The Steampunk/Dieselpunk overlap – some thoughts.
Over at the Forum, discussion there on the creation of a Dieselpunk sub-board, 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 end days of the transition from steam to diesel power on the railroads and looking through my photo archives can find plenty examples of wonderful 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.
As another example, our beloved Steampunk airships didn’t really hit mainstream until after 1918, with even what is considered the “Golden Age” of airships being the early 1900’s, which takes them out of the Victorian era and plants them firmly into the Edwardian.
In a nutshell, while I started out as a Steampunk, (I appreciate and enjoy Victorian history and culture, but really am a steam power fan first), I also seem to be a bit of a closet Dieselpunk by the definition generally agreed on. I am a sucker for Art Deco, and I enjoy the 1920-1950’s cultural era (heck, I can remember the late 1950s) just as much. I”d venture to say that the era I identify with most would be the inter-war era of the 1930’s, as portrayed particularly in the “Poirot” television series. Who can argue with such classic examples of styling as the de Havilland Dragon Rapide, or a Dreyfuss J3-A Hudson?
I think the overlap might be a very interesting thing. I’m sure this will cause some controversy, but don’t worry, BG will remain Steampunk, though perhaps with some occasional wanderings.. Thoughts?
