An Amtrak Cascades trainset sits in Portland’s Union Station between runs, having recently arrived as train 517 from Vancouver, British Columbia – 187 miles to the north. (Vancouver, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, service would be pretty brief, and those two stations are only 10 miles apart!). These articulated trainsets, manufactured by Spanish company Talgo, are designed to passively tilt into curves, allowing the train to pass through them at higher speeds than a conventional train. The tilting technology reduces travel time between Seattle and Portland by 25 minutes. I’m not normally one to bemoan the aesthetics of modern railroad equipment, but in this case, I will make an exception: The cab cars that Talgo built for these Series 8 trainsets, such as ODOT 7910, are … well … odd looking. I’ll just leave it at that. (Portland, Oregon – October 24, 2019)
The worst of railroad design. Please, send me your entries / suggestions for the "Album of the ugly trains of the world" (past or present, paint scheme or shape).
