:''Sharknose is also the nickname of the

Ferrari 156 F1 The Ferrari 156 was a racing car made by Ferrari in 1961 to comply with then-new Formula One regulations that reduced engine displacement from 2.5- to 1.5-litres, similar to the pre-1961 Formula Two class for which Ferrari had developed a mid-e ...

New York Central Baldwin sharknose locomotive

Sharknose is a term applied by

railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...

s to the styling of several

cab unit In North American railroad terminology, a cab unit is a railroad "locomotive" with its own cab and controls. "Carbody unit" is a related term, which may be either a cabless booster unit controlled from a linked cab unit, or a cab unit that cont ...

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

built by the

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

to the specifications of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

. The styling was by the PRR's preferred designer, Raymond Loewy, with the distinctive nose reminiscent of his design for the PRR T1 steam locomotive.

Pennsylvania Railroad

Locomotives commonly known as "sharknoses" include: * Baldwin DR-6-4-20, otherwise known as the "Passenger Sharknose" or "Passenger Shark" *

Baldwin DR-4-4-15 The Baldwin DR-4-4-15 was a cab unit-type diesel locomotive built for freight service by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between November 1947 and June 1950. It was produced in two different body types, nicknamed the "Babyface" and "Sharknose" s ...

, otherwise known as the "Freight Sharknose" or "Freight Shark", along with the: *

Baldwin RF-16 The BLH RF-16 is a cab unit-type diesel locomotive built for freight service by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation between 1950 and 1953. All RF-16s were configured with a B-B wheel arrangement and ran on two AAR Type B two-axle road trucks ...

Other railroads

While the passenger models were unique to the Pennsylvania Railroad, other railroads purchased and operated the freight models, including the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

Baltimore and Ohio The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. The New York Central was the last original owner to operate the engines, selling the last of them to the Monogahela Railway for $6,000 each in late 1967. By 1972, all but two of them, the 1205 and 1216, had been scrapped. The final pair also were sold for scrap in 1974, but were rescued from the torch by the

Delaware and Hudson Railroad The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...

, which at the time was also operating the world's last four

Alco PA-1 The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

passenger locomotives. The pair were purchased by Castolite Corp. in 1978, which leased them for use on the Michigan Northern. Both engines have purportedly been stored out of public view on the property of the

Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates of track in Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its main line runs from Rockland, Michigan, to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it also own ...

for more than 20 years.

Automobiles

The name "sharknose" has also been given to streamlined automobiles of the 1930s and 1940s, because of their design, first introduced in 1936 on the 1937

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs ...

passenger cars. Willys continued to manufacture them in this design until the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The term was applied to the 1938

Graham-Paige Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882-1970), Robert C. Graham (1885-1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887-1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive assets were acq ...

"Spirit of Motion." The design was also used on the 1941 Nash, as well as 1940s Hudson models. The last automobile with this design was the 1947 Hudson. Many classic BMWs from the 1960s to the 1980s were also designed with a pronounced nose that is commonly referred to as a shark nose.

References

* {{Locostyles Locomotive body styles Raymond Loewy