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There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that some American steam locomotives went >120 mph in passenger service (the Milwaukee Road's F7's and the Pennsylvania Rail

There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that some American steam locomotives went >120 mph in passenger service (the Milwaukee Road's F7's and the Pennsylvania Railroad's S1's, for example). I believe if you look at the PRR timetables, they had some routes that averaged 80 mph between stops, meaning they almost certainly hit a max speed at least over 100 mph. The US didn't have the same speed record contests that the Brits did though, so there's no official record. In 1947 a law was passed requiring trains above 79mph to have some kind of automatic train stop system, so that ended most of the high speed steam service.

lmm 2y ago
The UK's record-setting locomotives were pre-war. The HSTs were only a moderate increment over the existing "deltics", but it gets much harder to add that extra bit of speed for true high-speed rail (and there's no real evidence that US steam trains ever achieved 125mph, even though 100mph+ running was routine on some routes).
- satiric 2y ago
  For those interested, this is a good video that summarizes the US's high speed steam locomotives, from a YouTuber who works on steam locomotives (despite the title, it's fact oriented and there's not too much flag waving). There is some evidence, but it's not conclusive. https://youtu.be/hVtVk3T80hA?si=Y8PYYt4IRakKLRDg https://youtu.be/hVtVk3T80hA?si=Y8PYYt4IRakKLRDg
kwhitefoot 2y ago
Great Western Railway locomotives had automatic stop long before the end of steam. Why would having to have that automated put an end to high speed steam service?
- satiric 2y ago
  In the US, it was only required in 1952 (due to the aforementioned law passed in 1947), and there was very little experience with it before then. By 1947, it was clear that diesel was going to replace steam due to steam's significantly higher maintenance costs (and the lack of MU). If you're running a mainline railroad in 1947, you already know that you're gonna be replacing almost all your steam locomotives within the next 10 years, so why bother upgrading them?

lmm 2y ago

The UK's record-setting locomotives were pre-war. The HSTs were only a moderate increment over the existing "deltics", but it gets much harder to add that extra bit of speed for true high-speed rail (and there's no real evidence that US steam trains ever achieved 125mph, even though 100mph+ running was routine on some routes).

satiric 2y ago
For those interested, this is a good video that summarizes the US's high speed steam locomotives, from a YouTuber who works on steam locomotives (despite the title, it's fact oriented and there's not too much flag waving). There is some evidence, but it's not conclusive. https://youtu.be/hVtVk3T80hA?si=Y8PYYt4IRakKLRDg https://youtu.be/hVtVk3T80hA?si=Y8PYYt4IRakKLRDg

kwhitefoot 2y ago

Great Western Railway locomotives had automatic stop long before the end of steam. Why would having to have that automated put an end to high speed steam service?

satiric 2y ago
In the US, it was only required in 1952 (due to the aforementioned law passed in 1947), and there was very little experience with it before then. By 1947, it was clear that diesel was going to replace steam due to steam's significantly higher maintenance costs (and the lack of MU). If you're running a mainline railroad in 1947, you already know that you're gonna be replacing almost all your steam locomotives within the next 10 years, so why bother upgrading them?