"Ike's Train Car of Terror"

October 23, 2023 7:34 PM

"At one time this Pullman railroad car was the apex of luxury -- at least according to Stagecoach Stop USA, which in 1978 parked the car on the attraction's front lawn and opened it as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Railroad Car Museum. Supposedly used by President Eisenhower in the 1950s-..." or was it?
posted by clavdivs (10 comments total)

Not to be confused with the Dwight D. Eisenhower
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:47 PM on October 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Not to be confused with the Dwight D. Eisenhower

They don't make trains like they used to. What a beauty.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:11 PM on October 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

They don't make lots of things like they used to. They make them faster, cheaper and more efficient but completely lacking any soul.
posted by dg at 8:57 PM on October 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

I think that in the case of trains, they make them slower and more expensive than they used to, and the way profit incentives work in railroading in 2023, they make them less efficient too, but still without soul.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:04 PM on October 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Huh. Before I'd even read either of the links, I was puzzled--I remember reading that Eisenhower had traveled extensively on a Lockheed Constellation named Columbine until Dulles (I think it was him and he was SOS at the time?) saw the Soviets fly in on a jet (presumably a Tu-104) and pushed to get Boeing 707s adopted for Presidential travel, so I didn't think of him as someone who did much train travel as President.

As for that DDE locomotive ChurchHatesTucker linked to, streamlined steam locomotives always give me the willies. Can't say why, but every single one of them either looks to me like a deformed creature or the embodiment of mechanical evil. The only locomotive I've ever thought was beautiful were the EMD E- and F-units. I wish they all still looked like that.

I also wish more airliners looked like the Connie.
posted by Ickster at 9:45 PM on October 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ickster I am with you on the aerodynamic steam engines being uncanny monsters, and also that E and F units are the peak of locomotive beauty. New York Central colors are my ‘default lovely train’ look.
posted by janell at 10:43 PM on October 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

While I have an appreciation for the streamlined steam-driven trains of the past, I would prefer to travel on modern trains, like the Italian high speed ones, which combine both aesthetics and practicality. In fact, the majority of European trains offer a pleasant experience, with the regrettable exception of my local Danish trains, although that is expected to improve in the upcoming years.
posted by bouvin at 3:48 AM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thoughts in Motion x Edward Hopper
posted by y2karl at 8:53 AM on October 24, 2023

First link on this page is GDPR-blocked in Europe and the UK by Cloudflare.
posted by cstross at 2:12 PM on October 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

I had the same trouble, so I used https://archive.ph/ to get around it. This should work for you.
posted by pracowity at 10:21 AM on October 25, 2023 [1 favorite]