BRHSLIST
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [BRHSlist] Mikes

To: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] Mikes
From: "zephyr9903" <zephyr9903@iowatelecom.net>
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 19:38:42 -0600
Delivered-to: archives@nauer.org
Delivered-to: mailing list BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
In-reply-to: <20030818.194425.3864.18.okt@juno.com>
List-unsubscribe: <mailto:BRHSlist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Mailing-list: list BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com; contact BRHSlist-owner@yahoogroups.com
References: <20030818.194425.3864.18.okt@juno.com>
Reply-to: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 19:30:28 -0500, okt wrote
> 
> I don't know about you guys but to me they looked like they struggled
> with esthetics until the 0-4s arrived.
> Thoughts?


Hmmmmmm -   First you mention "aesthetics", and then you 
invite "Thoughts" . . . . How could I resist!?!!!

Agreed - the O-5s were quite handsome locomotives - and so were the S-
4s . . . and the M-4s had a steroid-like majesty . . . . in the view of post-
steam observers . . . 

The whole concept of steam locomotive aesthetics (Danger, Will Robinson - 
opinionated viewpoint follows!) -   Once we passed the point where railfans' 
tastes were primarily established by standing trackside, we became subject to 
a form of media editing . . . What is published; available on video; in the 
hobby shop . . . In spite of its popularity, few would deny that the PRR was 
very idiosyncratic - but certain standards set by the USRA back in the late 
teens/early twenties have become enshrined by the fact that manufacturers 
*LOVE* a prototype that can be lettered for the Top Fifteen Roads & still 
come close . . . so the Q steam which a dwindling few of us admired at 
trackside is often retroactively judged by standards which didn't used to 
apply.

In retroactive judgement, most pre-superpower steam on the Q has the 
following "uglies" . . .

"It looks like it had its face shoved in" . . . Most CB&Q steam is 
characterized by a flat smokebox front with a lightly domed door.  Compared 
to the USRA cast front, with its bulging door base, it looks "blah".  When 
*most* of what I saw had a flat smokebox front which could be economically 
replaced by a circle torched out of plate stock instead of ordering a 
replacement casting . . . the O-4s, O-5s, S-4s and M-4s reminded me of an 
elderly neighbor who had a growth on his throat . . .   To modern fans, the 
high-mounted headlight on its droopy bracket looks antiquated . . . back 
then, a centered headlight on a Rock Island C-43 looked like a half-blind 
comedian seeking his way with a flashlight . . . Compared to a slab-sided 
USRA tender, the old Q "rolltop" looked dowdy - like your maiden aunt in a 
long skirt 30 years oiut of fashion - in 1950, it looked sleek . . . kinda 
like one of those pudgy Mercurys in the dealer's showroom . . . 

Older Q steam, in my eyes, look businesslike.  Not movie stars, but capable 
farmboys . . .  I liked the R-5As that went through Mt. Pleasant with the way 
freight - just enough boiler taper to resemble brawny shoulders - short cab 
pitched way back like a seed corn hat tipped back on the head . . . modest 
emblem on the tender - more like a cattle brand than a billboard for Alka 
Seltzer . . . 

Admittedly, the Q kept the litte derby sandf domes longer than looked good - 
on the O-1, it looked like a pimple . . . but the O1-As, with the wider 
version, recovered a workaday proportion.  In all honesty, my *favorite Q 
steam is the P-6 4-4-2, after being rebuilt with 69" drivers for mixed train 
service.  Long, lean (and a little gawky) - more interested in doing the job 
that "lookin' good" - the well-off farmer who drives a Dodge Ram rather than 
a BMW . . . a symbol of "make do or do without" . . .

To me, pre- X-X-4 Burlington steam is a perfect fit to the Granger Road's 
character, and I embrace it as part of the flavor.

Yes, the O-5s, S-4s and M-4As were very efficient and beautifully designed 
locomotives, but they represent a mature, transcontinental CB&Q (and, 
appropriately, were rarely if ever seen around the Burlington's cultural 
roots - confined to the transcon main or exiled to the non-agricultural coal 
fields.  It was like casting Cary Grant for "Grapes of Wrath" instead of 
Henry Fonda.

Burlington steam fit the Burlington . . .   (end of rant)

Marshall Thayer
Mt. Pleasant, IA

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. 
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/8ZCslB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>