this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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The first few things that jump out to me are, the smoke isn't coming out of the front stack, instead it's coming out of a second stack thats more in the style of an older steam tractor. The second stack and subsequent second smaller steam engine are where a tender box should be. Worst of all is the illustration of the connecting rods/tie rods, i don't think even a lazy human who'd gone so far as to make the whole image would get that sloppy drawing them so non uniform.
Even if you didn't know much about steam locomotives spending more than 5 second absorbing and processing the contents of the image would tell you the smoke is in the wrong spot and the rods that make it go look bad. That is assuming you've seen a steam locomotive, which i imagine is the bulk of anyone with access to the internet.
The large wheel next to the cabin is also messed up. It means the cabin must be smaller than the track width, since the cabin is squized inbetween the wheels. But in reality the cabin is always wider then the wheel base.
@zerodawn@leaf.dance @memes@lemmy.world
Oh, right, I can see it... 🤔
However, what if the very fact that it's meant to be a meme about autistic individuals, the kind of highly creative and intelligent person who'd build quite unexpected things in quite unexpected ways (and I mean this positively, especially because I'm (likely) AuDHD myself) would be the reason why the steam engine is "reversed" (at the tail of the locomotive, rather than at the front; the first thing I can think of is rear-traction vs front-traction vehicles, with the former ones pushing forwards rather than pulling forwards)?
I mean, at least in my mind, it would even make physical sense to have a locomotive whose engine sits on the rear end, pulling the whole mass forwards. And the connecting rods, wouldn't it be some sort of transmission mechanism so there'd be traction at the front wheels (akin to a four-wheel traction, 4x4 vehicle)? It would make physical sense as well, having the traction shared between the rear wheels and the wheel axis sitting right under the trunk, no?
But, yeah, the fact that the load is sitting in the front, thus potentially obstructing the locomotive operator's view... Maybe I'm being too gentle with the meme, maybe you people are right and it's indeed AI-generated, I dunno. It's still funny, nonetheless.
The “load”? You mean the boiler, and that has to be in front to produce the draught to increase the heat in the firebox. But there’s no smoke coming out of the smokebox, but a weird little cube thing on the back is making some sort of cloud.
The driving wheels need to be under the weight to provide traction. Water and steel is heavier than an empty box so they need to be under the boiler not at the back.
@ohulancutash@feddit.uk
No, I really meant the "load", as in a loaded vehicle's trunk.
As I said during other replies on this nested thread, i visualized this drawing as some sort of old VW Beetle: trunk at the front of the car, relatively small engine at the rear, rear traction. That's why, at least to me, the locomotive principles clicked in my mind.
Which I particularly understood as a small engine from a rear-traction locomotive.. I mean, a combustion engine doesn't need to be big, just see how old VW Beetles work with engines quite small compared to other cars.
Which is the reason behind the rear traction of a VW Beetle: the engine is at the rear side.
But, okay, let's say the drawing is "all wrong" or physically dubious. Why it "must be AI"? Do you people happen to have seen those Rube-Goldberg art pieces? Did Rube Goldberg use AI for his artworks?
Last but not the least, oh my Goddess! I can't help but quote the meme: "boy, that escalated quickly". It's a meme, fellows, it's meant to be a meme! Still we're all fighting over details of a meme! I simply asked someone why they labelled this comics "AI slop", then it developed into me trying to explain how my neurodivergent mind is visualizing the locomotive as some kind of VW Beetle shaped as a steam locomotive...
I should disassemble some old VW Beetle someday and make myself a locomotive quite similar to the one in the comics, just for you people to see what exactly I was visualizing when I was stubbornly explaining my perception of an Internet meme. 😅
Given VW never made a steam powered rail variant of the Beetle it’s a bit moot. The principles of road and rail are very different. This is why it’s slop.