "Ugly is in the eyes of the beholder," on a visit to the railroad museum at Roanoke some years ago I heard a (female) visitor comment, "Why does everyone want to get that ugly old thing back into service?"

She was referring to N&W 611...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[andrechapelon]

I have to laugh at some of the posts to this thread. The title is "The worlds ugliest locomotive", yet so far only two posters have offered up anything from outside North America. When it comes to designing and building ugly locomotives Americans and Canadians are nowt but amateurs.

Cheers,

Mark.

He's right, you know. We had nothing as ugly as this:

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/steam/310-16/310-23_mvp_200903.jpg

Any locomotive with a Franco-Crosti boiler rates very highly on the ugly scale. http://trains.com/trn/objects/images/italy.jpg

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/francocrosti/francocrosti.htm#br

Andre

[Anonymous]

The CF7 is a perfectly nice engine, and Amos & Andy are not ugly locomotives, there just different. Those C&O yellowbellies where too good for your eyesight either.

[SteamFreak]

marknewton

I have to laugh at some of the posts to this thread. The title is "The worlds ugliest locomotive", yet so far only two posters have offered up anything from outside North America. When it comes to designing and building ugly locomotives Americans and Canadians are nowt but amateurs.

Well, now that you mention it...

In the "Ugly and Unsuccessful" category, I give you the triple-boilered Belgian 2-4-2 #195.

Not only was it ugly, it had a bad temper to match, exploding in 1902.

http://aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/tripleboiler/tripleboiler.htm

[tomikawaTT]

Chuck you mean the DB-3? I don't reckon they're ugly at all.



Bachmann make them in HO, too!

Cheers,

Mark.

That's the one, Mark.  Looks like the GG-1s ugly baby sister!  If the color scheme is accurate, I'm glad I'd only seen black and white pictures...

Some of the other 'entries' make it obvious that ugly is in the eye of the beholder.  Maybe there should be several categories:

• Ugly and unsuccessful.
• Experimental one-offs with less than pleasing aesthetics.
• Unhandsome evolutionary dead ends.
• Wildly - and widely - successful designs that don't look very pretty.

Of course, to the railroads' financial officers, that last category is downright beautiful!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with locomotives that may be homely, but aren't butt-ugly)

[pcarrell]

So what we're saying, by omission, is that a Garrett is concidered to be a "handsome" beast?

(Click on any of these if you aren't afraid of hurting your eyesight and they will expand into their full glory!)

Or how about the French 232.P.1?

Shown without bodywork.

With streamlining in place.......looks like an upside down bathtub!

Or maybe the Swiss Eb3/5?

And so as not to be outdone, we Americans have had a few loco's of questionable asthetics.....

like.......

The John Stevens.........

the Jawn Henry?

And lets not forget the Horatio Allen (Delaware & Hudson Railroad).........

 

Yeah, there were, and are, some pretty ugly looking loco's out there, but don't we all really love them deep down inside?

[Arjay1969]

I'll have to add MKT's RS-3m's.  There's something fundamentally wrong with splicing a GP7 long hood onto an RS-3.

 

[verheyen]

The Bulleid Leader class engine of Britain's Southern Railways

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_Leader_Class
• http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/leader/leader.htm
• http://www.semgonline.com/steam/leader_01.html

 

Greetings, p. 

[onebiglizard]

Donoteat's chopnose RS-whatever takes the ugly cake for me.  Looks like CP is trying to drag it off to the scrapyard before anyone else sees it!

[eeyore9900]

My vote would have to be for the FM C-Liners, as they always reminded me of a quickly cobbled up design to compete with the F units.

CF7s run almost hand in hand with the above. 

Actually, I've always kinda liked BL2s. 

[cwclark]

[quote user="PA&ERR"]

Sorry but all of the aforementioned contestants, though outstanding in their own way, are bush leaguers compared to this beast!

I always thought the Krauss Maffei was a classy locomotive

[marknewton]

Thomas the Tank Engine as envisioned by the anime crowd?

No, just a typical pre-war streamlined steam engine. Industrial design was just as faddish then as it is now.

I have to laugh at some of the posts to this thread. The title is "The worlds ugliest locomotive", yet so far only two posters have offered up anything from outside North America. When it comes to designing and building ugly locomotives Americans and Canadians are nowt but amateurs.

Cheers,

Mark.

[donoteat]

This:

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

MK5000

[aloco]

Hammerhead RS-3 and RSD-5........

The Lehigh Valley RS-3 hammerhead short hood has rounded corners like the long hood and therefore looks good.

The C&NW RSD-5 hammerhead short hood has sharp corners and does not match the corners on the long hood, therefore it looks ugly. 

 

[doctorwayne]

I'll give another vote to the BL2 for most ugly, but I'm not too fond of the GP30, either.  The high nose version is okay, but the low hood one looks like a bad '50s automobile.

Wayne 

[SteamFreak]

If this thread turns any uglier, Bergie's going to have to step in.

[jfallon]

If I may be permitted to go offshore in a different direction:

The South Manchuria Railway had a class of "streamlined" tank locos which looked like BL-2s with cylinders and drivers.  (No photo, unfortunately.  Or, maybe, fortunately!)

Chuck you mean the DB-3? I don't reckon they're ugly at all.



Bachmann make them in HO, too!

Cheers,

Mark.

Thomas the Tank Engine as envisioned by the anime crowd?

[marknewton]

If I may be permitted to go offshore in a different direction:

The South Manchuria Railway had a class of "streamlined" tank locos which looked like BL-2s with cylinders and drivers.  (No photo, unfortunately.  Or, maybe, fortunately!)

Chuck you mean the DB-3? I don't reckon they're ugly at all.



Bachmann make them in HO, too!

Cheers,

Mark.

[Tilden]

Humm....you'd of thought they would have repaired that loco after the accident.  Before letting it back out on the line I mean...!

 

  Actually if it's a train, it ain't ugly!  Homely perhaps, but not ugly!

 

Tilden

[PA&ERR]

Sorry but all of the aforementioned contestants, though outstanding in their own way, are bush leaguers compared to this beast!

See, even the F unit that it is hooked to can't stand to look at it!

-George

[msowsun]

Hammerhead RS-3 and RSD-5........

[loathar]

To me, the ugliest locomotives are the following:

 

Steam:  Pennsylvania T1 class 'dog nose' 4-4-4-4 streamliner.

 

Diesel: CN GMD-1

on the T-1

[davekelly]

Hmmmmm.  What an interesting question!  Gonna have to cast my vote with the BL-2 as the ugliest locomotive - closely followed by hammerhead RS-3s.  While not the "prettiest" out there I think Baldwin's "babyfaces" enter into the "cool" category. 

[tomikawaTT]

If I may be permitted to go offshore in a different direction:

The South Manchuria Railway had a class of "streamlined" tank locos which looked like BL-2s with cylinders and drivers.  (No photo, unfortunately.  Or, maybe, fortunately!)

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[AntonioFP45]

Baldwin Baby Faces?  They were gorgeous as was the T-1 Steamer.

BL-2, imho, takes the top honors in "Yuck-gly!"

That CP RS-3, to me, still looks like "Goofy" from Disney.

[lvanhen]

Don't pick on Amos & Andy - they were designed by the same guy who did the Nash Rambler, and recently the Pontiac what-ever!

[Arjay1969]

My sig says it all.

[Lillen]

The Alco RSD-15 has a nose only a mother could love. Jimmy Durante ...eat your heart out....AHHChaachaachaa...

 

 

I'm not a mother!   I love those engines, so beautiful, among my favorites actually!

 

Magnus

[Packer]

All f those except for the RSD15 are ugly. IMO the RSD15 is pretty cool.

The Ugliest loco IMO is the newer GEs and EMDs with the wide nose. The HHP-8 is pretty close too.

[cwclark]

The Alco RSD-15 has a nose only a mother could love. Jimmy Durante ...eat your heart out....AHHChaachaachaa...

 

[SteamFreak]

I think Mothra and the Chop-nose RS4 were separated at birth.

[msowsun]

Chop nose RS-3.....

(click for close-up view)

 

 

[SteamFreak]

To me, the ugliest locomotives are the following:

Steam:  Pennsylvania T1 class 'dog nose' 4-4-4-4 streamliner.

Spoken like a true diesel connoisseur. The T1 is gorgeous; classic Loewy styling.

Unlike the ugliest loco in history... drumroll, please...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baldwin Babyface.

Ran through the ugly forest and hit every tree.

[aloco]

To me, the ugliest locomotives are the following:

 

Steam:  Pennsylvania T1 class 'dog nose' 4-4-4-4 streamliner.

 

Diesel: CN GMD-1

[Anonymous]

Amos and Andy look kind of cool.

Tom

Yep, they sure do, they got to haul the super cheif, till the E1's where ready.....then after the rebuilds, off to CB&Q they went.

[Texas Zepher]

I had to make this thread when i found a picture of what i think is the ugliest locomotive. Santa Fe had to rebuild Amos & Andy......

This has been discussed several times (see threads below).  As I recall the discussion, it was decided many many railroad shop rebuild one-offs were ugly as ugly can be.  But as they were 1 offs they deserve a different category than the ugly of production locomotives.  For production locomotives it seems the EMD BL2 is almost always the most frequently mentioned (including my vote too). 

http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/908787/ShowPost.aspx
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1309134/ShowPost.aspx          http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/133695/ShowPost.aspx
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/588000/ShowPost.aspx

[R. T. POTEET]

"Form ever follows function" as architect Louis Sullivan said.

Admittedly AT&SF #1 and #10 give the impression that somewhere along the line they got severely beaten up on with an ugly stick; one must keep in mind, however, that these units date from that period in diesel locomotive development when both the manufacturers and users were attempting to give definition and substance to exactly what the term streamlining really meant. These locomotives are ugly only in reference to what was to follow with EMD's inauguration of their E-units and which we today take for granted as true streamliners.

On the other hand one must really go some to beat some of the glamour puss' which have graced GE's stable chief among these being their Common Industrial Locomotives of the thirties, forties, and fifties. That "ugly stick" did not vanish with Uncle John's #1 and #10. And lest one think that ugly locomotives are a thing of the past take a close look at this manufacturer's C32s and C39s.

I myself don't particularly find high (short) hood road switchers to be particularly attractive. But just as "Form ever follows function" so also opinions are like toenails: everybody has them.

[andrechapelon]

This one's rather ugly: http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/plate091.Html

Some of the New Zealand bush tram engines had the esthetic qualities of

 

Well, of this: http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/UsesOfTheBush/BushTramsAndOtherLogTransport/4/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en

Then there's this odd combination of what looks like either a Heimax or a Clisler.

Either that or Heislers and Climaxes mated when people weren't looking.

http://tinyurl.com/3xbxbe

Andre

[twhite]

Actually, compared to some of the newer GE stuff I see idling away at UP's Roseville yard, Amos and Andy look kind of cool.

Tom

[PA&ERR]

Oh, come on now! Compared to those two the BL-2 is a fricken Beauty Queen!

-George

[New Haven I-5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ATSF_10.jpg

[D&HRR]

BL-2

[Big Ugly Waz]

NOW I know where the idea for the Transformers came from !!!

I think they were wearing a when this was designed !

Cheers,

Warren

[jep1267]

Awe....she's adorable.... Ick!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

I agree that the second image shows the ugliest locomotive. Even the trucks don't match in that photo.