Train Consists Should Take Aesthetics Into Consideration

[CMStPnP]

Shock Control

Why don't railroads add more variety to their train consists, for aesthetic appeal?

Well the whole reason the SD-40-2 had porches originally was so they could have French Women doing the CAN-CAN on them.     Then the Canadiens in Quebec found out and ripped up all their orders with GE.    The ICC threatened anti-trust and that was the end of that idea.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Based on what the steam fraternity says, aesthetic appeal vanished when diesels replaced steam.  Of course, I'm the sort of guy who is impressed by the sight a train consisting of 100 tank cars hauling crude oil.

[SD60MAC9500]

 

CSSHEGEWISCH

Based on what the steam fraternity says, aesthetic appeal vanished when diesels replaced steam.  Of course, I'm the sort of guy who is impressed by the sight a train consisting of 100 tank cars hauling crude oil.

 

I second this.

 

[Shock Control]

CSSHEGEWISCH

Based on what the steam fraternity says, aesthetic appeal vanished when diesels replaced steam.  Of course, I'm the sort of guy who is impressed by the sight a train consisting of 100 tank cars hauling crude oil.

The only steam engines I really like are the later art deco steam engines, although I remain obsessed with earlier shifters with sloped tenders.

As a devotee of mid-century modernism, I prefer the EMD E and F units.  I love watching the B&O F3 A&B units running past that Faller Swiss Lake House.  I have the track recessed in, so I am watching it run past the back yards of a mid-century modern neighborhood.  

 

 

[cv_acr]

CMStPnP

Well the whole reason the SD-40-2 had porches originally was so they could have French Women doing the CAN-CAN on them.     Then the Canadiens in Quebec found out and ripped up all their orders with GE.    The ICC threatened anti-trust and that was the end of that idea.

Except that:

1) SD40-2s were built by GM Diesel*, not GE. (Due to import tarrifs and other customs regulations, most locomotives for Canadian railways were produced in Canadian factories. GM's plant in London, ON was known as GM Diesel Division. Canadian SD40-2s were built by GMDD and not EMD (GM ElectroMotive Division) in LaGrange. Later, when GM divested EMD/GMDD, both plants would be under the "EMD" (ElectroMotive Diesel) name, but not during the SD40-2 era.)

2) The ICC, an American board, has no say in Quebec.

[chutton01]

Shock Control

The only steam engines I really like are the later art deco steam engines, although I remain obsessed with earlier shifters with sloped tenders.

As a devotee of mid-century modernism, I prefer the EMD E and F units.  I love watching the B&O F3 A&B units running past that Faller Swiss Lake House.  I have the track recessed in, so I am watching it run past the back yards of a mid-century modern neighborhood.  

Perhaps you have visted the "30 Squares of Ontario" blog, written by a J.D. Lowe, and who is (among other things) modeling a section of downtown Toronto in the 1980s. He has constructed several modern/post-modern commercial buildings, and often shows (in abbreviated fashion) how he constructed them. 
The author is also a faily big fan of E.L. Moore, and in addition to hosting several unpublished articles E.L. Moore wrote on his blog, also described how Moore designed several key building models which were taken up by AHM/Pola/etc. and became staples of kitbashing in the 1970s & 1980s (when I got into the hobby) - kits like the Machine Shop, Aunt Millie's House/W.E. Snatchem Funeral home, Grusome Casket, Brewery/Pickle factory and so on, several of which I owned over the years.

I could take or leave the EMD E/F series (and copycats like the Alco PA, Baldwin shark, and so on) - I prefer  the more brutualist form-follows-function diesel designs of the 1950s/60s like the Baldwin DTS/AS series, FM Trainmaster, ALCO RS-11 - even the EMD GP7/GP9 were boxes on platforms on wheels which signaled "outta the way, we got stuff to move".*
* Yes, I am aware these locos usually ranged from 1600-2000 HP while modern engines are 4000+, but they still look powerful...

[Paul Milenkovic]

CSSHEGEWISCH

Based on what the steam fraternity says, aesthetic appeal vanished when diesels replaced steam.  Of course, I'm the sort of guy who is impressed by the sight a train consisting of 100 tank cars hauling crude oil.

 

 

Don't anyone here start with "take this to the Model Railroader forum."

The train model that launched my model railroading hobby at age 11 was a Tyco model of an EMD F7 diesel.  It was the power for a freight train set, and I think it was in Santa Fe blue-and-yellow colors.  With encouragement from an issue of Model Railroader, I took a razor saw to it and the shell from an unpowered B unit and put together an FP-7.  You can still see the glue seam where the two units were joined -- I use my imagination to fill in for technical model-making craftmanship.

I then painted it -- no air brush, just spray cans -- in a freelance bright-orange and sky-blue two-tone paint scheme.  I worked some black into the rooftop fans to produce some semblance of them looking like actual fans rather than molded on blobs of plastic.  I also worked out a "wash" of some black paint to resemble diesel-smoke staining those glossy colors.

The original Tyco "power truck" drive system was nothing to write home about, but this model had sentimental value and I still operate it with my Electrotren Talgo set in Amtrak colors.  That power truck finally gave out, and I "repowered" this locomotive with the chassis of an Athearn GP-35 that I bought for cheap at a model train show.  The frame of this 2nd-gen diesel actually fit the FP-7 shell length well.

So I took it to the local hobby shop specializing in trains but offering something for a variety of hobby interests.  I had the model on the counter asking what Kadee coupler would be a best fit when another man in the shop took an interest in this model, asking if I was OK if he took a photo. 

He explained that he was active in modeling OTR trucks and thought the paint scheme would look great on one of this models.  He asked what the "prototype" for the colors was.

I guess the passage from steam to diesel trains is bad enough, and there are people who either model or are fans of diesel 18-wheel trucks?  But who am I to judge who comes into the local hobby shop with a different interest than mine who spends money there to keep that shop going.

I explained that the color scheme was free-lanced and something I came up with, but the idea was that some commuter agency would take an old F-unit, maybe even upgrade the prime mover and the electrics, and paint it in eye-catching glossy colors, both to make the locomotive highly visible at grade crossings and also to motivate the public to ride the train.  There a precedent for that, with the old New Haven FL-9s getting rebuilt and upgraded by Metro North, and with some of them painted in the bright New Haven passenger-locomotive colors as a "heritage unit" and something eye-grabbing people to take the trains?  Anyone remember the 1st-gen Amtrak colors, where the colors on the inside of the trains were positively 60's psychedelic?  More recent Amtrak color schemes are much more subdued -- it is a change in fashion of industrial design.

I also suggested that the bright colors were characteristic of the early 1970s when I modified the model as a general theme in industrial style.

The man took his photo and thanked for it, and expressed the intention to paint one of this truck-tractor models in that color scheme that he thought was eye-catching.  So I guess there is a place for making a train look interesting and flashy, even though that is largely marketing and shaping what people think about the role of railroading, even though it doesn't contribute directly to the bottom line.