the streamlining designer of the train raymond loewy himself wrote in 1979: "on a straight stretch of track without any curves for miles; i waited for the s1 to pass through at full speed. i stood on the platform and saw it coming from the distance at "120 miles per hour". it flashed by like a steel thunderbolt, the ground shaking under me, in a blast of air that almost sucked me into its whirlwind. approximately a million pounds of locomotive were crashing through near me. i felt shaken and overwhelmed by an unforgettable feeling of power, by a sense of pride at the sight of what i had helped to create."