Forums

[Anonymous]

It is obvious that folklore surronds steam, but what about diesel locomotives?

[Anonymous]

There probably isnt to much folklore about diesels. But there is more folklore about steam locomotives because in the time when there was cowboys and indians till the 1900's, there was only steam riding the rails. Also, a lot of famus trains are powered by steam, like the Oriental Express or the Flying Scotsman.

[route_rock]

But also teh diesel is a giant generator that is controled by a switch basicly.More throttle gets more power not too hard to do right?Sure some were cranky and had a mind of their own but to most a steam engine is a living breathing thing.You have johnson bar, throttle, brakes,a sundry of valves for a sundry of different items plus water levels,fire levels water in tender etc etc to worry about.Plus back in the day a train coming at you on the wrong track,boiler explosions it all made for good reading material hence more folklore.Here is a good example would you rather I tell you a story of how I moved a 100 car freight over the mainline with a diesel?or How i tamed a fire breathing Iron horse to pull 100 cars across a blazing plain with robbers and indians and well you get the point.Diesels I think have their own folklore but its just not as exciting or prevalent as steam.My opinon only.[soapbox]