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Ugliest Trains?

Guest keio6000

By Guest keio6000
in Japan Rail: News & General Discussion

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Kabutoni

Kabutoni

Posted
Posted

The French loco is actually pretty good looking IMO. The Argentinian one not so much though. The exterior design however does fit its engineering. A bit bizarre.

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Yavianice

Yavianice

Posted
Posted

As this topic apparently moved on to also include foreign entries, I submit the ugliest train that operated in my country: The high speed Fyra (V250)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V250_(train)

 

Its launch was postponed for years. Because the high speed line was extremely expensive to build, the custom train was built for a cheap price, and basically fell apart during trial runs/scheduled runs. After only operating for a month or so, they were pulled from service and are now in 'limbo' while the court case with the constructor is running. It is safe to say that this is the most hated train of my country in recent years, symbolising the ineptness of the two different national railway companies and two different nations to work together and get a proper train connection up and running. Besides that, I think it is quite ugly in my opinion.

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Ewan.in.gz

Ewan.in.gz

Posted
Posted

The Argentine one looks like some strange early American experiment.... Dieselpunk, anyone? The French one is quite stylish, and reminds me of the British art deco Great Western Railway "Flying Banana" railcars!

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marknewton

marknewton

Posted
Posted

As this topic apparently moved on to also include foreign entries, I submit the ugliest train that operated in my country: The high speed Fyra (V250)...I think it is quite ugly in my opinion.

Ugly barely begins to describe it. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during the meetings that led to this "design" being approved.

 

Were they all pissed*, or high on powerful stimulants ?

 

This thing's a good argument against ever letting automotive people anywhere near the design of rail vehicles.

 

*Australian usage, meaning drunk.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Ewan.in.gz

Ewan.in.gz

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ugly barely begins to describe it. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during the meetings that led to this "design" being approved.

 

Were they all pissed*, or high on powerful stimulants ?

 

This thing's a good argument against ever letting automotive people anywhere near the design of rail vehicles.

 

*Australian usage, meaning drunk.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

Wait, AnsaldoBreda made cars? Judging by the awful problems their trains had in the last few years, I wouldn't want to buy a car from them either!

 

Ewan

Edited by Ewan.in.gz
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Suica

Suica

Posted
Posted

Wait, AnsaldoBreda made cars? Judging by the awful problems their trains had in the last few years, I wouldn't want to buy a car from them either!

 

Ewan

 

Don't worry. They're Hitachi Rail Italy now, so all is well, right?

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railsquid

railsquid

Posted
Posted

As this topic apparently moved on to also include foreign entries, I submit the ugliest train that operated in my country: The high speed Fyra (V250)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V250_(train)

 

Its launch was postponed for years. Because the high speed line was extremely expensive to build, the custom train was built for a cheap price, and basically fell apart during trial runs/scheduled runs. After only operating for a month or so, they were pulled from service and are now in 'limbo' while the court case with the constructor is running. It is safe to say that this is the most hated train of my country in recent years, symbolising the ineptness of the two different national railway companies and two different nations to work together and get a proper train connection up and running. Besides that, I think it is quite ugly in my opinion.

 

It looks like it was inspired by a Fiat Multipla.

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kvp

kvp

Posted
Posted

For the fyra, it looks like they had a standard blunt commuter nose and tried to bolt on (also literally) a highish speed looking nose without changing the windshield position. If you look at the nose attachement points, it looks like the original design had the same nose overhang as the rest of the cars, then this extra piece was added, along with a coupler extension rod and pretty much nothing else. Wouldn't be surprised if the original front plating was still under there somewhere.

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marknewton

marknewton

Posted
Posted

Wait, AnsaldoBreda made cars? Judging by the awful problems their trains had in the last few years, I wouldn't want to buy a car from them either!Ewan

Ansaldo Breda built the things, but according to the Wikipedia page this mob was responsible for the "design" - which I take to mean the styling:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pininfarina

 

Looking at some of their other rail vehicle projects, I can only assume that their design brief always includes the word "fugly".

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Yavianice

Yavianice

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ansaldo Breda built the things ...

 

Looking at some of their other rail vehicle projects, I can only assume that their design brief always includes the word "fugly".

Ugly and utterly useless. Before the FYRA was delivered to The Netherlands, AnsaldoBreda built the diesel IC-4 for Denmark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC4, which was ugly too and plagued by faults which rendered them useless and/or dangerous. Ansaldo Breda eventually gave up fixing them and told the Danish to just figure it out themselves, which they couldn't. The IC-4 trains were eventually withdrawn from intercity service because of the electrical faults, the most important being that the 4-sets could not be coupled together to make a train long enough to be usable. Which is the reason the Diesel ICE series now run between Denmark and Germany by car ferry at Puttgarden (I think a very nice sight to behold). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQWEk2r3ovE

 

Funny factoid: An IC-4 train set that was built by Ansaldo Breda for the Danish national railways went 'missing' when it was being delivered. A journalist found the IC-4 train set in post 'arab spring' Libya. http://imgur.com/a/VPkgh

Edited by Yavianice
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HantuBlauLOL

HantuBlauLOL

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ugly and utterly useless. Before the FYRA was delivered to The Netherlands, AnsaldoBreda built the diesel IC-4 for Denmark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC4, which was ugly too and plagued by faults which rendered them useless and/or dangerous. Ansaldo Breda eventually gave up fixing them and told the Danish to just figure it out themselves, which they couldn't. The IC-4 trains were eventually withdrawn from intercity service because of the electrical faults, the most important being that the 4-sets could not be coupled together to make a train long enough to be usable. Which is the reason the Diesel ICE series now run between Denmark and Germany by car ferry at Puttgarden (I think a very nice sight to behold).

 

Funny factoid: An IC-4 train set that was built by Ansaldo Breda for the Danish national railways went 'missing' when it was being delivered. A journalist found the IC-4 train set in post 'arab spring' Libya. http://imgur.com/a/VPkgh

imho IC4 looks way better than IC3..

 

 

btw

 

somebody messed up the U18C, causing it to loss one of it's cab controller. ended up shortening the short hood even more to make a clearer vision for signals from the other side.

 

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2666/4054633878_591b0a9ef2_o_d.jpg

 

 

also a gameboy EMU

 

but personally i liked this one.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JYcUg2ruO-A/VVGzb9CGPRI/AAAAAAAAD60/RtMfKV8Bacs/s1600/Holec-Manggarai.jpg

Edited by cteno4
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Socimi

Socimi

Posted
Posted

 

Funny fact: An IC-4 train set that was built by Ansaldo Breda for the Danish national railways went 'missing' when it was being delivered. A journalist found the IC-4 train set in post 'arab spring' Libya. http://imgur.com/a/VPkgh

 

Ahh, the missing IC4...

 

Rumors state that this was a present from the then P.M. Silvio Berlusconi to Gheddaffi.

Ironically it has nowhere to run, since Lybia has NO rail infrastructure.

 

More:

 

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/44127207

 

http://cphpost.dk/news/international/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi.html

 

http://ekstrabladet.dk/flash/filmogtv/tv/article4737291.ece

 

Back to general Ansaldobreda, it's known to have produced lots of crappy trains, such as the v250, the IC4, the Goteborg Sirio Tram, MBTA Type 8 LRV... you name it.

 

Ansaldboreda used to make good and reliable trains until the late 1990s but evrything changed when The Fire Nation Finmeccanica attacked.

 

Finmeccanica is a controverisal state-owned enterpise that manages or managed many italian industries, including Ansaldoreda (now Hitachi), Augusta-Westland (helicopters) , Alfa Romeo , OTO Melara, Aermacchi (planes) etc...

Due to the bad managment the products' quality dropped in the early 2000s, giving way to the reliability issues that we all know.

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Ewan.in.gz

Ewan.in.gz

Posted
Posted

A couple of years ago I was traveling in Athens with my parents.... It was really weird to see trams with the Pinninfarina logo plastered all over them.... But having since found that the Athens trams were built by AnsaldoBreda, I am glad we never managed to ride on the things!

 

Ewan

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Takahama Trainwatcher

Takahama Trainwatcher

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

Back to general Ansaldobreda, it's known to have produced lots of crappy trains, such as the v250, the IC4, the Goteborg Sirio Tram, MBTA Type 8 LRV... you name it.

 

Ansaldboreda used to make good and reliable trains until the late 1990s but evrything changed when The Fire Nation Finmeccanica attacked.

 

Finmeccanica is a controverisal state-owned enterpise that manages or managed many italian industries, including Ansaldoreda (now Hitachi), Augusta-Westland (helicopters) , Alfa Romeo , OTO Melara, Aermacchi (planes) etc...

Due to the bad managment the products' quality dropped in the early 2000s, giving way to the reliability issues that we all know.

 

If their (Finmeccanica-managed) trains are dropping bits off, how scary would it be to ride in one of their helicopters if they're still building them? :wacko:

Edited by Takahama Trainwatcher
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kvp

kvp

Posted
Posted

Actually, Ansaldo supplied the traction systems in 1991 for some hungarian trains and the cardan shafts had the tendency to fall apart and fly into the car above them through the floor. Luckily the cars had baggage compartements above the motors, so it was only one near miss with a conductor (a cardan shaft and half of a motor flew past him and exited through the roof) before the construction got reinforced. (thicker cardans and a steel plate above them) The Finmeccanica takeover was two years later, so imho it was not a cause, but a result of an already problematic company.

 

ps: These old trains are still in service, but has the most patched up fleet, with at least 4 different air compressor types, three different transformers and the last analogic traction computers made in hungary. (imagine a stored program computer built from discrete parts and running with analog signals and now try to calibrate it) At least, it's a mix and match system, so a commuter power car could run with an ic set or in any other mix. (and the trailers are also loco haulable as a last resort)

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Socimi

Socimi

Posted
Posted (edited)

Back to Japan for a while:

 

Prototype of the 10 series of the Osaka Municipal Subway.

 

http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/_images/blog/_1ae/railway583/6645776.jpg

 

 

JR East Hachioji Training Center 105 series (now replaced with a 209)

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Series_105_of_JR_East_Hachi%C5%8Dji_Training_Center.jpg/200px-Series_105_of_JR_East_Hachi%C5%8Dji_Training_Center.jpg

Edited by cteno4
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Socimi

Socimi

Posted
Posted (edited)

How about Hitler's never-realized (ultra) broad-gauge railway, a.k.a. the "Breitspurbahn" ?

 

https://content.onliner.by/news/2016/04/default/483ff4abc613454bb89e7edfdb8730f7.jpg

 

http://mtdata.ru/u23/photo42B5/20112592361-0/original.jpg

 

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/matsam/17556459/4043086/4043086_original.jpg

 

Or this retro-futuristic "Monorail" ?

 

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/matsam/17556459/4045835/4045835_original.jpg

 

Or this 1950s-futuristic "radio-tube (???) train" ?

 

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/matsam/17556459/4047592/4047592_original.jpg

Edited by cteno4
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kvp

kvp

Posted
Posted

Talking of (imaginary) monorails, there's always the Streamline Express of 1935.

(the full movie is available on You Tube, if anyone wants to see it)

That's a funny one. Looks way cooler than some of the tube based high speed ideas that surfaced lately. Actually imho supertrain tried to make a series out of the same concept.

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