Designer diesels by Keith Wills
s diesels became more numer- ous after World War II, steam locomotive builders realized they had to start producing them if they were to survive. Like 1930’s rail- roads, which relied on industrial de- signers such as Otto Kuhler, Raymond Loewy and Henry Dreyfus to stream- line trains, so builders called on them to create new diesel forms, the early ones being utilitarian-looking boxcabs. Raymond Loewy came into his own in the 1930’s, successfully styling Hup- mobile and Studebakers, plus many consumer products. He did consider- able work for the Pennsylvania Rail- road with its K-4 Pacific, S-1, T-1, Q-1 and Q-2 Duplexes, plus refining the GG-1. Less familiar were commissions from Baldwin and Fairbanks-Morse. Baldwin’s 1946 “Babyface” A1A-A1A carbodies were custom made for each road. Then, in 1948 the Pennsy took possession of 18 Loewy-Baldwin A1A- A1A’s with heavy looking shark noses. By 1949-1950, he refined his concept: the B-B truck RF-16. The shark nose and canted upper body panels were a complete break from EMD’s styling. Opinions varied on the look until one compares it with PRR’s T-1, a similar idea carried over from the steamer to diesel. Mantua was one of the first, 1953, to produce it in HO. Max Gray imported a brass O scale A-B-A RF-16 in 1957, and three decades later Williams imported one in tinplate. Loewy worked for Fairbanks-Morse on various yard and road diesels. In 1944 he styled the H-10-44 with a slightly sloped nose and short over- hang behind the cab (reminiscent of a steam locomotive cab roof?), deleted in later editions. Soft edges remained on it and the H-20-44. An HO H-10-44 was made by Sampson circa 1950, and John English, circa 1953. In 1947, he introduced half-round cab windows to the H-20-44, a feature found on PRR K-4, S-1, T-1, Q-1 and Q-2 steamers. It can be best seen on page FM-339 in The Second Diesel Spotters Guide, with half round windows, sculpted head- light housing and softened edges. Bald- win Model Locomotive Works and Cen- tral Locomotive Works made O scale brass kits circa 1950. They were prosa- ic, hard working diesels. The subtle fi- nessing Loewy designed into them was more than likely to convince F-M man-
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agement of his design ideas than the men working them. Early,
1945-1949, F-M Erie-built
BALDWIN O SCALE FM H-20-44 MANTUA/TYCO HO BALDWIN RF-16
LOEWY A-1-A-A-1-A CONCEPT AND RIVAROSSI HO C-LINER
A1A-A1A units were followed in 1950- 1954 by shorter B-B truck locomotives and the C-Liners of 1954-55, five-axle B-A1A engines. At first Erie’s had small, square, squint-eyed cab wind- shields which gave them a boxy look, but from the 1947 fifteenth unit on they received rounded contours which softened their appearance.
Loewy’s preliminary renderings for an A1A-
A1A unit reveals a similar rectangular windshield treatment on the first pro- duction models. We can appreciate where concept rendering and manufac- turing realities parted company. One could say they were conserva- tive variations on GM’s cab units be- cause management was perhaps not as forward looking to accept something as bold as Baldwin’s RF-16. Plastic B-B
NOVEMBER 2012
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