Really good looking diesel locomotive

[Trainman203]

I don't think there's such a thing!  I just wanted to see how many more hits this gets than "Really good looking steam locomotive ", which had almost no interest.

[Maletrain]

While we are participating in trivia, has anybody else noticed that the time stamp for these posts still seems to be on Daylight Savings Time?

[WoundedBear]

OP needs to go build something.

Sid

[Trainman203]

OP needs a shop.  House too small.  Card table not really enough space to build real stuff like Sid does.

[WoundedBear]

Sorry, but that's a poor excuse. The big shop is more storage space than anything. My actual work area on my desk only measures 24 X 24.

I spent many years building at the dining room table, and had to pick everything up after each build session.

Sid

[Len]

Don't tell me the Alco PA wasn't a good looking diesel...


Len

[Flare]

I don't think there's such a thing!

How about diesels that USED to be steam?

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/file.php?1,file=22522,in_body_attachment=1

http://david-longman.com/sitebuilder/images/Australia_08_-_Baldwin_52102-694x456.jpg

https://camo.derpicdn.net/b8c9a6ea61cd5753cab75054ced7e63b7c41fb05?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freerails.com%2Fgallery%2F589%2F589_082142_370000000.jpg

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/313615/

I believe that last one is gasoline, but I still think it's cool.

[James in FL]

Don't tell me the Alco PA wasn't a good looking diesel...

Now, I like both steam and diesel, can't say I have a preference.
Guess it depends on my mood, but...

"Really good looking diesel locomotive""?

That damn Alco made the blind kids run away.
Be thankful for that Pic.
No tellin' how many cameras were broke to get that one shot.

ugly³

[jward]

maybe beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think most of the first generation diesels were really good looking. Along with ANY diesel Alco built.

[Trainman203]

Ok Sid, I'll order a Banta kit tomorrow and report on its progress .  Probably Clara 's Cabinets.

I'm almost never home , constantly traveling for multiple reasons.  So the little bit I'm home, I'd rather operate the layout than build stuff.  I actually do a lot of car maintenance work and plastic kit building over lunch at work, but I can't paint anything there.  I built a few Tichy car kits there that are fairly involved.  I had to haul subassemblies home to paint them and bring them back to finish the job.  I'm retiring very soon and will then have the time to convert  a shed into a shop where I can leave projects out all the time and paint at will.

The PA looks good in the diesel category.  That's all I'll say.  This whole thread is a friendly joke. Relax, everyone .  Down South we laugh a lot.

[WoundedBear]

Ok Sid, I'll order a Banta kit tomorrow and report on its progress .  Probably Clara 's Cabinets.

So? Who did you order your kit from? 

I always found Micro-Mark to have good pricing on them, but not a total selection.

Sid

[James in FL]

Don't get me wrong,
I like 1Gen diesels of the Art Deco era, kind of partial to early E's, F's.
Like the FM's too.

But the Alco bricks,
Not so much.

And yes, we have fun down here.

[Len]

I guess you have to grow up next to a kiln to appreciate bricks. Much like growing up alongside the New Haven gives an appreciation of Alco locos, like the DL-109.


Len

[Trainman203]

When I was a young railfan in the early 60's, Class I steam had been gone from our town only 4 years. First generation F units headed up nearly everything along with high nose Geeps (no ugly low noses yet) and 6 axle Alco road switchers.  SW's and Alco S switchers worked our little yard.  Alco PA's pulled a passenger local through everyday.  It was a a diesel paradise but we hated them all.  They had killed our steam engines that we had barely gotten  to know.  

Read all the model railroad magazines from back then, NO ONE modeled diesels.  According to a survey in Model Railroader, the average model railroader was 33 years old, in comparison to today.  They'd all grown up with steam engines and witnessed first hand the slaughter of their beloved Iron friends.

It's hard for younger fans to understand the true pain that the older generation of fans that ended with fans my age felt about the end of steam.  We saw the empty abandoned roundhouses and the still standing water tanks that would never be called on again.  And we knew that we would never again hear the sound of those beautiful whistles floating in on the wind, be it a summer's mid afternoon or deep in the midnight.

To this day, a diesel has not polished the rails on my model railroad .  Although I model the "transitional era " , the resounding cry is "there will NEVER be a 'transition' on the Midland Western!"  😂😂

[jward]

6 axle alco road switchers? As in RSD5s? And nobody wanted to take photos of them? Oh, the humanity!


There is a lesson to be learned here. Relatively few photos exist of the less common types of first generation locomotives. They were gone before most people realized what they were. The DL109 in Len's post is a good example, They disappeared while most railfans were busy chasing steam. None made it to a museum, and to-day we can only assume what they must have sounded like.

Changes can occur overnight. Don't let documenting the remnants of an era drawing to a close blind you to what is happening now. What you turn your nose up at to-day as commonplace will soon itself be rare. When I go out, I take photos of everything. With digital cameras there is no reason not to.