Train types

Steam locomotives

999 models from 231 manufacturers

Models

999

Manufacturers

231

Top speed

190 km/h

4-8-4

Power output

8,826 kW

CC 50

Steam locomotives powered the railways from the early 19th century until their gradual replacement by diesel and electric traction after the Second World War. Water is heated in a boiler by burning coal, wood or oil, and the steam drives pistons connected to the driving wheels.

Their wheel arrangement is usually described with the Whyte notation: a 4-6-2 “Pacific” has four leading wheels, six driving wheels and two trailing wheels. The fastest steam locomotive on record is the British LNER A4 “Mallard”, which reached 202.6 km/h (126 mph) in 1938.

Our database includes more than a thousand steam locomotive classes, from the pioneer engines of the 1830s to the giant articulated freight locomotives built in the United States in the 1940s.

Fastest steam locomotives

Most powerful steam locomotives

Rank	Model	Built	Power output
1	CC 50 SLM, Werkspoor	1927–1928	8,826 kW11,836 hp
2	4-8-8-4 ALCo	1941	4,690 kW6,289 hp
3	FCL 400 Saronno	1931–1932	4,413 kW5,918 hp
4	T-54 Baldwin	1926	2,700 kW3,621 hp
5	CR QJ CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, CRRC Dalian, CRRC Datong, CRRC Tangshan, Mudanjiang, Shenyang	1956–1988	2,670 kW3,581 hp
6	FSE St. Leonard St. Leonard	1899–1901	2,461 kW3,300 hp
7	CR FD Luhanskteplovoz	1931–1941	2,312 kW3,100 hp
8	FD20 Luhanskteplovoz	1931–1942	2,312 kW3,100 hp
9	141R ALCo, Baldwin, CLC, Lima, MLW	–	2,150 kW2,883 hp
10	LNER Peppercorn A1 Trust	1994–2008	2,000 kW2,682 hp

Most recent steam locomotives

Most produced steam locomotives

Rank	Model	Built	Units built
1	SO BMZ, HZTM, Luhanskteplovoz	1934–1951	4,487
2	Ov BMZ, HZTM, KTZ, Luhanskteplovoz, Sormovo	1901–1920	4,175
3	Prussian P 8 BMAG, Linke-Hofmann	1906–1923	3,948
4	Er BMZ, HZTM, KTZ, Luhanskteplovoz, NZL, Sormovo	1946–1957	3,266
5	DRB 50 DR	1939–1948	3,164
6	FD20 Luhanskteplovoz	1931–1942	2,925
7	Em BMZ, HZTM, Luhanskteplovoz, Sormovo	1931–1935	2,694
8	Su BMZ, HZTM, KTZ, Luhanskteplovoz	1924	2,683
9	Brigadelokomotive BMAG, Borsig, Esslingen, Henschel, Hohenzollern, Humboldt, Jung, Krauss, Linke-Hoffmann, Maffei, O&K, SACM, Vulcan	1905–1919	2,573
10	DR 99 BMAG, Borsig, Esslingen, Hanomag, Henschel, Jung, Krauss, Linke-Hofmann, Maffei, O&K, SACM, Vulcan	1905–1919	2,573

Oldest steam locomotives

Rank	Model	Built	Year
1	Adler Robert Stephenson	1835	1835
2	SJS Litra Odin Sharpe & Stewart, @various	1846–1847	1846
3	SBB D 1/3 SLM	1847	1847
4	EIR Kitson & Co	1855	1855
5	SJ B I Beyer & Peacock, Motala, NOHAB	1856–1972	1856
6	Beattie Well Tank Beyer & Peacock, Nine Elms Works	1863–1875	1863
7	Furness Railway 17 Sharpe & Stewart	1863–1866	1863
8	Class C Fletcher Jennings &Co	1864	1864
9	SNCF 040A Schneider	1866–1882	1866
10	C1 Neilson and Company	1869	1869

Steam locomotives

Fastest steam locomotives

4-8-4

S 36.20

DB 01.10

DRB 01.10

NSW C36

DR 03.10

SNCB 12000

BR 01

Most powerful steam locomotives

Most recent steam locomotives

SIT 4-4-0

E188 Lyd

IRM 4-4-0

Puffing Billy Beamish replica

Taliesin III

LNER Peppercorn A1

BRB H 2/3

CFF 764R

Most produced steam locomotives

Oldest steam locomotives

Leading manufacturers

Other train types