Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture
Greetings...
Well met all.. I joined over here, directed by a post at Brass Goggles. A discussion there on the creation of a dieselpunk sub-board, got me interested, and I wandered over to see what the fuss was about..
Oddly enough, this got me thinking that there is (from my point of view as a retired railroader with 36 years in service) that there is a lot of potential for overlap and cross pollination between Steampunk and Dieselpunk.. I am old enough to remember the last days of the transition from steam to diesel power on the railroads, and looking through my photo archives can find plenty examples of steam power in the dieselpunk era. Steam power kept quietly working away, eventually going "behind the scenes". As an example, there was a 12,000 HP triple expansion steam engine powering a rolling mill in Britain, until 1973, where its last job was rolling out steel plate for a nuclear reactor containment vessel..
In a nutshell, while I started out as a Steampunk, (I appreciate Victorian history, but really am a steam power fan firts), I also seem to be a bit of a closet dieselpunk by the definition used here. I am a sucker for Art Deco, and I enjoy the 1920-1950's era (heck, I can remember the late 1950s) juts as much..
I think the overlap might be a very interesting thing..
Cheers
Harold
PS.. I'm also the current admin over at the Brass Goggles Blog, and a governor on the associated forum._
Oddly enough, this got me thinking that there is (from my point of view as a retired railroader with 36 years in service) that there is a lot of potential for overlap and cross pollination between Steampunk and Dieselpunk.. I am old enough to remember the last days of the transition from steam to diesel power on the railroads, and looking through my photo archives can find plenty examples of steam power in the dieselpunk era. Steam power kept quietly working away, eventually going "behind the scenes". As an example, there was a 12,000 HP triple expansion steam engine powering a rolling mill in Britain, until 1973, where its last job was rolling out steel plate for a nuclear reactor containment vessel..
In a nutshell, while I started out as a Steampunk, (I appreciate Victorian history, but really am a steam power fan firts), I also seem to be a bit of a closet dieselpunk by the definition used here. I am a sucker for Art Deco, and I enjoy the 1920-1950's era (heck, I can remember the late 1950s) juts as much..
I think the overlap might be a very interesting thing..
Cheers
Harold
PS.. I'm also the current admin over at the Brass Goggles Blog, and a governor on the associated forum._
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on -
Wow, Harold. Thinking that a steam-powered engine was instrumental in building nuclear technology really puts it all into perspective. I'm glad to have you aboard!
I'd love to hear some of your rail stories. I'm in the middle of Atlas Shrugged, and while a little preachy (in the way that water is a little wet), it paints such a romantic picture of trains and rail tech.
-Tome
© 2012 Created by Tome Wilson.
