Trains And Railways Extravaganza, Part 2

"QUANTUM SHOT" #642
Link - article by Avi Abrams

Streamlined Train Wonders of the Art Deco Era

Don't miss our previous article Super High Speed Trains in Japan and France. Here is another collection of cool and technologically splendid trains that caught our attention recently.

You know how they say: "1000 destinations to travel, before you die", "1000 awesome things to try, before you die", "1000 ways to prepare pasta, before you die" (really, they should sell a book "One simple way to prepare a poisonous mushroom, before you die"). But we agree, there are multiple worthy activities to undertake in your lifetime. Learning about awesome trains and railroads is one of them.

(images via LIFE MAgazine 1, National Geographic, November 1939, 2)

The gorgeous streamlined steam and diesel locomotives from the 1920s-1930s scream "steampunk" and "dieselpunk" to anyone who can appreciate it, and also provide an ample field for research for train historians and collectors. This was the era of The Mighty Streamlined Machine, and it plainly shows even in black-and-white photographs that remained. Here is the glamorous "Broadway Limited" Express:

(image credit: Andy Romano)

Milwaukee Road Hiawatha F6 Engine competes with the Packard LeBaron V-12 Coupe:

(art by Jack Juratovic, "Road and Track", November 1935 - via)

F7 competes with Duesenberg:

(art by Jack Juratovic, "Road and Track", November 1935 - via)

Many streamlined mighty engines prowled the nation at the time, including ones on C&NW (Chicago & North Western), the Hiawathas on the Milwaukee Road, the Aeoles steam engines on the Burlington Route (as backup to the famous Zephyrs):

(images via)

And of course, "20th Century Limited" on the NYC (New York Central System):

Milwaukee Hiawatha's Skytop Panoramic Room:

(images via 1, 2)

Union Pacific strange-looking M-10000, and another Union Pacific streamliner:

Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive (Designer Raymond Loewy) from 1939:

(images via)

To see more great examples of streamlined locomotives, go to this great site.

Back in England, the A4 4468 Mallard, one of the A4 series from LNER's Express Pacific, reached the world speed record for a steam locomotive (202.58 km/h) in 1938.

(images via 1, 2)

More Mallards: 60022 engine (illustration by Robert Ayton from 'The Story of Railways', 1961) and LNER Gresley A4 Pacific:

(images via)

Soviet Railways S-ZhD 2-3-2v (left), and А691 4-6-2 locomotive of the Italian State Railway (right). Top speed - 150 km/h, built in 1939:

(images via 1, )

NMBS/SNCB: 12.004 was a streamlined 4-4-2 passenger locomotive of the Belgian National Railroads. Top speed 100 mph in 1939 -

(photo by Marc Petit)

These engines were living, breathing mysteries of steam and iron. Many years from their heyday, the wonder still remains:

(photo by National Geographic, November 1939, via)

Interesting Train Art and Concepts

Retrofuture concept for a gigantic passenger train, introduced in 1947 (Note the spacious interiors and huge bed options) - more info:

(images via)

"Mine Clearing of Arctic Regions", by Vladimir Kufeld (click to see the bigger version):

(image credit: Vladimir Kufeld)

Another unholy union: huge steam locomotive and a World War I battleship, by Marco Edel Rolandi (click to see the bigger version):

(image credit: http://anacardo.cgsociety.org/gallery/340944/)

The idea is not new - here is a Victorian postcard, featuring even weirder Combined Ship & Railway Locomotive (from Hildebrand's, a turn-of-the-20th-century German chocolate company):

(image via)

Here is the steampunk church / train hybrid, courtesy Silverwhite

(image credit: Silverwhite)

Futuristic train by Benedict Campbell:

(image credit: Benedict Campbell)

All Sorts of Train-Related Coolness

A bunch of mining steam trains in China:

(image via)

Even more interesting convergence of trains - Triple Railway Crossing in Richmond, Virginia:

(photo by National Geographic, November 1939, via)

Interesting locomotive spotted in Omsk, Russia. It doubles up as a power station: built in 1960, it can generate 300 kWatts -

(image via)

Another weird Russian locomotive - with an engine from small Moskvich car, photo taken in Krasnoyarsk in the 1960s:

(photo by Yury Lucevich, via)

How about Tama the Cat as a train conductor in Japan? More info can be found here, but it seems that this cat boosted local economy by at least $10 million in tourist visits. Here is the obligatory cat image "I'm in ur stashion, chekin ur tikits":

(image via)

"Unloading Passengers" (photo by Bob Avery) -

(image credit: Bob Avery, Railpictures.net)

Steam Engines Used as Street Trams in the Czech Republic, especially neat-looking in the winter's traffic:

(photos by Michal Uhler)

Backyard Train - Russian version of Thomas the Tank Engine? It seems that this miniature train is a good helper in household construction: