In response to reh321's Burlington post I will post some pictures I took a little while back at the Chicago Museum which maybe of interest.
I can't put my finger on it but this particular train looks typically American design to me.


I get the same feeling when I look at Japanese trains which to me just look so typically Japanese. This stood out to me very much when I visited the Railway Museum in Saitama located some 30km north of Tokyo. I think even the modern Shinkansens are just so Japanese.

Another example, in Heroshima one can still see some old Trams running which are kept in good repair. One photo included here, and again looking very Japanese, don't you think ? (Aircons retro fitted on its roof.)

Cheers

[reh321]

I'm guessing that there were at least three things at play here:

(1) cultural - as you speculate, different traditions lead to different decisions being made

(2) technology - the Japanese equipment you show are all electric-powered if I recall correctly, while the Zephyrs were diesel-powered. The third photo in your collection is a freight locomotive, kind of contemporaneous to
South Shore #701 - PentaxForums.com
and those two look more similar to each other than to any of the others in your collection

(3) time - the Pioneer Zephyr was built in 1933, at a time when the Burlington was trying to put some life into their passenger operation, so they wanted something that would get attention. It did. This was a time of art deco and "streamline moderne", and that influenced its design. As time went on, operation of these trains led to lessons which influenced later designs. I can't find my photo right now, but the "zephyr" style of locomotive was followed by the "E-3" of 1940; the most noticeable change is that the locomotive is higher, raising the crew to a higher position so they were less vulnerable during collisions.

[Schraubstock]

Thanks for sharing you knowledge.
For you a bonus photo from the Railway Museum in Saitama Japan. (I bet you would enjoy visiting.) This is an H.K. Porter 369 of 1880.

When in the early 1870s Japanese Shogunate imposed isolation ended, English, German and American steam locomotives were the first imports. Later these locomotives were copied and build locally by the Japanese after they were trained by foreign engineers.

[Janse]

A very intersting series!

[Schraubstock]

A very intersting series!

I think every body likes trains, don't they.

Thanks

[SSGGeezer]

Great series, Trains are always interesting subjects to photograph, and not always easy! Thanks Schraubstock.

[Schraubstock]

subjects to photograph, and not always easy!

Thanks I appreciate it.

Pentax does all the work, I just turn the wheels and push the knobs.

[Photogoof]

Train travel must have been such fun, decades ago.

[Schraubstock]

Train travel must have been such fun, decades ago.

Ha, that is a romantic view.

I experienced train travel of yesteryear not so long ago when I travelled from Hanoi to Lao Cai with a 35km onward transfer by bus to Sapa (Sapa has no train station).

The train was old, I think it was left over from the days when Vietnam was under French control. The trip progressed at a snail's pace with frequent stops on the way and took 8 hrs for the approx. 270km. Compare this to roughly the same distance from Berlin to Hamburg which on the ICE (Intercity Express) takes 1:45 hrs.

But I agree, old trains are fun as long as you don't need to travel on them for serious business.

Cheers
and thanks for commenting

[Photogoof]

Ha, that is a romantic view.

I experienced train travel of yesteryear not so long ago when I travelled from Hanoi to Lao Cai with a 35km onward transfer by bus to Sapa (Sapa has no train station).

The train was old, I think it was left over from the days when Vietnam was under French control. The trip progressed at a snail's pace with frequent stops on the way and took 8 hrs for the approx. 270km. Compare this to roughly the same distance from Berlin to Hamburg which on the ICE (Intercity Express) takes 1:45 hrs.

But I agree, old trains are fun as long as you don't need to travel on them for serious business.

Cheers
and thanks for commenting

I'm thinking of those big trains of the 1950s, with the large cars and picture windows. Then there are the earlier trains, where you could go to the caboose and see where you'd been. It looks like a blast, to me.