Interesting. I'll have to go digging for that article. God bless the iPad and Newsstand. And you are correct about the boosters. I believe she only had them for a short time before they were taken and fitted on the 4-8-4 Northerns. I think there's an article on that in The Eagle, but I need to go digging for it. I can find it if you'd like.
your favorite steam locomotive
- Thread starter brokensleeper
- Start date
Interesting. I'll have to go digging for that article. God bless the iPad and Newsstand. And you are correct about the boosters. I believe she only had them for a short time before they were taken and fitted on the 4-8-4 Northerns. I think there's an article on that in The Eagle, but I need to go digging for it. I can find it if you'd like.
BigBoyFan4006
\m/
MALLARD NO 4468 Worlds fastest steam train!
big Boy steam POWER
I like how you think! lol
BigBoyFan4006
\m/
Sorry to burst your bubble, but PRR E6s #7002 did 127.1 at Crestline, Ohio in 1905, but the record isn't official due to the Pennsy's lack of speedometers on their trains. There are also many apocryphal stories of T1s doing 150mph on the Pennsy.
My favorite:
So if there weren't speedometers on the loco's, then how could you confidently say that the PRR E6s #7002 did 127.1? Heck, how could they even say that?
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Same way they did the NYC 999, have people clock mile markers and do math to actually figure out the speed. I have heard an account of PRR T1's doing 140, breaking a poppet valve and needing maintenance. To make this actually relevant, my favorite steam loco is this ugly beast.
BLACKWATCH
Mechanical Engineer
But how accurate were the measures to place the "mile markers" & how accurate were the stop watches they used, is
an 'American' mile the same length as a 'British' mile, because an 'American' gallon ain't the same as a 'British' gallon, so
you have to take into account the difference of measurement.
Mallard was timed over a set distance with a 'dynamometer car' which is a vehicle that records
data, designed (as was the steam locomotive) in England, if you wish to challenge the 'FACTS', we could lend you this
piece of ingenuity, send over the 'Guinness' people, and you can try and take it.
Yes, you must of skipped over the fact that the PRR T1 exceeded 130+ miles regularly. Also, the Union Pacific FEF series (4-8-4) could operate at 120 mph, (higher speeds never tested), and the Milwaukee F7 class 4-6-4 was reported doing 125mph, I'm sure it was more, but back in 1941, no one could really tell if it went, say I don't know maybe 125.88mph.
nathanmallard
Active member
Not again! I've heard the T1 story spouted before, and I'm really sorry to burst your bubble, but it cannot be physically possible. Up to about 110mph maybe, but anyone who thinks a 227 ton Duplex can do 150mph is living in cloud cuckoo land. You cannot rely on mileposts either, as they could be easily "missed", especially in a loco with an all enclosed cab. Don't get me wrong, the T1 is a wonderful locomotive and a masterstroke of design, but I cannot sincerely believe a 4-4-4-4 can do 150mph.
BigBoyFan4006
\m/
Maybe so. But still, there's no way to prove that the T1s could go faster than 126mph, let alone 150mph. Plus as the others have mentioned, using mileposts to measure speed is entirely inaccurate, for many reasons.
Most of the stories about US steam going that fast are hearsay and totally undocumented. It's stuff like "Well, my friend Bill who was an engineer knew this fireman who had a son that said he once rode on a T1 that broke the sound barrier". Usually it is the S1 prototype, the predecessor to the T1 of which only one was built, that this is attributed to though. Using mileposts in the US as a guide, especially back then, is a joke. They just stuck those things wherever they had space as long as it was somewhere "in the neighborhood". They're for timetable and schedule use and not an accurate judge of distance. If I am not mistaken though, a US locomotive, somewhere in the Midwest maybe the CNW, has the record for the highest average speed in revenue service which is sometimes used in debates as proof of an outright highest speed record.
my favorites are:
1. Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 #2317 (Steamtown)
2. Canadian National 2-8-2 #3254 (Steamtown)
3. Great Western 2-10-0 #90 (Strasburg)
4. Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 #4012 (Steamtown)
1. Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 #2317 (Steamtown)
2. Canadian National 2-8-2 #3254 (Steamtown)
3. Great Western 2-10-0 #90 (Strasburg)
4. Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 #4012 (Steamtown)
generalman
Renowned L&N Fanatic
I'm one of few anymore it seems like, but my favorite locomotive would be one from the L&N.
1) Louisville & Nashville K2A 4-6-2 #152
2) Western & Atlantic 4-4-0 #3 "General"
1) Louisville & Nashville K2A 4-6-2 #152
2) Western & Atlantic 4-4-0 #3 "General"
SuperSpeedMaglev
Wonderfully Old Fashioned
MALLARD NO 4468 Worlds fastest steam train!big Boy steam POWER
I'm from the UK, good choice on Mallard
, though American Steam is cool!
DustinJRaiken
Fictional Specialist
Oh, GW 90, 75, and 60? I'm impressed that anyone here even knows who 75 is, but there's one more you're all forgetting who probably has the most storied history of the surviving GW fleet. Let's have a look at what the four surviving engines, including the one nobody mentioned yet, have gone through since their retirement from the GW...
90: Last engine to leave the roster in 1968, lives a prosperous life at the Strasburg Railroad, probably the most well-known GW engine
60: Sold to the Black River & Western in 1963, where she lives a happier and more useful life than on the GW, got a well-deserved spurt of popularity upon recent restoration
75: Bought by Everett Rohrer in 1965, starred in tons of movies including Breakheart Pass and A River Runs Through It, sold to the Heber Valley Railway when Rohrer died in 1995, awaiting restoration with UP 618, somewhat known among railfans
51: Bought by John Birmingham in 1963, starred in movies like Cat Ballou, ran the last steam train on the D&RGW Moffat route, mothballed in the 1970's and restored in 1982, pulled excursions on her home rails in the late 80's, attended Steam Expo in 1986 and Washington Steamfest in 1990, ran on the Fillmore & Western and hit even more film gold from 1993 to 2003, re-bought by John and stored in the Hudson Terminal, ran under steam in 2009 and is steamed up every year, almost unheard of among most railfans today
That and several other factors make GW 51 one of my favorite steamers. At the very most, she'd place third behind two engines which represent the pinnacle of late steam. My second favorite is C&O 614, as she managed to do over 80 miles per hour with over 20 cars on some trips, pulled loaded 100-car coal trains at over 50 miles per hour, and represents what is considered by many to be the most modern steam locomotive ever built in the US. The only thing it's missing is sentimental value, and my #1, N&W 611, has that. I fell in love with her for her dazzling looks in I Love Toy Trains when I was a tiny tot living in the Garden State, but when I heard that her and her sisters could pull two passenger cars up an 8% grade and still maintain 20 miles per hour and pull 15 car trains at 100 miles per hour without throwing rods and valve gear all over the place, my opinion of her grew from admiration to mad, passionate love.
90: Last engine to leave the roster in 1968, lives a prosperous life at the Strasburg Railroad, probably the most well-known GW engine
60: Sold to the Black River & Western in 1963, where she lives a happier and more useful life than on the GW, got a well-deserved spurt of popularity upon recent restoration
75: Bought by Everett Rohrer in 1965, starred in tons of movies including Breakheart Pass and A River Runs Through It, sold to the Heber Valley Railway when Rohrer died in 1995, awaiting restoration with UP 618, somewhat known among railfans
51: Bought by John Birmingham in 1963, starred in movies like Cat Ballou, ran the last steam train on the D&RGW Moffat route, mothballed in the 1970's and restored in 1982, pulled excursions on her home rails in the late 80's, attended Steam Expo in 1986 and Washington Steamfest in 1990, ran on the Fillmore & Western and hit even more film gold from 1993 to 2003, re-bought by John and stored in the Hudson Terminal, ran under steam in 2009 and is steamed up every year, almost unheard of among most railfans today
That and several other factors make GW 51 one of my favorite steamers. At the very most, she'd place third behind two engines which represent the pinnacle of late steam. My second favorite is C&O 614, as she managed to do over 80 miles per hour with over 20 cars on some trips, pulled loaded 100-car coal trains at over 50 miles per hour, and represents what is considered by many to be the most modern steam locomotive ever built in the US. The only thing it's missing is sentimental value, and my #1, N&W 611, has that. I fell in love with her for her dazzling looks in I Love Toy Trains when I was a tiny tot living in the Garden State, but when I heard that her and her sisters could pull two passenger cars up an 8% grade and still maintain 20 miles per hour and pull 15 car trains at 100 miles per hour without throwing rods and valve gear all over the place, my opinion of her grew from admiration to mad, passionate love.
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hamstergarratt
New member
This is an interesting one for me personaly.
I have worked with Miniature steam engines, narrow gauge and standard gauge, but i have to say i found driving the Miniature steam engine more fun for me. The engine i use to drive was a Tinkerbell class loco, 0-4-2 tank engine with a maine boiler, and the gauge was 7 1/4. But my main intersted is South African steam engines, mainly has they had a lot of my favourt types of steam engines, Bayer Garratt's and other truly great steam engines. But really, if it's a miniature engine or a standard gauge locomotive, industrial or main line, I am happy as it is steam engine.
I have worked with Miniature steam engines, narrow gauge and standard gauge, but i have to say i found driving the Miniature steam engine more fun for me. The engine i use to drive was a Tinkerbell class loco, 0-4-2 tank engine with a maine boiler, and the gauge was 7 1/4. But my main intersted is South African steam engines, mainly has they had a lot of my favourt types of steam engines, Bayer Garratt's and other truly great steam engines. But really, if it's a miniature engine or a standard gauge locomotive, industrial or main line, I am happy as it is steam engine.