#3137 and #3125 also in view

NG503045

#3137 and #3125 also in view

Steam Locomotive

Whether or not a person is readily fascinated by the steam locomotive, he is more apt to be impressed by a cluster of these dirty brutes around a roundhouse than by an equal number of diesels at a service station. Indeed, he is compelled to be impressed, or perhaps the word should be “awed", Two senses are primarily involved - those of sight and sound (reactions to the various odors are too individualistic to make smell a measuring factor). Smoke and steam vapor give away a steam terminal before it is actually encountered - first an amalgamous pall, then, from closer up, a multitude of separate plumes contributing to the entirety. This initial stage of impression is of course lacking in the case of a diesel terminal. So much for sight, which is vital, and on to sound, which is crucial. The varied noises - roars, hisses, clanks, screeches, rattles, crashes, ad infinitum - of congregated steam are not just loud, nor just irritatingly and aggressively loud, but, if you will, seemingly deliberate attempts to deafen all comers. contrast the sounds of many diesel units, which are generally of a suppressed nature, almost to the point of being apologetic. A whistle blast is lost in the variegated babel of the steam symphony, but the blare of a horn is a sharp punctuation mark in the monotony of the dissel chant. The inspiration for this somewhat futile theorizing is the Shelby Street scene above, in which the lineup consists of the 2969, the 3137, and the 3125.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

Winter, 1955

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4/8/2002

411

L-2d,L-4b

#2969,#3137,#3125

Alco-Schen,Lima

Shelby St., Indianapolis, IN

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