For me, it's the 4-8-0 "Mastodon" arrangement; one of the best examples was the 240P class of France, developing up to 4,000 cylinder hp.
The 4-8-0 was very popular on the Norfolk & Western. I guess I would have to say I have always liked the Pacific 4-6-2. Not too big, not too small, high stepping and fast.
How 'bout them Decapods (2-10-0) - although, do have to admit that those "Mollies" on the N&W run a close second.
2-8-4, gotta love those Berks! After that is the 2-6-6-6, long live the heaviest! Of course you could always go with the 2-8-8-8-4
Argh. Almost an unanswerable question. After a lot of thought, perhaps the 2-6-6-2 logging mallet. So many to influence a choice. Hard to narrow to only one. Boxcab E50
The GN 2-6-8-0 M2's were kind'a cool and different. The next time your on Wikipedia, look up the Russian 4-14-4omg. Now that's a pullin' steamer!!
Those massive Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Yellowstones. They actually had more tractive effort than the Big Boy. Before we start a debate about which is better or bigger or whatever..., they were built for totally different tasks. They weighed 566 tons and had a length of 128 feet. They developed 6000 drawbar horsepower and routinely handled 180 to 190 ore cars. They consumed 10 to 12 tons of coal and 12,000 gallons an hour at full power. A veritable fire-breathing monster!
Yes they were and they worked the Grande very nicely when the Grande borrowed them. I would drive 3000 miles to see one of those fire-breathing monsters if they were still around. Coal smoke is a beautiful thing, so much better than oil! I like the 2-8-8-2s, and the mallet 2-8-8-0s for the power, but I still prefer the NG 2-8-2 Mikes.
Here's the link to that Wikipedia article on the 4-14-4 Let's see here, only one built, meant to spread axle load by distributing weight across seven axles. Burned low grade coal, so it's firebox was huge, but unable to pull at full power for very long due to an undersized boiler. It spread the track despite the extra axles. It also fouled the switches and derailed frequently (much like the Centennials from the UP). Too long for the turntables, too. Overbuilt, underestimated, monstrous, impractical and scrapped like the Buran after a single but high-profile use. Yep, that's a Soviet projekt! :tb-tongue:
Steve, They did spend time on the Rio Grande. When the ground froze up in the bitter Minnesota winters and ore could not be dug out of the ground, the Missabe usually idled for a little while. Some of the Yellowstones which were sent to the Rio Grande were used as pushers to get loads over the mountains. An interesting anecdote: I talked to one old guy who fired a Yellowstone and he said the when they first went to the Rio Grande, they coupled on behind the caboose and started pushing. In short order the caboose was reduced to kindling. After that they would uncouple the caboose and put it on after the helpers. I suppose they still had some wood cabooses there at the time.
I should also add that one of my favorite locomotives was the 2-10-0 that pulled the train I rode from Nuremburg Germany to Bremerhaven Germany when Uncle Sam was shipping me home from Europe. Dunno exactly when the power change was done(sometime during the middle of the night-I was sleeping in a pullman)but it was in the north of Germany since steam was still running in the north in the early 1960's. Big brute of a locomotive! As we were standing there milling about(several hundred GI's) at the key site waiting for busses to take us to the actual dock where the transport ship was;I decided to stroll over by the locomotive to keep warm. It was a very cold and windy February morning on the North Sea coast! 9 days later,again in the early AM I was getting off that ship in New York! CT
I can't just pick one, so here are my TOP 3 1) 2-8-0 narrow gauge of course just because they look hunkered down and reasy to rip it up! 2) 2-6-0 mogul also narrow gauge because these little engines conquered the Rockies 3) American 4-4-0 because it reminds me of my first model engine
I have very little information on them. My brother took the photo last summer when he was visiting Germany. He doesn't know much about trains, just takes photos.
If taken that recently, then I'd believe they belong to a museum group. Or are at least somehow safe from a scrapper's torch. :thumbs_up: Boxcab E50
