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Locomotive aesthetics Locked

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Posted by Firelock76 on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 7:23 PM

Juniatha

 

... on the other hand :  if that's so , maybe I should go ahead and allow myself to buy this fully gold- colored handbag I saw in that boutique and took it down to look and turn it all around only to put it back thinking it's just too stark on a tall woman dressed in black , usually .

   What would you say ...?

regards in two minds about it ...

Juniatha  


 

Hi Juniatha!  Hey, you know something, if you like it, buy it!  Be good to yourself, life's too *** short!

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Posted by Juniatha on Sunday, April 15, 2012 4:10 PM

Hi Wayne

Thanks for your 'highball' - actually I went there again , took it down , yet as so often , taking a closer look I found it cheaply made .. trouble is , I may be attracted at first glance by the blinky-blink , yet when I get down on it , behind the glitter I often find it's not the quality I expect and so :  no gold-bag on = J = phww .

Regards

= J =

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Posted by erikem on Sunday, April 15, 2012 11:03 PM

Juniatha,

I would think a simple but well made black handbag would would be a good fit with your style. Your dislike of "cheaply made" fits in with your other likes and dislikes.

Getting back to locomotive aesthetics - I had the pleasure of riding behind D&S #481 (formerly D&RGW 481, a K-36) three days ago. The paint job was a well maintained basic black and silver with white lettering.  What made it really spectacular was the temperature along the Animas river was near freezing, which made for brilliant white clouds from the steam emitted from 481 (e.g. from the turbogenerator exhaust, blowdown exhaust and safety valves lifting). It was also a thrill to be on the highline for the first time having first seeing an engraving of it close to forty years ago.

My kids' favorite memory of the ride was snow falling just as the train was heading back to Durango from Cascade. Snow is an extreme rarity in this part of California.

- Erik

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Posted by Juniatha on Monday, April 16, 2012 8:40 AM

Hi Erik

 

Black loco blowing white steam rolling along the river - gee , sounds like it would make for a good graphic posting in this thread if you'd share the experience - I think the landscape is quite inspiring there .

>> I would think a simple but well made black handbag would would be a good fit with your style. <<

Well , the point is  , I have three black ones counting just those I actually use ;  my favorite one is nubuck leather with imprinted pattern , fringes , applications are gold-color eloxed - looks nice however its a bit small for fitful weather ;  the big 'vintage' velours leather bag on the other hand is rather large for going downtown - translated in RR language , feels 'like a Pacific with a baggage car in tow' ;  the velvet 'cat's bag' is nice , yet more for light things ..  all of them black , black and black again - ok , and violet and red silk on the inside ..

regards 

= J =


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Posted by erikem on Monday, April 16, 2012 11:01 PM

Juniatha,

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready when the 481 was blowing down the boiler with spectacular white clouds of steam coming out, but did get a few good shots like the one just uploaded as my avatar. I don't yet have a flickr or similar account to upload pictures - one of these days...

The D&S coaches had adequate legroom, though the seas looked like something out of a schoolbus. Didn't hear any complaints about legroom from either my wife or daughter. With two on each side of the aisle, shoulder room did leave a bit to be desired.

My wife prefers her purses to be relatively simple and long lasting - none of the cheap glitter for her either.

For some reason this reminded me of an interaction with my 11th grade English teacher as she was digging through her purse: I said "Hmm, typical woman's purse" and she replied "But not the purse of a typical woman".

- Erik

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Posted by JimValle on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:10 PM

Hi Juniatha:  It's my understanding that the red oxide on the cab roof and tender deck had a practical purpose.  Pennsy's shop force recognized that the cab roofs and tender decks of its steamers were subject to pitting and corrosion due to the accumulation of hot ash and cinders raining down from the stack, especially when the engine was working hard.  The oxide paint was a rust inhibitor.  The color actually changed as layers of the paint built up, going from "freight car red" to a darker oxide red.  Finally, Brunswick Green is fairly easy to distinguish from black when the paint is fresh.  After awhile it weathers and the green tone is mostly lost.  The graphite coating on the smokebox and firebox sides also varied from light gray to almost black.  Personally I always preferred the darker shades of graphite on Pennsy engines but the light gray graphite certainly complimented the Southern Green used on Crescent Limited locomotives such as the one displayed at the Smithsonian.

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Little Red Riding Roof ..
Posted by Juniatha on Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:15 AM

Hi Jim

 

Sure , the cab roofs were not supposed to rust through - with boiler cladding it didn't matter all that much , in doubt , it only added to steaming , although on the outside and thus not needing to go through cylinders and stack - *g* ;  I guess , red roofs also told the coaling man where not to drop supplies ( sorry , just another one of my arguably more or less humorous remarks )

Interesting to read the Pennsy , too , resorted to freight car paint on occasions - likewise did DR-East , although three decades later and with shortages , as usual , attributed to malfunctions of commerce with socialist regime .   Whatever the cause , the result was the same this side and that side the Iron Curtain :  brown-red instead of bright red on steam locomotives - *g* .

Regards 

Juniatha

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Back to the only one T1
Posted by Juniatha on Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:39 AM

Hi again

Although only one of the 'dubiously-complex Duplex' , the distributione Walschewski 5547 has intrigued me for displaying what probably a majority of steam loco fans consider 'complete' sets of rods , drive and valve gear , and cylinders with neat rounded steam chests and , in this instance . even the exhaust manifold extensions as viewers more acquainted with European steam sometimes miss in engines built by the Big Three .

Only - why on earth did they have to taylor a waist into running board valances of this one engine ?  

Dunno - and thus I allowed myself to straighten it , see below . 

Warning :  this image contains deviations from original !!

 

T1 5547 modified by = J = with straight running board and raised tank baseline ( basically cut away outer longitudinal side pockets , but very small loss of capacity )

 

Regards

                 Juniatha

 

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, April 21, 2012 8:30 AM

= J =

Do you think Mr. Loewy would want to see just what you changed....{only in fun}...

Q

Quentin

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Posted by Juniatha on Saturday, April 21, 2012 9:09 AM

Hi Quentin

 

Gee , what do you think ,'corse not !!   From what is said and written , in his amicable suavity placidly centered in his spiritual capacity he would obligingly have let us sense without having to resort to harsh words it's him and invariably himself-only who is fully endowed with the bliss of sensitive inspiration and creative imagination in matters industrial art & design - or have you heard of Picasso admitting Dali at any rate could possibly be considered but a tolerably talented painter ?

On the other hand , Loewy will not have been happy with PRR shops scissors disrespectfully cutting into his exceedingly elusive exclusively executed elaborations - why , the usual ignorant railroad technicians without an eye for the beauty in Loewy's couture !  

I think it's like with Versace todays :  Karl , the First and only Lagerfeld would ... although , on the other hand Karl at times can be quite generously broad-minded , almost liberally charitable and certainly exceptionally lavish .

So - who knows ?  Raymond might have said something like  " Eet 'as gaptured an aire of ze spirit in my deezine "   Which is about as far as you could get - not being Loewy .

Regards

               Juniatha

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#400 in this thread : Just take another look at the sleek engine
Posted by Juniatha on Saturday, April 21, 2012 9:43 AM

Hi , it's me again

Here's a close up view on the perplexing Duplex

inevitably with ..

some smoothening by = J =

Regards

= J =

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Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, April 21, 2012 4:13 PM

= J =

It looks fine to me.  Hopefully Raymond would have accepted it too.

Anything contemporary in design, I like.  Furniture, whatever...Those Rods in your photo almost look like chrome accents on an automobile.

I might comment, we're accepting Prayers from all directions.  Wife, Jean in our great I U Ball Hospital for open heart surgery, Monday morning.

Heart valve:  Mitral to be repaired / replaced.....Thanks.

Quentin

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:09 PM

Per Junithas comments about Picasso and Dali:  It reminds me of something Dali used to say....

"Picasso is a Spaniard.  Me too!  Picasso is a genius!  Me too!  Picasso is a Communist!  ME NEITHER!!!"

And Modelcar:  Best wishes and prayers for your wifes speedy recovery!  God bless you both!

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Loewy
Posted by erikem on Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:35 PM

Juniatha,

Apparently Raymond Loewy was not happy about F-M chopping six feet off the nose of his design for F-M's first road power commonly referred to as the Erie-builts. The original nose was supposed to be 15 feet long, but they came out with 9 foot noses. This is from the article in November 1964 Trains.

I don't know why Loewy went for the long nose, one guess is that it would have provided more crew protection in case of a head on collision or grade crossing collision.

- Erik

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Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, April 21, 2012 8:15 PM

.....Firelock76:

Thank you for your kind thoughts and Prayers.....Much appreciated.

Quentin

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My best wishes !
Posted by Juniatha on Sunday, April 22, 2012 1:00 PM

 

 

 

Hi Quentin

 

Please accept my empathy in this ordeal of life .   

In moments like this we feel like ships passing in the night -

and so schooner Juniatha wires to you :

"Wish you good luck for your passage through the narrows !"

 

With all my best wishes for Jean's operation

Juniatha

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, April 22, 2012 5:45 PM

Juniatha....

Thank you....Appreciate the kind words.

Quentin

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Posted by erikem on Sunday, April 22, 2012 11:40 PM

Quentin,

I hope Jean's operation goes well and the results are what was hoped for.

- Erik

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, April 23, 2012 4:54 PM

erikem

Quentin,

I hope Jean's operation goes well and the results are what was hoped for.

- Erik

 

Erik.....The Surgeon briefed me mid afternoon, we had a successful operation.  Replaced the Aorta valve and one by pass.  Now, we'll pray for a good recovery and next a better quality of life.

Thanks for expressing your thoughts.....and that's goes for all who did.....Thank You.

Quentin

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Posted by BigJim on Monday, April 23, 2012 7:01 PM

.

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Posted by erikem on Monday, April 23, 2012 11:10 PM

Quentin,

Good to hear that the operation went well and hope Jean's quality does improve. I had a stent put into artery a bit over seven years ago and noticed that I was doing better within a couple of weeks.

- Erik

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 9:36 PM

Thank you Erik and everyone remembering us.....Believe we're living on Prayers to keep us going.

2nd day of recovery was a struggle....Understand medically, most readings are pretty good, but these early days of recovery of these serious op's, call on one's max.

Quentin

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Posted by Firelock76 on Sunday, April 29, 2012 9:05 AM

Hello Modelcar!  A bit off topic here, but how's the wifes recovery going?   Hope everything's going well for her!  

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, April 29, 2012 7:46 PM

Oh, so many good people on here...

Thank you Firelock76 for remembering.  We're at home now, but as many folks know, recovery is a struggle too....But with the help of Prayers, and being home here...We're doing our best to make the outcome back to good health.

Quentin Mong

Quentin

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