Cool Train: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta10ehf1)
m (update links) |
(Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v2.0beta10ehf1)) |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"I love this guy! He's like a satanic [[Thomas the Tank Engine]]!"''|'''[[The Spoony Experiment]]''', on [[Afterlife Express|Doomtrain]] in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''}}
We have [[Cool Car
Well, lots of these are actually only Cool
Primarily a feature of [[Steampunk]] settings, the
[[Afterlife Express
Not to be confused with [[Gears of War|The Cole Train]]. Compare [[Steam Never Dies]].
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* A series of Coors Light ads feature a refrigerated train filled with chilled Coors Light beer to relieve the long hot day. American modeler MTH Trains has a replica train set on sale, sponsored by Coors Light.
Line 23 ⟶ 22:
* ''[[One Piece]]'' has an example in the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc, with [http://www.mangareader.net/103-2429-10/one-piece/chapter-322.html "Puffing Tom"], a train that runs on [[Rule of Cool|a track floating on the sea]] from island to island. It gets better. They eventually introduce the even more badass prototype with no brakes known as Rocket Man, which has a [[Rule of Cool|SHARK FACE]] painted on the front (see it [http://www.mangareader.net/103-2472-10/one-piece/chapter-365.html here])
** They have now built a second one called the [http://www.mangareader.net/one-piece/656 Puffing Ice].
* ''[[Galaxy Express 999]]'', described as the love child of a
** ''[[The Galaxy Railways]]'', which is part of the ''[[Galaxy Express 999]]'' universe, is all about Cool Space Trains.
** ''[[Doraemon]]'' would [[Shout-Out|pay homage]] to this in a chapter where Nobita gets his hands on the ticket to the last running of a galaxy-spanning train that has been made obsolete by that world's [[Teleporters and Transporters|Magic Door]].** Kenji Miyazawa wrote a book called "Night on the Galatic Railroad" which also involved a "cool train" of sorts. In fact, the original Japanese title ("Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru") was the inspiration behind the Japanese title of [[Leiji Matsumoto]]'s manga ("Ginga Tetsudou 999")
* ''[[The Brave Express Might Gaine]]''
** Their ultimate finisher move, Joint Dragon Fire, literally had the opponent ''[[Finishing Move|getting run over by the whole line of them, linked together,]]'' '''''[[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|WHILE THEY WERE ENGULFED IN A DRAGON-SHAPED FIREBALL.]]''''' If '''that''' ain't a Cool Train, I don't know what is.
** Later, [[GaoGaiGar|LinerGao]], modeled after a (then) cutting-edge Shinkansen bullet train, and succeeded in ''FINAL'' by a space shuttle for some reason.
Line 44 ⟶ 43:
* In the ''Heart of Steel'' series by IDW, set in the late 19th century, most of the Transformers transformed into these. The mack-daddy of these was the combined thing made of the three Insecticons, which had a gun turret on top, pneumatic bumpers on the back to derail pursuers, and giant evil jaws on the front. Up to eleven!
** And in the main series, there's Astrotrain, who turns into a locomotive and a space shuttle, as well as not one, not two but ''three'' train [[Combining Mecha]] teams (Raiden, Sixliner & Rail Racer/JRX).
** In the toy line there was a little known train playset that had an engine that turned into a jet, one car that turned into a mobile scout station, and another that carried a big weapon. The same set was rebranded as [[G.I. Joe]], [[
* ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' Vol 2 has a Secret Black Government Train. Its engine number is .007, which isn't a reference to [[James Bond|Campion Bond's family]], but to Kipling (see below).
* [[Truth in Television|Alexander III's Imperial Train]], from ''[[Assassin's Creed:
* [[Thomas Fay Syndicate]]'s comic [http://trainsworld.deviantart.com A Train's World] has cool trains making up the [[New York Subway]], it's considered an "urban [[Thomas and Friends]]!"
Line 63 ⟶ 62:
* As in the original TV series, Jim West and Artemus Gordon travel in one named "The Wanderer" in ''[[Wild Wild West (film)|Wild Wild West]]''.
* The ending of ''[[Back to The Future]] III'', pictured above. "It runs on steam!".
* The missile train from ''[[
* ''[[The Titfield Thunderbolt]]'' is a film set on a British branch line features several cool trains. The first is a generally normal-looking tank engine, which later enjoys a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when the Vicar uses it to joust against a steamroller parked on a level crossing. The villains later derail this engine on the eve of an inspection by British Railways. Desperate for a new engine, the villagers raid the local museum and press the titular ''Thunderbolt'' into service for the inspection. It should be noted that ''Lion'', the engine that played ''Thunderbolt'', was well over 100 years old at the time the film was made.
* The 1985 movie prison-escape-movie ''[[Runaway Train (film)|Runaway Train]]'' featured four diesel locomotives coupled together to form the titular train, a black, ice-encrusted, dinosaur-like monster machine tearing through an Alaskan blizzard with no brakes. The fact that the train was intended solely as a moving stage for the drama occurring inside it was irrelevant to the fact that it possessed as much character as the Golden-Globe winning, Oscar-Nominated performances of actors Jon Voight and Eric Roberts, especially after it crashed through another train and became hideously deformed!!
Line 72 ⟶ 71:
* The New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited in ''[[North by Northwest]]''.
* ''Breakheart Pass''
* In [[Tron]] and [[Tron: Legacy]], the Solar Sailer. In the first one, it's used in a harrowing escape. In Legacy, it's a [[Art Evolution|whole lot spiffier]] a [[Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene|moment of solace]] for the three main heroes.
* In ''[[Priest (2011 film)|Priest]]'', [[Big Bad|Black Hat]] and his army of vampires travel through the wastelands outside the city in one of these.
* In the Russian film ''[[Krai]]'', the characters [[I Call It Vera|give their trains names]] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy6z4hBrrTQ race them].
Line 92 ⟶ 91:
* Rudyard Kipling's ''.007: The Story of an American Locomotive'' is possibly the first story about self-aware trains.
* Komarovsky rides around in a Russian armored train in ''[[Doctor Zhivago]]''.
* The [http://v3.cache1.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/13068807.jpg?redirect_counter=1 Hogwarts Express]{{Dead link}} from ''[[Harry Potter]]'' certainly counts.
* Tootle, the eponymous character from the ''Little Golden Books'' series is an aversion since the fact that he's a talking train is not really the point (the actual point is the story's "[[An Aesop|Aesop]]" which depending on how you look at it has gone somewhat [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|out of fashion]] over the decades (and I stress "somewhat").
** Although, "The Little Red Caboose" (which is part of a train) from the same series is a somewhat (I repeat: somewhat) more straight example (because of its [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]... well, by the series' standards anyway).
* The [[Harry Harrison]] science fiction novel ''Wheelworld'' features an [[Planet of Hats|agricultural colony]] on a planet with very extreme seasons where the entire population of the colony escapes the brutal summers twice each (longer-than-Earth-normal) year by picking up and moving from one of the planet's poles to the other. This is done by jacking up the colony's main buildings on wheels, forming them up behind the colony's nuclear power plants (now transformed into enormous locomotives) and making the 12,000-mile trek to the other side of the planet. No
* In Cherie Priest's third ''[[Clockwork Century]]'' novel, ''Dreadnought'', the main character must travel upon a Union war locomotive, the aforementioned Dreadnought. It is used by the Union to terrorize Confederate rail traffic, as most characters acknowledge its power. Basically, its a warship on rails, with heavily armored engine, and plenty of automated guns and a compliment of troops on board. Also, its involved in a cross country chase to Washington State, involving Confederate spies, Texas Rangers, bushwackers, mad scientists, and zombies.
* Iain M. Banks' ''[[The Culture/Consider Phlebas|Consider Phlebas]]'' has a Planet of the Dead, on which has ancient, subterranean three-story miles-long trains that were used as mobile command centers by the extinct builders. [[Stuff Blowing Up|Then one gets to moving...]]
Line 107 ⟶ 106:
** Similarly, ''[[Mahou Sentai Magiranger]]'' and its US counterpart, ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'', had Travelion/the Solar Streak Megazord.
** And again in ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger]]''/''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' with the Kyoretsu-Oh/PaleoMax Megazord. In a series with animal/vehicle hybrids, these are ''[[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs|dinosaur]]'' trains.
** The Gosei Snake in ''[[Tensou Sentai Goseiger]]'' also
* Every Rider in ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' has a train, capable of traveling through the timestream and armed to the teeth in order to fight monsters. This list includes the DenLiner (Den-O), ZeroLiner (Zeronos), GaohLiner/God's Train (Gaoh), Nega DenLiner (Nega Den-O), New DenLiner (New Den-O), and Yu-KiLiner/Ghost Train (Yu-Ki). Additionally, the terminal station which appears late in the series can transform into the gigantic KingLiner(Den-O Liner Form).
* Jim West and Artemus Gordon's rolling headquarters on ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]''. The Wanderer was played by the ''William Mason'', a perfectly preserved American classic.
* ''[[Supertrain]]'', a nuclear-powered bullet train that almost killed [[NBC]].
* The various trains [http://www.trains-worldexpresses.com/100/102x1_01m.jpg similar to this one] in the series 6 finale of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', "The Wedding of River Song". {{spoiler|It's an alternate timeline where everything is happening at once. London is riddled with them on elevated tracks, and one leads right into the Great Pyramids at Giza. It's subtly implied that in the alternate timeline, steam trains have taken the place of airplanes and move about as fast.}}
* The titular vehicle in the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode ''the Train Job'' qualified as a
== Music ==
* On the cover of Motörhead's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120619060952/http://metal-jerks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/motorhead_orgasmatron_1986.jpg Orgasmatron]'' album.
* The "midnight train" in Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".
* The "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" by Canadian folk artist [[Gordon Lightfoot]].
Line 126 ⟶ 125:
== Tabletop Games ==
* The large-scale ''[[Warhammer
* The Iron Horse in ''[[Rifts]] World Book 14: The New West'' is a fire-breathing [[Magitek]] train powered by captured greater demons.
* The [[Magitek|lightning rail]] from the ''[[
* The Crayon Rails game ''Iron Dragons''
* Solar Monorail Chirmirajen, from ''[[Exalted]]'', a train that can go anywhere in the world, but is primarily used to transport personnel and guests to and from the [[That's No Moon|Daystar...the setting's sun.]] It is also intelligent, having a rather impulsive and heroically inclined autopilot, and it is quite literally powered by hope (its fuel is hopeful prayers directed to Heaven in general or the sun in particular). The writers have described it as "[[Thomas the Tank Engine]], by way of [[Gamera]]."
Line 148 ⟶ 147:
* Hans Voralberg's train in the ''[[Syberia]]'' adventure game duology. The kicker? It's a freaking ''clockwork'' train and has to be rewound at each station to go further.
* ''[[Transarctica]]'', one of several monster steam trains connecting the future Ice Age world. You and your people your people live on board, carrying barracks, gardens, workshops, rocket platforms and anything else you need to bring back the sunshine. Described in more detail [[wikipedia:Transarctica|here]].
** In fact, the box art for the game was "borrowed" from ''another'' example; [https://web.archive.org/web/20131123044307/http://www.rodneymatthews.com/main.htm a painting by Rodney Matthews depicting an epic-looking giant train from another world.]
* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' and the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doomtrain]].
** ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' also had a train that acted as a courier of recently departed souls to the afterlife. An [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|Undead Train]]. {{spoiler|and apparently [[Revive Kills Zombie|Revive Kills Ghost Train]].}}
Line 156 ⟶ 155:
* ''[[Dark Cloud]] 2'' has two cool trains, the [[Zeerust]] time-travelling Ixion and the [[Steampunk]]-ish Blackstone One.
* The Starflight Express, from ''[[Dragon Quest IX]]''.
* The [[
* Most of the [[PS 1]] game ''Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn''(known as ''Chase the Express'' in Japan) takes place aboard a
* The Forever Train on Macbeth from ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]] 64'' is a GIANT futuristic example, which you destroy car-by-car until there's nothing left but the engine. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Which you then crash into a factory.]]
* ''Timesplitters: Future Perfect'' featured a level that takes place in a train based on the ''[[
* In the ''[[Transport Tycoon]]'' series (and in similar games such as ''Industry Giant''), for their balanced combination of speed and capacity, you can't beat trains (or monorails, or maglevs, depending on the year).
* The third [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario and Luigi]] game has a heavily armoured train with Fawful's mug on it, Bowser turns giant to face off with it while it tries to escape and lure him into a trap.
Line 170 ⟶ 169:
* Link and Zelda ride around in one in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks]]''.
** Which can ''ride underwater'' and is mounted with a huge cannon. If you use the cannon underwater, ''[[Rule of Cool|it fires torpedoes instead of cannonballs]]''.
** The [[Big Bad]] has one
* Charge Man's stage in ''[[Mega Man 5]]'', Slash Beast's in ''[[Mega Man X]] 4'', and the Neo Arcadian supply train in ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 1'' and ''2''.
** Charge Man ''himself'' is a
* Professor32w and his companions ride one, the Molentary Express, in ''Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box''. {{spoiler|It has a special car which changes tracks in transit, enabling them to visit a mass hallucination.}}
{{quote|'''Layton''': "Yes, I can certainly see why some people call the Molentary Express a cruise ship on rails."}}
Line 180 ⟶ 179:
* In ''The Last Crown'', Nigel comes to Saxton on an old-time steam locomotive, the Sleepwalker. {{spoiler|Considering how many other supernatural forces are manifested in Saxton, the Sleepwalker may well have been the ''ghost'' of a train.}}
* In ''Impossible Creatures'', you have a steampunk looking steam locomotive that can fly, which acts as your hub building during games, called a Lab.
* [[Reality Warper|Yukari Yakumo]] of ''[[Touhou Project]]'' has ''Obsolete Line "Trip to the Old Station"'' spellcard in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' and ''Hisoutensoku'' [[Fighting Game
* Sturmgeist's armored train in ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Frontline'', and the Greta railroad cannon in the original.
* [[Alice: Madness Returns]] has the Infernal Train, which is basically a Gothic cathedral on wheels.
* ''Battle Isle'' series has train units, including a ''huge'' cannon.
* ''[[Advanced Strategic Command]]'' started as a [[Fan Remake]] of ''Battle Isle'' series, so it has "rail vehicle" unit type. And once it's here, no reason not to use for native rulesets.
*
** Mk 3 has fewer, but it includes "DORA", whose cannon has greater punch than any not mounted on a battleship, and even than cruising missiles - but it lacks [[reaction fire]], any self-defence capability, or ammunition capacity beyond one shot (of course, it doesn't need to fetch it on its own - a cargo train does this better anyway).
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Shan Shan|The Adventures of Shan Shan]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120522183450/http://shanshan.upperrealms.com/view.php?pageid=033&chapterid=1 the up train really does go up.]
* ''[[Paranatural]]'' has [[Town with a Dark Secret|Mayview]] wrapped in an invisible magical barrier. The only way ghosts, spirits and Spectrals can pass through it is... [http://www.paranatural.net/index.php?id=227 the Ghost Train]!
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has the Corbettite Monk Order, devoted to keeping travel safe and making trains run on time. In the Europa where civilised territories are overrun by [[Mad Scientist]]s and squabbling aggressive nobles, and less civilised are overrun by runaway monsters (including a memorable examples such as a [[Spider Tank|huge, armoured mechanical crab armed with beam weapon]] early on, and a smaller, but no less memorable monster who survived decapitation a bit later). Luckily for them, more reasonable [[Mad Scientist]]s understand the importance of communications and donate... or even join. Thus their equipment is as good as it is fancy. The train we have seen close by "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140307 Wyrm of Limerick]". Aside of looking nice inside and outside, it can remove [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140620 snow avalanches] with fire, carries people and toys who deal with more complex problems... and have a curious evacuation system in case they ''cannot'' handle something.
Line 197 ⟶ 200:
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]] is made of this trope. Almost every character is a
* Dethklok's massive Dethtrain from ''[[Metalocalypse]]''.
* [[Transformers|Astrotrain]] transforms into a space shuttle... Oh wait, '''and a train'''!
Line 215 ⟶ 218:
** So much so that they've become ubiquitous in fiction set in that era, whether that fiction be realistic [[Steampunk|or fantastic]]. There's a good reason for that: back in the era of steam locomotives, there were precious few alternatives for long distance travel, the only other technological option being sea travel. As such, railroads became the lifeline of many nations, particularly the United States and Canada during the settlement of the West during the latter half of the 19th century. The Trans-Siberian railway is another example, since it connects Moscow to the Far East and forms a major component of a "land bridge" through Eurasia.
** YMMV on this. early experimental locomotives often couldn't haul them selves let alone a train and managed to look ugly while doing it.
* Armoured trains and railroad guns from the 19th century through to [[World War II]]. Although heck, any [[Steampunk|steam train]] counts as a
** There were also rail-mobile [[Mnogo Nukes]] in the USSR. The RT-23 Molodets/SS-24 "Scalpel" missile trains were disguised as freight trains, but the roofs could open up to allow the nuclear missiles to launch.
*** The [[Superior Firepower|LGM-118 Peacekeeper]] was also planned to be rail-based, but the [[Cold War]] ended before this could occur and the missiles were kept in silos.
Line 221 ⟶ 224:
** Overland train, he says. [http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=99860 Cower, cars, cower before your metal GOD!]
* There's something to be said for simply and [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|aptly]] calling the world's biggest steam engine [[wikipedia:Union Pacific Big Boy|Big Boy]].
* Irish Rail's [[wikipedia:CIE 071 Class|071 Class]]: Anybody who's ever had the experience of one of these bad boys thundering past, two-stroke diesel engine beating against the inside of your chest has got to admit, it's a really
* Potential runner for most famous train in Britain, if not the world: LNER Class A3 4472 '''Flying Scotsman'''.
* And for that matter, London and North Eastern Railway's [[wikipedia:LNER Class A4|A4 Class]], one of which holds the world record for fastest steam locomotive. Three examples of the class (out of 35 built between 1935 and 1938) ''still run'', albeit not in regular passenger service.
** The most famous example is probably the record holder itself, ''[[wikipedia:Mallard (train)|Mallard]]''. It now resides at the National Railway Museum in York alongside many other examples of this trope.
* Or the Japanese [[wikipedia:500 Series Shinkansen|500 Series Sinkansen]], seen in greater detail [https://web.archive.org/web/20150627071741/http://www.katomodels.com/product/nmi/s1_500kei_e.shtml here] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130509002322/http://www.katomodels.com/product/nmi/500kei_e.shtml here]. You can't tell me that train doesn't look faster than a Concorde, and of course, speed is cool.
** How could you forget about the [[wikipedia:Fastech 360|FastTech 360]], which looks like something right out of a classic Japanese science-fiction manga/anime, and the two production-version trainsets they inspired, the [[wikipedia:E5 Series Shinkansen|E5 Series]] and the [[wikipedia:E6 Series Shinkansen|E6 Series]]? The prototype version even had air brakes that pop out of the top of the train, looking like cat ears (but were sadly not incorporated into the production versions). For extra cool, check out the [[wikipedia:JR–Maglev|JR-Maglev MLX-01 MagLev Train]], and the future production version of it, the [[wikipedia:L0 Series Shinkansen|L0 Series]]. These are ''maglev'' trains, the prototype version is ''the'' record holder for the fastest train in the world (at 581
* The French TGV. Especially the [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/TGV-Duplex_Paris.jpg double deck ones]. The fastest wheeled trains in the world.
** Also, the high speed trains that were tested before the TGV was released. From 1965 to 1977 the French were experimenting with a ''[[wikipedia:File:Aerotrain.jpg|jet-powered hovertrain.]]'' And the first TGV prototype was ''turbine powered'', the turbine only scrapped in favor of good ol' electrified railroad because of the oil crisis.
* The German [[wikipedia:Intercity-Express|Intercity Express]], so good that the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain have begun buying that train for their lines.
* [[wikipedia:EuroSprinter#ES 64 U|Siemens ES64U "Taurus"]] is a conventional electric locomotive which can run as a high-speed train at 230
* The Walt Disney World Monorail trains.
* [[Memetic Mutation|F40PH.]]
* [http://farm1.static.flickr.com/20/73070193_f607fce608.jpg?v=0 The Santa Fe Super Chief], the most popular model train design ever.
* The Russian [http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=258&LNG=EN#picture TE2], [http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=192033&LNG=EN#picture TE3], and [http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=2700&LNG=EN#picture TE7], which were 1950s diesel engines in [[Raygun Gothic]] style. Also from Russia, the [http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=3742&LNG=EN#picture N-class], which had the honor of pulling the royal train and [http://parovoz.com/newgallery/pg_view.php?ID=4015&LNG=EN#picture P36], one of the last steam express engines to be built.
** Also from Russia the heavy electric [http://siissalo.it.helsinki.fi/4rmedia/fin/fin_rzd_vl82nr069_vainikkala_2008_L.jpg VL-82 dual locomotive]{{Dead link}}. They didn't even remove the Soviet Red Star.
* The best of the streamlined steam trains of the 1930s onward.
** The Pennsylvania Railroad's streamliners styled by Raymond Loewy, which for their time were science fiction made reality, especially the [[wikipedia:PRR S1|S1]], and to a lesser degree the [[wikipedia:PRR T1|T1]]. There are a huge number of works in which a futuristic steam train is modeled on the S1. None survive, though; they weren't as practical as they were cool-looking.
** Almost any "[[wikipedia:Streamliner|Streamliner]]" train counts. Look at the ''[[wikipedia:File:B
** This Troper considers himself very lucky to have grown up in a city that the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ehs9qP07gQ Norfolk and Western 611] visited regularly during her excursion career in the late 80's/early 90's.
* Pennsylvania Railroad hit the jackpot also in electric locomotives and had been cheeky enough to do it throughout Steam Age and [[
** The PRR was no slouch when it came to steam locomotives either. The road's own Altoona Works constructed 26 [[wikipedia:PRR Q2|class Q2]] 4-cylinder "Duplex" type locomotives in 1944. each developing just short of 8,
* And finally, the German [https://web.archive.org/web/20100812234327/http://www.transrapid.de/cgi-tdb/en/basics.prg?session=4b9d77df48cf4bd6_229330&a_no=28 Transrapid] maglev. Fastest train, period.
* The British Rail Class 55 "Deltic", Class 43 "High Speed Train" (also known as the "Intercity 125", a reference to its maximum speed) and the "Intecity 225".
* The A1 class locomotive #60163 ''Tornado'', the first steam engine to be built in Britain for nearly 50 years.
** This same train appeared on ''[[Top Gear]]'' and ran from London to Edinburgh with Jeremy Clarkson feeding it coal, making it cooler still. Especially since they ran the train at 75 MPH for most of the journey, which is mighty quick for a Steam Train!
*** Actually,
**** They said in the Top Gear segment that ''Tornado'' could go up to 100 MPH but they were being limited to 75 MPH, and to Jeremy Clarkson's disappointment they said "yes" when he asked if there were speed cameras. What makes it a really cool train though is it [http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2009/december/21/steam_wins_the_day.aspx keeps working] when electric do not.
* Speaking of armoured trains, the Russian Civil War was all about those. Examples: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120722180841/http://images.ng.ru/files/galleries/726/7606-large.jpg "Onwards to Moscow"], [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/drogovoz1/17.jpg "Officer"], [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/drogovoz1/41.jpg "Transamur"]. Also, [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/drogovoz1/05.jpg this armoured steam train].
** And the big momma of them all, Leo Trotsky's command train!
* And 35 years earlier the german ''[[wikipedia:Schienenzeppelin|Schienenzeppelin]]''
* The computer-controlled (all is needed is for someone to close the doors) trains of the Docklands Light Railway, which you can see out of the front in.
** If you think that's cool, wait till you see a truly fully-automated train, like the ones on North-East Line and Circle Line in Singapore. Heavy-rail, standard gauge, six- and three-car trains (on the North East and Circle Lines respectively), each car the size of a typical railroad train car (about 23 metres long, 3.2 metres wide, 3.7 metres high), ''fully automated down to the doors themselves'' (they open automatically at stopping stations for a pre-determined amount of time before closing themselves again) - no humans necessary. The only train company staff on the train are there just to ensure that [[
** Malaysia has had a driverless completely automated [[wikipedia:Kelana Jaya Line|Light Rail Transit (LRT)]] system in Kuala Lumpur for a long time (since 1998) and a slightly older system that is manned. Both systems are notorious with locals for being overcrowded during rush hour as well as suffering from frequent breakdowns as the rolling stock is now pretty old. However, things have improved recently with new trains being ordered and speeds being increased. The Malaysian LRT is however not nearly as snazzy as Dubai's [[wikipedia:Dubai Metro|Dubai Metro]] which is both longer and prettier than any other similar system. It is also probably the only metro system to have first and second class carriages as many of the 'locals' don't like mixing with the foreigners that normally use the system so opt to pay the double price to upgrade. However, Dubai's system fails as a) it doesn't really go to the right places and b) is a white elephant since it was built to service a city that doesn't exist yet (and is now bankrupt). Shame.
* The Pendolino family of "tilting trains".
** Or even better, the APT (Advanced Passenger Train) which was the original tilting train back in the 1970s. The APT-E (experimental) was powered by Gas Turbines and reached 152.
*** The slightly more conventional APT-P (prototype) was a tilting electric train developed around the same time and actually used in passenger service (although due to a combination of a rush into service, bad planning, bad publicity and being British, is not widely viewed as a sucess). It reached a maximum speed of 162.
* Southern Pacific Railroad's "cab forward" steam locomotives.
* GM's Aerotrain is the most cool Art-Deco train built during the 1950's. Too Bad it's actually a disguised ''[http://www.railroadmichigan.com/mishore.jpg\]'' SW 1200.
Line 263 ⟶ 266:
*** [[Take That|You mean like most of the other trains on here?]]
* Fairlie articulated steam locomotives, AKA the Siamese twins of locomotives.
* The Channel Tunnel Shuttle locomotives. These are
* The Stanier Class 5MT "Black Five". Built for the LMS in the 1930s, it was built to do any job there was. 842 were built overall and some survived right up to the end of steam traction in Britain in August 1968-and a few can be seen on railtours to this day.
* The [[wikipedia:EMD DDA40X|DDA40X Centennial]], the largest single-unit diesel locomotive ever built. It's ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccFNgyQIrPg massive]''.
** Union Pacific was no stranger to super-sized locomotives as the DD40AX's and its other diesel kin (the EMD DD35, GE U50 and Alco C855) were purchased to replace UP's previous fleet of [[wikipedia:Union Pacific GTELs|"GTEL"]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Gas Turbine-Electric Locomotives]]. The first 15 delivered a "modest"
** Note the qualifier "single unit" in the DD40AX's record. The [[wikipedia:Baldwin Centipede|Baldwin Centipede]] (no relation to the human kind) was alas 6 feet shorter than DD40AX, but weighed 9 tonnes more. While a first generation diesel that only produced half the DD40AX's total horsepower, in service with the Pennsylvania Railroad, they were semi-permanently coupled in pairs and classed as a single
* The [[wikipedia:IORE|IORE]], the most powerful locomotive in the world by some accounts. Seen in action [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O45tYbn12Qk here].
** Each ''half'' of a IORE is superior in power and tractive effort to a Big Boy. They only work both halves together to haul standard train weights of 8000 tonnes.
| |||