A shop practice tried on the PRR was to paint tender decks a red oxide color, older locomotives received a red oxide cab roof and modern locomotives after the M1 received brunswick cab roofs.
Hi
So , the K5 - Capo di valvoli Caprotti or distribuzione Walschewski - was considered an ‘old’ type of locomotive right from roll out at Altoona ?
Gee , guess there were some pretty conflicting intentions going on in management ranks inside the Pennsy .
Those who wanted electrics ordered all new steam to be marked ‘out-dated’ by ‘little red riding hood’ cab caps - while the others banned overhead wiring to the East corridor and ordered Duplexii until Symes drowned it all with Diesel units of all kinds including the uncanny .
Regards
Juniatha
I mistakenly omitted the “a” in M1a, which arrived in 1930, the year following the K5. My intent was to answer your question about the PRR’s red roof inn. So no, no conflicting intentions, just an idea to solve identity crisis from above. Sorry.
How is this for color? It was built by Richard Norris and Son about 1855 for the Cincinnati and Chicago Air Line Railroad. From the book, EARLY AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES by John H. White, Jr., published by Dover Publications, Inc., 1972.
I’m going to try posting the picture, but I’m computer-dumb, so if it doesn’t work, I’ll come back with the flickr link.
(Edit) OK, I got it wrong. Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulofcov/6919905642/in/photostream
To Paul of Covington: OOOOOOOOKAY, I’m a BIG fan of 19th Century steam but I’ve got to admit Mr. Norris went a bit overboard on this one! That’s ASSUMING the 19th Century printmaker got the colors right, many times they didn’t, so you can’t trust them 100% of the time. At least I HOPE they got this one wrong! If they didn’t, then I suppose LSD’s been around longer than we think!
Hi K4s
Never mind , I knew what you meant - only my liking to add a sarcastic tweak won over me , that’s all .
BTW which # K4s do we correspond with here ? (g)
Regards
Juniatha
Hi Paul
Oh my goodness ! But the cylinders and steam dome are 24 carat gold plated , I hope , I mean that would be the least that could be expected , no ? Plus platinum digits and pointers to gauges to show the decently precious little bit of boiler pressure , what else …
( are you serious about this doll , guys ? no I guess not )
Regards
Juniatha
Hi Firelock
Ok , I see , well , that would explain something - yet if so , how come the lines were straight when usually with psycho-drugs it all gets bent and contorted ? Well , maybe 19th century people just were too stiff to get mind-bent the way of the sixties young folks even under the influence of H seven to nine … reflections on your latest reply , ykwIm …
Regards
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
You know, I can’t tell you why, but I LIKE the look of that 18-201 Reichsbahn locomotive in the green paint job with the white “racing stripes”. Even standing still it looks like it’s going 100 miles an hour!
Oh, and those Bavarian S3/6’s look like pieces of jewelry! Especially the one in holly green. Yes, “what works well, looks well, because beauty and utility are one in the mind of God…”
Hi Juniatha! Hey, you know something, if you like it, buy it! Be good to yourself, life’s too damn short!
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 =
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
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 =
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
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.
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
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
= J =
Do you think Mr. Loewy would want to see just what you changed…{only in fun}…
Q
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