Who had the most powerful 0-8-0s. Gary
Almost surely the three-cylinder IHB locomotives (as made famous by model railroad companies in multiple scales!)
Much more fun is 'who had the most powerful 2-8-0s'? I'd bring up the L&NE locomotives (at least, with their auxiliary locomotives cut in) or one of the D&H experimentals... both those classes are almost 'honorary 0-8-0s' anyway with as much adhesive weight as possible while still leaving a trackable Bissel for guiding.
Well the Pennsy had the heaviest 0-8-0s which were the C1s. They were the largest two cylinder 0-8-0s ever built. They had 56” drivers and weighed 287,000 pounds with a tractive effort of 76,000 pounds.
The IHB 0-8-0 had two cyl 23-1/2 x 32 and one cyl 23-1/2 x 28, 200 psi, and drivers 57, so nominal TE 75700 lb plus 13800 lb from the tender booster.
The PRR 0-8-0 was built with 60% cutoff -- wonder if it kept it. Cyl 27 x 30, 250 psi, drivers 56, nominal TE 76155 assuming 78% MEP.
I seem to recall that the 0-8-0s built for Oliver Iron Mining (Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota) by Lima in the 1920's were thought to be the most powerful 0-8-0s ever built?
1930 Cyc says OIM 700 had cyl 23 x 28, drivers 50, 225 psi, 70%? cutoff, so 55500 lb TE (80% MEP) plus 14000 lb from the tender booster.
I would opine that the OIM 0-8-0's were smaller than either the IHB U-4a's or the PRR C-1's, probably due in part to the nature of the trackage over which they operated.
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