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The Charlie Brown balloon at Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
For me, it'd be coming home and playing the piano. That is a sure fire way to crack a smile for me.
It's been many years now, but back in the days of steam engines, it always made me smile when standing on an island platform. That's what we Brits call a platform that has rails either side of it and is accessed by subway or bridge. Standing on such a platform waiting for your train, when 118 tons of steam technology hurtles through the station at 80 to 90 miles an hour, hauling 14 magnificent Pullman coaches, causing the platform to tremble like a minor earthquake, leaving the whole scene enveloped in smoke, steam and that evocative steam train smell. Makes me smile just reminiscing it.Pulling up to a railroad grade crossing as the gates come down and a fast train roars past.
It's been many years now, but back in the days of steam engines, it always made me smile when standing on an island platform. That's what we Brits call a platform that has rails either side of it and is accessed by subway or bridge. Standing on such a platform waiting for your train, when 118 tons of steam technology hurtles through the station at 80 to 90 miles an hour, hauling 14 magnificent Pullman coaches, causing the platform to tremble like a minor earthquake, leaving the whole scene enveloped in smoke, steam and that evocative steam train smell. Makes me smile just reminiscing it.
Have four and a half minutes of smiles on me, this clip is of steam trains from both sides of the pond thundering through stations at speed. Enjoy.
Pulling up to a railroad grade crossing as the gates come down and a fast train roars past. Passenger train or long freight, it doesn't matter. Travel or commerce, moving on 4 foot eight and a half inch gauged steel rails.. as has been done for the last 130+ years: there is something satisfying and reassuring in all of it. It was better about 45 years ago, when there were a lot more roads and before merger mania hit, but it's still a pleasant experience.
It's been many years now, but back in the days of steam engines, it always made me smile when standing on an island platform. That's what we Brits call a platform that has rails either side of it and is accessed by subway or bridge. Standing on such a platform waiting for your train, when 118 tons of steam technology hurtles through the station at 80 to 90 miles an hour, hauling 14 magnificent Pullman coaches, causing the platform to tremble like a minor earthquake, leaving the whole scene enveloped in smoke, steam and that evocative steam train smell. Makes me smile just reminiscing it.
Have four and a half minutes of smiles on me, this clip is of steam trains from both sides of the pond thundering through stations at speed. Enjoy.
For as long as I can remember I've preferred to see machines at work. For example, in recent years I'd watch these "reality" shows in which two groups of people would each build a motorcycle as competition against one another, and could never get on board with those who went out of their way to hide the working parts behind sheet metal. A motorcycle is a machine; let it look like one....In our digital world, where many fabulous things happen as invisible zeroes and ones interact on microchips driven by code we'll never see, there is something tactile, visceral, real about a big train, with (in the best of worlds) a steam engine that I understand and can see working, moving people and freight. It's work, it's progress, it's achievement that you can see and feel...
For as long as I can remember I've preferred to see machines at work. For example, in recent years I'd watch these "reality" shows in which two groups of people would each build a motorcycle as competition against one another, and could never get on board with those who went out of their way to hide the working parts behind sheet metal. A motorcycle is a machine; let it look like one.
Watching the train videos above, it's impressive and beautiful to me to see how much power they generate.
You know better than I do that it was inevitable once the designers learned about aerodynamics. I don't disagree with you about seeing the machinery at work, but the Broadway Limited was a gorgeous machine.That's one of the reason why I have mixed emotions about the GE streamlining of the steam engines. While some look stylistically fantastic - I love what Raymond Loewy did to streamline the Broadway Limited - it goes against the idea of letting a machine just be a machine where part of its beauty is in seeing it work.
You know better than I do that it was inevitable once the designers learned about aerodynamics. I don't disagree with you about seeing the machinery at work, but the Broadway Limited was a gorgeous machine.
I wish modern car manufacturers were more imaginative. I understand they're moving more and more towards selling their vehicles based on performance issues and designing them to be as aerodynamic as possible, but why does every car suddenly have to look like a homogeneous wedge-shaped blob? I certainly don't envy police officers these days. "What kind of car was the suspect driving?" "Uhh...silver?"
Sir Nigel Gresley designed the engine, named: "Mallard," that broke the world speed record for a steam train. Gresley was inspired by Bugatti motor cars. Instead of the usual, cylindrical boiler, Gresley sculptured the shape into something much more aerodynamic yet aesthetically pleasing too. But you can still see the engine as an engine, in all it's working glory. If you Google: "Mallard at 126 mph" you will see the original footage of that speed record, it's in black & white, but you still get the impact of the raw power of that engine. It even impresses standing still.That's one of the reason why I have mixed emotions about the GE streamlining of the steam engines. While some look stylistically fantastic - I love what Raymond Loewy did to streamline the Broadway Limited - it goes against the idea of letting a machine just be a machine where part of its beauty is in seeing it work.
Sir Nigel Gresley designed the engine, named: "Mallard," that broke the world speed record for a steam train. Gresley was inspired by Bugatti motor cars. Instead of the usual, cylindrical boiler, Gresley sculptured the shape into something much more aerodynamic yet aesthetically pleasing too. But you can still see the engine as an engine, in all it's working glory. If you Google: "Mallard at 126 mph" you will see the original footage of that speed record, it's in black & white, but you still get the impact of the raw power of that engine. It even impresses standing still.
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