The Steamliners: Streamlined Steam Locomotives and the American Passenger Train

Rating:
Summary: Streamlined Steam in the Spotlight
Review: Quite possibly the definitive work on streamlined steam locomotives in North America, with a thorough text and scores of photographs, many never before published.

The early 1930s marked the beginning of the transition of America's railroads from steam to diesel propulsion. At the same time, the Depression-weary American public was embracing the clean, futuristic lines of Art Deco and Moderne design, thanks in large part to the efforts of industrial designers like Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Walter Dorwin Teague, and Otto Kuhler. The rise of the "streamlined" esthetic thus coincided with the apogee of American steam locomotive design. The streamlined steam locomotive was the evolutionary product of its times, eclipsed all too soon by the diesel-electric.

During this brief heyday, trains like New York Central's 20th Century Limited, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited, Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha, and Southern Pacific's Daylights became world-renowned "steamliners."

SteamLiners begins with a review of the designers and design movements that shaped the first decades of the 20th century in Europe and America, as well as a look at the earliest efforts at what came to be termed streamlining.

The book then examines, chronologically, the streamlined steam locomotive classes and key streamlined steam-powered passenger trains operated by U.S. and Canadian railroads.

Photography is almost exclusively black-and-white. Many of these images run full-page or larger, and all are crisply reproduced. Views range from railroad publicity shots and trackside vistas to the detailed "roster" angles and closeups prized by modelers. All but the most obscure classes of locomotive benefit from this varied photographic coverage. Where variations occurred within a class, or modifications were made over the years - as with the PRR T-1, for example - a series of comparative photos and informative captions sort everything out. Images are rounded out with a selection of mechanical diagrams, train floor plans, and rarely seen brochures.

Color content comes in the form of six reproduced paintings by two of America's foremost transportation artists, Michael Kotowski and the late Ted Rose.

Typography and layout are clean and uncluttered. The design gimmickry of so many similar books has, thankfully, been avoided in this attractive volume.

More than just a "railroad book," SteamLiners will be of interest to students of industrial design, railroad history, and Americana alike.

Rating:
Summary: Streamlined Steam in the Spotlight
Review: The author concentrates on steam streamline trains rather than the modern and efficient diesels that eventually replaced the great steamers of the Thirties and Forties. Streamline steam was an engine with a shroud to cover all the bits and pieces that made these huge units look rather ugly.

The railroads needed something to encourage passengers back onto trains, amazingly, between 1921 and 1933, passenger journeys declined by fifty-eight per cent. No doubt car ownership increased during this period though. Fortunately, for the railroads, a small group of industrial designers came to the rescue and designed not only the engine but the whole train and passengers were convinced. The author covers the work of Raymond Loewy, Otto Kuhler, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, Walter Dorwin Teague and others responsible for the stunning looking trains of the period. He has definitely put in a lot of research and the result is a very comprehensive study.

Unfortunately, though, I found the book extremely dull to look at. There is no design to the pages, no creative use of photos of these great looking trains. Except for eight pages of color at the back all the photos are in black and white and most annoying, plenty of repetition. For example, pages 112-113 have six photos of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Loewy designed T-1, page 79 has three of the Chicago & Northwestern's E4, one photo of each of these engines would have been enough. What makes it worse is that so many of the duplicate photos are only slightly different from each other. Perhaps someone thought why use one photo when three, four or five of the same engine can be used on the same spread! The small color section at the back has five rather mediocre paintings and two washed out color photos, a rather pointless section in my view. For a book that is full of detail and information why is there no index?

Most books about streamline trains tend to concentrate on diesels but have a look out for `The Streamline Era' by Robert Reed, very comprehensive on steamliners and it covers other streamlined transport.

Rating:
Summary: Right words, wrong look.
Review: The author concentrates on steam streamline trains rather than the modern and efficient diesels that eventually replaced the great steamers of the Thirties and Forties. Streamline steam was an engine with a shroud to cover all the bits and pieces that made these huge units look rather ugly.

The railroads needed something to encourage passengers back onto trains, amazingly, between 1921 and 1933, passenger journeys declined by fifty-eight per cent. No doubt car ownership increased during this period though. Fortunately, for the railroads, a small group of industrial designers came to the rescue and designed not only the engine but the whole train and passengers were convinced. The author covers the work of Raymond Loewy, Otto Kuhler, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, Walter Dorwin Teague and others responsible for the stunning looking trains of the period. He has definitely put in a lot of research and the result is a very comprehensive study.

Unfortunately, though, I found the book extremely dull to look at. There is no design to the pages, no creative use of photos of these great looking trains. Except for eight pages of color at the back all the photos are in black and white and most annoying, plenty of repetition. For example, pages 112-113 have six photos of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Loewy designed T-1, page 79 has three of the Chicago & Northwestern's E4, one photo of each of these engines would have been enough. What makes it worse is that so many of the duplicate photos are only slightly different from each other. The small color section at the back has five rather mediocre paintings and two washed out color photos, a rather pointless section in my view. For a book that is full of detail and information why is there no index?

Most books about streamline trains tend to concentrate on diesels but have a look out for 'The Streamline Era' by Robert Reed, very comprehensive on trains and it covers other streamlined transport.