Nostalgia & History > WARNING; A "UGLY" Locomotive.

I find it funny how the lack of the overhanging "brow" with the number boards and headlights above the windows makes a locomotive "ugly", but a locomotive with that feature makes it looks "great". I guess it falls into expectations and what we expect a locomotive to look like. Although with the middle windows being higher than those to either side and a chopper nose that is a bit "taller" than a typical low nose doesn't improve the looks either. The CLC GP7 here was never a Wild Mary unit, but a former NKP that kept it's high nose as a Chehalis Western locomotive, but lost it when it came to the Columbia & Cowlitz in a home made nose job.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Looks like it was assembled from the spare parts drawer. 

It doesn't look like visibility was improved all that much. Why go through all of that time and expense for that end result?

I think when the Western Maryland chopped their geeps, they had a bigger windshield.

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Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Obviously worked well enough as the loco is still in service today in that configuration as RSSX #116 in the Rio Tinto smelter near Magna, Utah.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

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Yep, UGLY , and I agree with 'irhoghead'. It does not look like much gained for forward visibility or cost viability.   Maybe the crews were deficient in Vitamin D and needed a little more sun.
 light.   Many steam engines were also either pretty, or not.

Craig Hanson
Vay, Idaho

Really strong image, whatever one thinks of the chop nose job (yeah, it is a little tall).

Maybe her appearance presented her being a "helper" and the last thing on the tailend!