What's your favorite Steam Engine?

[New Haven I-5]

[Kurn]

My all time fave is the B&O EM-1.Sadly,not one survived.Of those that did,it's a tie between 4449 and the C&O Alleghenys.

[J. Edgar]

 gotta love it up close...

[cnwfan51]

Any of the following  CNWS class H or Class E  any of the CBQS O5as 4-8-4s or the Union Pacifics FEFS or 7000s 4-8-2s  

[ShoresJohn]

For me, it has to be SP 4449.  I've had the good fortune to ride behind it and to photograph it.  Here's a couple of shots

Wishram, Washington, June, 1998

Marysville, Washington, July, 2000, painted for a BNSF employee special

[hf1001]

For me it's probably the big boys or UP844

[Ulrich]

UP Challenger 3967...Back in 1993 I drove out to Denver for my first steam fan excursion (Denver, CO to Laramie, WY).. an unforgettbale experience...beautiful locomotive.

[chatanuga]

N&W #611

NKP #765

N&W #1218

Kevin

http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html

http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html

[Anonymous]

Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson....

[switch7frg]

  For popeye power ;

          Y6b N&W 2179

         and or

           H8 C&O 1625

         Either one could pull hard or something would break

                              Cannonball

8

[tomikawaTT]

Kiso Forest Railway Baldwin-built 0-4-2:

• 762mm (2' 6") gauge.
• Rear tank and wood bunker.
• Huge industrial cyclone stack, bigger around than the boiler!

#6, ex #9, presently at the California Railroad Museum, has been converted to 3' gauge and gussied up with markers and a cowcatcher pilot that the original owner would have removed on sight.

Chuck

[Mr_Ash]

Western and Atlantic RR 4-4-0 "General"

[Cheese]

Southern Railway Ps4 4-6-2 #1401.

Loco10

[rockymidlandrr]

The Union Pacific Big Boys, hands down.  They had the rugged looks and backed it up with power.  Who wouldnt be impressed with their size either.  My favorite operating locomotive is the NKP 765, power at speed.  I just hope that NS will come to its senses and bring back the 611 and 1218, the two favorites that I wish that were in operation. 

[Prairietype]

Prairietype likes the prairie type. A close second is the chevrolet of steam-the Mikado. Third place is an Atlantic-I like the squat looks of those teapots.

I do not like saddle tank locomotives or foreign jobs.

[Paul Milenkovic]

My vote is for Livio Dante Porta's "Argentinia", a narrow-gauge, streamline-shrouded, compound-expansion locomotive that had over double the thermal efficiency and half the water consumption of Super Power steam, and which could have kept steam around if the design features had gotten wider attention and application.

My runner-up vote is for that SNCF steam locomotive "over there" in excursion service that Trains Magazine wrote about that has one of those advanced exhaust ejector system and rigid-frame compound expansion that makes it "sound like a sewing machine."  That locomotive is the closest operating version of "Argentinia", and yes, both of my votes are for "foreign jobs", but another chapter of steam railroad traction could have been written if either of those locomotives had been given a chance.

[daveklepper]

N&W J

[Prairietype]

I googled it and it is pretty amazing. Can't tell if there is a continuing restoration effort going on. I hope so. I'm not making fun-there is a faint resemblance to the Oscar-Meyer Weiner mobile, but not silly.

[espeefoamer]

1.SP Daylight GS4

2.N&W J

3.PRR T1

NYC J3

[EJE818]

While I am not the biggest steam fan (I'm more into 60s and 70s EMD diesels), if I had to pick 3 they would be the 261, CP 2816, and UP 844.

[Opus17ech]

I'm not an N&W guy by any means, but the most beautiful machine I've ever witnessed is the #611 J-class.  Those old men in Roanoke knew how to build 'em...

[Virginian]

Since you said 'engine'; singular, my response has to be N&W Class J # 608.  I got to sit in "the" seat and blow the whistle one Sunday while she backed down to the waiting 'Arrow' in Norfolk.  A darned shame they didn't save a J with the duplex side rods.

[Anthony SRR]

This is a hard one so i'll make a list

SRR No.90

SRR No.475

SRR No.89

SRR No.31

 LIRR G-5 No.39 ( the engine at my group)

BRW No.60

NHI No.40 

 

[steamfanatic]

Not the prettiest, but mine is Reading 2102.

[Consol]

Standard Gauge, Mainline... Sp 1269, Sp4449, Up 844, Up3985

Standard Gauge, others...Any Lima Shay, Sierra#3, #28, #36, #38, Quincy RR #2

Narrow Gauge...DRGW K-class(all), E&P Eureka

Ok, Ok...any operating steam engine!!

[gregrudd]

here is mine:

 

Articulated steam: EAR 59 class Garratt

Geared Steam:  Any Shay

 

[BurlingtonJohn]

CB&Q 5629 at the Colorado RR Museum in Golden.

 Regards,
Burlington John

[dealemeout]

Baltimore and Ohio 4-4-0 #25 aka the "William Mason"

[JonathanS]

The 0-6-0 fireless that ran at the Shamokin Dam power plant until about 10 years ago.

[Joe the Photog]

L&C 2-8-0 #40. It's actually the aforementioned New Hope & Ivyland #40, but the only time I've seen her in person (so far) was 2006 when she was back in her L&C lettering for a short time. 

Joe H.