There is only one engine and that is the queen of the south Southern1401 in all of her green and black, she was one of the engine that pulled FDR train after he die, and is sitting downtown Washington DC under lights for all to see
SP&S Alco FA and FBs. I was fortunate enough to spend many a mile aboard these "I can pull a mountain if you can hook it up". Get down and grunt, or run like the wind. The SP&S took good care of their locomotives, and these units showed what even an old Alco could do given good maintenance.
Like Robert Willison, my all-time favorite - the locomotive which captured my heart as a little boy and has held it ever since - is the Reading T-1 steamer, no. 2102. I rode behind her in excursion service back in the early 70s (including one trip round the Horseshoe Curve), and she captured my imagination like NO other engine could. And I love ALL steam locos. But you never forget your first, and 2102 is mine. To watch my DVDs with her on them or to see the YouTube videos where she powers on by and blows that whistle... It makes me misty-eyed. Sheer perfection, the most beautiful machine, in form and function, crafted by man. The thought that she's sitting unloved and unused and all but forgotten in an engine house at the Reading & Blue Mountain RR breaks my heart. Last I heard, she's pretty worn out from passenger service in the 80s and early 90s and her return to coal service. She needs a HUGE overhaul, and I guess that the R&BMRR have no interest in investing the time and (more importantly) the money necessary to bring her back to her former glory.
Personally my favorite is the Southern Pacific GS-4. I have drool over them as long as I can remember. I got to see the 4449 at track speed when she came through MN on her way home from Michigan. Best day ever!
My favorite engine is NKP 765 preserved by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. For more information visit www.765.org
Great Northern's O8 Mikado. She was a brute!
One the diesel front, ye good ol' SD24 even though GN never had 'em.
If I absolutely HAD to choose one, and only one, favorite, it would be the Southern Pacific Daylight locomotives. They are truly the most beautiful locomotives in the world. I fell in love with the 4449 in the mid-1970s, and I have been enthralled with her awesome majesty and beauty ever since.
THANK you, Angs McDonald! (SP President 1932-1941. The "Coast Daylight" was his idea.)
The UP 844 is simply awesome. And I love the SP 2472 -- the epitome of what a non-streamlined steam locomotive should look like.
C
Alco c430 is a great looking loco.
How can anyone chose any other locomotive aside from the Classic GP30.
Designed and built in America. Classic lines unique to this model only. Still unique today and used by a class 1 as a slug and many times in the lead for locals. One could even argue style for wind deflection to help with drag.
I could spend my retirement trying to chase these down. I understand many live on in the shortline world in the Midwest and Larry's has most of the classic Warbonnets left over from the days of ATSF fast freights.
Thank you electromive for this classic style.
For all those that saw the 2102 in action...god bless the 2102
Of course, I'd have to say Frisco #1522 with CB&Q #4960 a close second. Never got to ride behind #1522 but did see her a few times and can still see her sitting at our MOT in St. Louis. But did ride on steam excursions behind #4960 with my parents. And was able to ride behind her years later on the GCR, which was a thrill for me. I also like N&W #765, know some of the crew and finally got to see her a couple of years ago when she came to pull employee excursions. Since our railfan group was helping, we also got to ride one of the excursions.
And I'd have to add UP #844, also got to ride behind on steam special from Omaha to North Platte where we also got to ride across Bailey Yards from one side to other. Did see UP #3985 when she visited here also.
But #1522 and #4960 are the special ones to me.
Russian Class L 2-10-0 Any of the 4500+ of them
I have two: 1.) UPRR No. 844. The UPHS "Streamliner" had an article on the Hancock Three-chime (steamboat) whistle, stating that 844's had "a flaw". That 'flaw' makes her's the most beautiful steam 'voice' ever. And, she's never been off the UP roster.
2.) The Santa Fe's 3776-class 4-8-4 of 1941. They handled "The Chief", Nos. 19-20, and Nos. 7-8, The Fast Mail-Express, from La Junta to L. A., 1,234 miles, over Raton and Cajon, the 'old' line from Crookton to Williams via Ash Fork AZ (2.2+%) and across the tangents at over 100 mph, only needing helpers on Glorieta and Raton Pass' 3.5% grades (helpers on Cajon were used to expidite 7-8, 19-20 on the heavily trafficed grades). They could be 'turned' in three hours to do it all again. No. 3780 made Santa Fe's last revenue steam assignment from Belen to Mountainair, NM August 27, 1957. None were saved. 3765-class No. 3767 plus six 2900s, 1944, were saved, with No. 2926 being restored for operation at Albuquerque.
And, oh yes, Chief66's favorite, the 3751 and her sisters made K.C.-L.A. trip with 23-24, The Grand Canyon Ltd., 1765 miles, the longest distance steam run in the country! Great choice Chief66.
765, without question. She was the first mainline steam locomotive I saw/chased in 1979, and I've been riding and chasing her ever since. Beautiful looks and sound. I'm happy to see 611 coming back to steam, but it doesn't have the "look" of a classic steam locomotive, like 765 does, and 611 does not have that wonderful "shot-gun" exhaust.
#2 for me is C&O 614. I will never forget riding in an open window car behind her at 79 mph. Another great looking/sounding locomotive.
My favorite steam locomotive builder, as if you wouldn't guess, is Lima.
The espee's 4-8-8-4 cab forward, still on display at the Sacramento Rail Museum. When I was a kid, I watched them daily go double headed over the Redding trestle and through the cut, spewing thunder clouds of black diesel smoke as they began the climb to Shasta Lake and the Pit River Bridge. Ear-numbing sound and soot all over mom's laundry hung out to dry.
American Locomotive Company's Schenectady Works American 4-4-0. I just love the 4-4-0 Jupiter run here at Promontory Point. Baldwin also made a nice looking American 4-4-0 for Eureka & Palisades RR and Virginia & Truckee RR to name a couple. Hopefully someday the main line will once again connect to Promontory Point along the original right-of-way and allow Leviathan to visit Jupiter. Of course, who can not enjoy Challenger 3985 charge up Echo Canyon.
I got into the Steam engineering business because of my life long interest in Steam Locomotives.
As a boy in 1974, I had the opprotunity to fire CNR OIl-Burner 6060 at my work, which was none other
than CN's
Toronto Ontario, Roundhouse: CN MP Spadina.
I was Hooked!
When I was a child in 1960 ,my Grandmother put my cousin Ricky and myself in the cab of a doomed
CNR Steam Locomotive in the Georgetown Ontario Yard.
This was part of a Loco consist that was being hauled out to Stratford Ontario for scrapping.
Hello All!
This excerpt was pasted from my bio.
CNR 6060 was and is still my favorite!
She was hauled dead, down from Alberta Canada in May 1974.
The Shop supervisor asked if any one would like to learn how to fire her.
Up shot my hand!
She was converted to an oil burner in the late fifties.
I believe she was one of the last 4-8-2 Mountains built by MLW in Montreal Quebec in 1944.
I have been on several steam excursions with her in the mid to late 1970's, from Toronto to London Ontario.
I also have an HO Scale model of her, passed down from my late father.
My Favorite? 3 of 'em. Milwaukee SDL39, Milwaukee 261, and CB&Q O5.
STEAM-
Without question, the Van Sweringen Berkshires!
DIESEL-
EMD SD-45
Concerning boosters - most all boosters, loco or tender where shut off by 15 mph. Loco boosters dominated tender boosters for these reasons: 1) extra steam piping and controls for tender boosters, 2) when a tender got empty, the weight over booster was lighter, allowing them to slip - alot! Loco's weight never changed thus allowing the loco booster to maintain wanted performance (however those slipped now and then too).
Boosters did not have (that im aware of) any sort of cutoff (notice i said cut off, not cut out). Not needed, as in starting a train you dont use cut off. You want all the steam you can get in the cylinders (without slipping) until you get moving. By then the train is rolling fast enough that you need to cut out the booster.
Boosters were not synched to the drivers. Fed by their own steam delivery pipe they could operate seperately from the drivers, and did. Wheel diameters between driver and booster made this physically impossible. In a sense, you could move a steam loco by booster only.
Steam used by boosters (if i remember correctly) was in the range of 10% to 15% of total available steam. So a modern, superheated loco wouldnt even notice it had a booster.
Indiana Harbor Belt is probably the best known example of a tender booster. Which easily sticks out like a sore thumb. However, on a loco, they may be hard to see. The steam delivery pipe is a dead giveaway when not confused with injector delivery pipes. The steam pipe is always bigger.
Gotta go with the N&W 611. It's the first locomotive Dad took me to see in '94 when it came through with the NS excursion. Been "in love" with it ever since. List goes as follows:
N&W J
N&W A
N&W Y6
pretty much anything made by the Roanoke shops of N&W
Lima Berkshires.
Lima Allegheny.
Just about anything made by Lima.
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
Hi guys! Newbie here, but I can't think of a better place for my first post.
I can narrow my favorite locomotive down to two, and it is impossible for me to choose between them.
1A - C&O 614. Some of my fondest childhood memories are trainchasing the ACE 3000 test runs back in WV. I'll never forget the thrill of standing with my dad and my younger brother watching that monster go by.
1B - NKP 765. Rode 765 a couple of times on the New River Train in the mid to late 80s. I grew up outside of Charleston, WV and lived on the Kanawha River. On excursion weekends, I could be in the upstairs bathroom of our house and look out the window to see the smoke rising from 765 on the other side of the river and catch a few short distant glimpses of the engine between houses as it roared past. I have a few old pictures from when I rode the NRT that I will try and post. Be gentle, I was only about 9 or 10 at the time! :-)
Wes
It is my understanding that all that remains of the R& BMRR is owned by the Reading and Northern which is primarily freight and excursions with #425. The 2102 alledgedly sits in a barn in Port Clinton. I rode one of thosew R&BMRR excursions in the mid 80s pulled by 2102. I also have photos of a model of her in Reading dress in the lobby of the Baldwin Tower which still remains in Eddystone,Pa.I also have a souvenir record from the 1960s Iron Horse Rambles with Nos. 2100 and 2124. If I knew how to include photos I would as I think there are those who would appreciate seeing them.
TVRM 610.
The 2102 is first on my list, rode many excursion behind her. Be great to see her run.
Second, would be the 765. Can't wait to see her this summer. Bought ttickets for the Youngstown - ashtabula trip. Should be a lot of steam this summer all over the us.
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