Yeah, that ought to work!

[p51]

It is UIC class 2′C h4 (Whyte class 4-6-0) and it ran in France as an experiment.

Reference: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/peclegg/sncf ... 03_10.html

Thanks. I found it funny that the streamlining apparently slowed it down!

[rogruth]

So a fairly nice looking loco was uglied up to no avail.

[webenda]

Wasn't to no avail, André Huet learned what did not work from that design. He modified the design to protect the high pressure area from cross winds and found success at last.

Reference: http://www.12-ladouce.com/en/the-12004.html

[rogruth]

Still ugly.

[webenda]

Still ugly.

Anyone else have a opinion of the appearance of La Douce 12.004?

La Douce 12.004.jpg (109.48 KiB) Viewed 6936 times

[p51]

Anyone else have a opinion of the appearance of La Douce 12.004?

I have a soft spot for European railroads, as I was able to spent a month in the Netherlands when I was going through art school in the late 80s. Haven't been back since, but I wanna go back and hit some RR museums there again.
So, I must admit I like the looks of this. It's fragile, yet beefy at the same time, just like the look of a lot of European power.
This loco was the inspiration for an interesting graphic novel: http://trazosenelbloc.blogspot.com/2012/09/critica-la-douce-de-francois-schuiten.html

[webenda]

Thank you for the link Lee. I have never seen an augmented comic before. Might just be worth 18 Euros to see how it works.

12 LA DOUCE.jpg (315.68 KiB) Viewed 6913 times

In the image above we see La Douce 12.004, Léon Van Vel and the young vagabond girl caught stealing scrap metal from the railroad whom Van Vel saves and who then accompanies him on his journey to save the locomotive. (Shades of Dr. Who!)

[MurphOnMillerAve]

With the babe atop, the whole scenario seems so obviously phallic, but the guy at the track in front seems counter-intuitive to the point.

In both photos of the locomotive, I get the sense of a fist being rammed at the wind. Looks good, to me.

[webenda]

the guy at the track in front seems counter-intuitive to the point.

The old man, Van Vel, is like old Mordecai, who took the orphan Esther under his wing.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

the guy at the track in front seems counter-intuitive to the point.

The old man, Van Vel, is like old Mordecai, who took the orphan Esther under his wing.

What a generous soul... ...and their choice of symbolism is particularly poignant then, too, huh.
Life can be cute.

[webenda]

...the whole scenario seems so obviously phallic...

Not really.

“A locomotive is the nearest thing to a living being, all machines are she’s.”
--Marcello ‘Jintyman’ Gabrielli

Exception was Union Pacific's "Big Boy."

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...the whole scenario seems so obviously phallic...

Not really.

“A locomotive is the nearest thing to a living being, all machines are she’s.”
--Marcello ‘Jintyman’ Gabrielli

Exception was Union Pacific's "Big Boy."

OK. Good enough for me. You convinced me.

However, being the open-minded scholar that
we all know you to be, you may want to consider the following:
"Any object, as a cigar or skyscraper , that may broadly resemble or represent the penis, especially such an object THAT SYMBOLIZES POWER, as an automobile." (Dictionary.com)

[p51]

That 'enhanced' thing isn't clear to me, it's a video of some type. No way the book comes like that.
I have ordered a German copy of the book from Amazon as I couldn't find an English language version at any price (I took German in college and it's rusty, but I have a better go at that than any other language it's been printed in). There's some truly amazing stuff routinely coming out of Europe that even comic books fans in the US have no idea of.

[webenda]

Do you see it now?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

However, being the open-minded scholar that
we all know you to be, you may want to consider the following:
"Any object, as a cigar or skyscraper , that may broadly resemble or represent the penis, especially such an object THAT SYMBOLIZES POWER, as an automobile." (Dictionary.com)

Apparently you still don't see it Murph.
La Douce does not mean "hard," it means, "Soft" or "The Sweet."
Look at how the young woman is sitting. What soft part of the female anatomy would your eyes be drawn to if you moved in front of the engine?
Now look at the nose of the engine. Do you see it now?

I had a reply for you, had it all typed-out here and ready; then, I decided it was better left unsaid. Deleted it. You win.