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Ugliest Trains?


Guest keio6000

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Not sure if this certifies as a train, but it is certainly a rail vehicle. It's an Ikarus 60 bus body mounted on railway trucks, with a MiG-15 jet fighter engine fitted to serve as snowblower. Obviously a Soviet invention.

 

https://twitter.com/sovietsoreyuke/status/856810164967440384

 

 

Another example of soviet engineering:

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C67VOWjVAAAbbYT.jpg:large

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Back to Japan:

 

Toyko Monorail 100 series:

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BeV2mJlCYAAU02y.jpg

 

http://blog-imgs-50.fc2.com/n/i/g/nighttrain999/20130507060731129.jpg

 

And Shonan Monorail 300 series:

 

http://marshland.uunyan.com/tetsu/tokaido/10shounan/shou2002.jpg

 

Also, KiHa 22 from Abukuma Express railway are terrible.

 

http://marshland.uunyan.com/tetsu/hakubutsu/img/13abukuma01.jpg

 

All the mages from this website:

http://marshland.uunyan.com/index.html

Edited by Socimi
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Also this (unknown 3rd sectror railway) colour scheme is terrible.

 

http://marshland.uunyan.com/tetsu/hakubutsu/img/13abukuma01.jpg

The URL says 'Abukuma', which is obviously a reference to Abukuma Express. This looks like it is a KiHa 22 DMU unit from that company.

 

The third URL also doesn't work. Maybe next time you can link to the blog post or website page where you found the images instead? That way it's much easier to find information and it's fair for the website owner as well.

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I think we haven't had the ICE's grandfather, DB BR 403 "Donald Duck", yet.

I know there are many people who absolutely hate its looks. I for one love it.

After being left to rot for 20 years one unit is currently being restored to serviceable condition.

 

 

 

I'm totally on the "love" side of that debate!

  • Like 1
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Not sure if this certifies as a train, but it is certainly a rail vehicle. It's an Ikarus 60 bus body mounted on railway trucks, with a MiG-15 jet fighter engine fitted to serve as snowblower. Obviously a Soviet invention.

 

https://twitter.com/sovietsoreyuke/status/856810164967440384

 

With every post to this thread since the Talgo I, I've thought, "what's the point, the answer to this question has been provided, and this thread is !@#$%^& complete, done, and finished."  Lo and behold, a worthy successor.

  • Like 3
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These two are ex-(East) Berlin U-Bahn G types originally sold to run on the Pyongyang Metro. Statistically there's a good chance I've travelled on some of the cars pictured. Just waiting for the next Shapeways free postage offer so I can acquire some bodyshells to attempt to bash a 4-car rake together (in original BVB livery, though I wonder if there are any enterprising modellers doing the North Korean scene?)

Edited by railsquid
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serotta1972

I kind of like those, I remember seeing one in a Lima catalogue I had in the 1980s. The N gauge Lima version pops up on Yahoo Japan every now and again and goes for silly prices, so it seems popular here.

 

 I was bidding on one of these but my max bid was beaten by $2.

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The last is a former Chinese DF3 loco built in the early 1950s. Three were sold to Vietnam after their retirement in the 1990s, but it's possible that some were also sold to NK (along with DF4s, DF5s and BJs ).

 

The first is probably assembled from scraps.

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The North Korean stuff, yeah, everyone's covered them. That's actually the first picture of a DF3 in the DPRK that I've seen, though I've heard the rumours for a while now. I've seen the first one before, too, and I agree at the guess that it's built from scraps, as it doesn't look like any of the types mass-produced by the Kim Chong-tae Electric Locomotive Works.

 

though I wonder if there are any enterprising modellers doing the North Korean scene?

 

I kinda dabble at it, though in TT, not N. In HO there's a fair selection of equipment you can use. Aside from Chinese passenger and freight cars, there are Chinese locomotives you can use (DF4 diesel, JF steamers, and I *think* there are models of the BJ and DF5 diesels available). There are plenty of M62 models in HO that just need repainting, and one could always kitbash one of those into one of the DPRK-made copies. The Czech T448 diesel is also an option. I don't know if there's a model of the Russian TEM1 available in HO, but I think you could kitbash one from an American RSD1? Other American locomotives you could use are Russian Decapods and USATC S160s.

 

Electrics would be more problematic, as the most ubiquitous type is a local design internally derived from the Czech E499.1, but there *are* a small number of Czech-made E499.0 still running around that could be modelled with a little bit of modification.

 

So it's not at all an impossible task, and there are loads of photos available online to help with putting together a relatively prototypical-looking scene.

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Looks like they also have a China Railways DF11 look-alike running around:

https://twitter.com/KPA_1953/status/779877383155306496

 

And this narrow gauge railway is rather cute, for North Korean norms that is:

https://twitter.com/KPA_1953/status/667004216955699200

 

That DF11 - I think it's a DF4D? They have a couple of those, and they did receive several CKD4s new - along with some other newer types for Dear Leader's trains (these have a separate depot at Ryongsong).

 

The NG train there is the Hamhung commuter train, and yeah I think it is pretty cute, too, by any standards! :)

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Electrics would be more problematic, as the most ubiquitous type is a local design internally derived from the Czech E499.1, but there *are* a small number of Czech-made E499.0 still running around that could be modelled with a little bit of modification.

 

In some cases a very little bit of modifications:

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CasvpZuVAAAnyRg.jpg

  • Like 1
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marknewton

It's not a Bugatti. It was a joint project of the LMS, Michelin and Armstrong Siddely.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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It's not a Bugatti. It was a joint project of the LMS, Michelin and Armstrong Siddely.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

I'm sure Socimi just wanted to point out that it's related to the SNCF Bugatti Railcar. With 8 rubber wheels.

  • Like 2
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VentureForth

I must agree that the original Talgo 1 Cascades are pretty ugly.  I'm not much in favor of most of Amtrak stock.  I think individually, they all look great.  But when they are raked together, the final consists look horrible, with no continuity.  For example, a typical long distance East Coast train like the Silver Meteor has a P42 Diesel engine South of Washington, DC where they convert from any of three or four electric motors.  Then comes a Viewliner-based baggage car, or if horribly old, a heritage baggage.  Then, depending on the time of the year, you have sleepers then the AmCans - the corrugated stainless airplane style round bodies.  They just don't mesh with the Viewliners well.

 

As far as Japanese trains go, my pick for ugliest is the old JNR 481-0 & 481-100 cab cars.  Ironic, as I just about love the rest of the 485 series.  Something about that 481... Looks like a tiger or something.  It's cool, but strange.  Therefore, ugly.

Edited by VentureForth
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I've just been in Poland for a few days and I found the PKP Series EN57AKM to be very offensive to the eye.

I love the original EN57 and EN71 EMUs and it makes me wonder if whoever came up with the modernised design seriously thought "Yup, great! That's how they should look!"

post-3895-0-06189600-1496315057_thumb.jpgpost-3895-0-44288400-1496315065_thumb.jpg

Original EN57 for comparison:

post-3895-0-07003200-1496315623_thumb.jpg

All photos by me

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