Quote:
Originally Posted by pavulon
Can anyone elaborate on the article statement that this locomotive is the largest of its kind? There were/are much larger steam locomotives...I saw one of these on display in Green Bay last summer:  |
"largest" is open to interpretation. It is definitely up there, especially if you exclude trains that didn't make production.
Btw, Union Pacific still operates a 4-6-64 Challenger steam locomotive, a similar locomotive, just with a pair less driving wheels per articulating set, and larger wheels for higher speed.
With tighter manufacturing tolerances available today, it would be interesting to see if it could be made a viable option. A real issue of the day, was maintenance on the more complicated, more fuel efficient designs.
What I love about the older steam locomotives, are the exposed drive trains, its mesmerizing to see one in action. For low water areas, there were also a few steam trains built with condensers to recapture the steam, convert it back to liquid for reuse.
If you add the word "surviving", then the Big Boy may be the winner. A lot of the big steam trains ended up as scrap metal.