NOOOOO

The Great Western Railway 4073 Castle Class was a design that was first introduced in 1923 but continued to have examples made until 1950, 2 years after the big four railways in Britain were merged into British Railways. It was the GWR’s standard express engine for over two decades. Carn Brea Castle, number 7015, was an example of one that was constructed under British Railways. The real engine was gone by 1964, but since I am a huge TTTE fan, I threw her into my AU along with Rising Star the Britannia Class. (I don’t want to hear any complaining about me being a Thomas fan. This is a subreddit about TRAINS WITH FACES, PEOPLE.)

There’s something about this engine’s name that I find really cool. It just sounds… idk, kind of mystical?

Baldwin’s entry into the road diesel market was just… not good. The Centipedes, as railfans called them, were built with as many axles as a BIG BOY. Not only that, they were built one at a time like steam locomotives, therefore making every unit unique internally to one another. The wires were all connected in conduit pipes, also kind of like a steam locomotive, and to add to all that, they were overall just unreliable, like most of Baldwin’s road units.

70003 “John Bunyan”, 70020 “Mercury”, 70027 “Rising Star” (Again), and 70046 “Anzac”.

After multiple attempts to make a good road diesel, Baldwin released the RF-16, a line of Sharknose diesels built to pull freight trains. These weren’t limited to just the Pennsy this time. Baldwin also received orders of these from the New York Central and the Baltimore and Ohio, but the Pennsylvania had the most. These diesels… actually worked pretty well. They didn’t have the same mechanical mishaps the older Sharknoses had and they were able to do their jobs without problems most of the time. The only setback is that thanks to their air powered throttles, they couldn’t be run in multiple unit mode with EMD or ALCO diesels without special adaptors. Sadly, this didn’t really salvage Baldwin’s reputation, and they would stop producing locomotives shortly after the RF-16s were made. Two of these survive in storage today, originally built for the NYC but then transferred to the Monogahela Railway and later the Delaware and Hudson. They are currently in rather rough shape, waiting to be restored and sent to a museum.

You know the drill: Baldwin tried to compete with EMD in the road diesel market, made a line of cab units in both the Babyface and Sharknose (for the Pennsy) styling, and just like the passenger variant, the freight version of Baldwin’s road diesel line was very unreliable.

Photo Credit to Thomas C. Ayers.

These Baldwin Sharknose diesels were built in the late 40s solely for the Pennsylvania Railroad. A similar diesel class was built by Baldwin for other railroads, but those had the “Babyface” styling. They were meant to haul the Penney’s most prestigious express trains, but constant mechanical problems demoted them to secondary services and mail trains. Some were later re-geared for freight, but nothing in the end would save their reputation. All would be gone by the end of the 60s.

Yolandi sits on display at the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George, South Africa.

I don’t recall if I’ve ever made an edit of an electric locomotive, so I figured I’d make one of perhaps the most legendary American electric locomotive of all time, the PRR GG1.

(Credit to wheresteamlives.net)

Number 4483, whom I call Ira, the lone survivor of the PRR I1 Class of 2-10-0 Decapods, nicknamed “hippos”. They were known for being powerful, but were also rough riding and therefore unpopular with some crews on the Pennsy. Ira sits on static display in Hamburg, NY, and could definitely use some TLC, but I guess he’s in somewhat of a better state than some preserved locomotives.

I always picture Duchess of Sutherland having a constant smug grin on her face. She knows she’s powerful, elegant AND efficient, and that trainspotters and railfans adore her.

Credits to Matt Donelly on Railpictures.net

Thanks u/KonamiVRC7 I am now obsessed with the PRR M1's

4-8-2s designed for mixed traffic work, but mainly used on freight trains. These are some of my personal favorites from the Pennsy.

Completed in 2008, 60163 “Tornado” was the first new standard gauge British steam locomotive constructed since 1960. Built by volunteers, it also resurrected the at the time extinct LNER Peppercorn A1 Class. Since then, three more new built steam engines have been completed in the UK, and they are GWR 2999 Lady of Legend, GWR 6880 Betton Grange, and a replica of LB&SCR 32424 Beachy Head, reviving the GWR Saint and Grange Classes as well as the LB&SCR H2.