When the era of the stainless steel cars were coming in (essentially the Budd generation), you had a lot of cars with nice, rounded faces: the R-44, R-46, the R-62 and the R-68, and on the railroads, the M-1/M-3 (which are quite similar to the R-44/R-46) and the M-2/4/6. Now look what we're getting -- the R-142 and R-143 both have flat faces and the M-7 (and soon the M-8) have faces nearly as flat as you can get. I know that in reality the difference likely does little for aerodynamics but what about the ascetic value (IMO, )?
On an interesting note, the R-110A had a nice streamlined face (indeed, in many ways it looks pretty much like a transition between the R-62 and the R-142) -- I wonder why that aspect wasn't kept in the R-142 design?
On an interesting note, the R-110A had a nice streamlined face (indeed, in many ways it looks pretty much like a transition between the R-62 and the R-142) -- I wonder why that aspect wasn't kept in the R-142 design?
JayMan