I suspect that the basis of our notion of cuteness is things that evoke our instinctive protective response to infants. Cute things have infantile proportions: think of the disproportionately large eyes and paws of a puppy. Man-made artifacts are seen as cute if they have analogous proportions. Witness: the cutest domestic U-boat is the U18B: perceptibly smaller (shorter) than other GE road locomotive (perceptibly, that is, to those who have some familiarity with what a GE diesel locomotive looks like), but with standardized cab, etc, that seem oversize.
In support of this hypothesis about cuteness, I submit this
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sar/spoo91-010aac.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
image from George Elwood's Fallen Flags rail image site. (It's a U6B, apparently.)
In support of this hypothesis about cuteness, I submit this
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sar/spoo91-010aac.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
image from George Elwood's Fallen Flags rail image site. (It's a U6B, apparently.)