I haven’t been a member of this forum for very long, but one thing I have noticed is the problem with formal polling–too many possible answers in one fixed poll question. The answers in many of the polls prove it–members may vote in a given poll, but under comments they’ll often list that they would have voted for such-and-such instead, if only the pollster would have had the vision to include this item in the computer-generated poll.
We’re going to fix all that, and right soon. I formally invite all interested parties to vote here for their favorite “Modern” North American steam locomotive. (Consider my butler to have come to your door with a silver platter bearing my card and invitation…) There is no formal poll in the usual sense–no set list of locomotives to choose from. So what is the set criterion, you may ask? Only this:
(1) Steam locomotive must be designed and built after the year 1925, the year of the revolutionary A-1.
(2) Locomotive must have been built and run in service in the US, Canada, or Mexico. Nothing built in North America for foreign export will be eligible (not that any such engines would be taken seriously…)
(3) Locos of all wheel arrangements are eligible, so long as they were designed after 1925. Example: PRR K-4 would not be eligible for this contest. Even though the engine was built up to 1928 I believe (moving, my books boxed for the moment), it is still a 1914 design, and therefore not modern (though I still love 'em).
(4) Only one vote per member is allowed, and for one locomotive only. If your decision is split, neither vote counts, so make up your mind! Comment whenever you feel like it, but your vote will only be counted once. (And please, no comments like, “Oh, well this line’s berks were just like that line’s berks, how can a man make up his mind?” Every class was different in some way, however microscopic, so just pick one and be done with it. If things like minor class distinct
My favourite modern steam loco class is (or better said are) Texas & Pacific´s 2-10-4 type, built in 4 classes between 1925 and 1928 I believe. I like those steamers very much, because they were something totally new in 1925, and they are also very interesting machines. Especially I like that Elesco feedwater heater on the boiler front. It gives those engines such a massive and monstrous look.
I have several favorite steam locomotives,but my absolute,want to put the throttle on the roof,haul down the whistle chain and haul a mile of cars with would be the 2900 class 4-8-4’s of the Atchison,Topeka,and Santa Fe Railway.
[quote user=“MillstoneDuke”]
I haven’t been a member of this forum for very long, but one thing I have noticed is the problem with formal polling–too many possible answers in one fixed poll question. The answers in many of the polls prove it–members may vote in a given poll, but under comments they’ll often list that they would have voted for such-and-such instead, if only the pollster would have had the vision to include this item in the computer-generated poll.
We’re going to fix all that, and right soon. I formally invite all interested parties to vote here for their favorite “Modern” North American steam locomotive. (Consider my butler to have come to your door with a silver platter bearing my card and invitation…) There is no formal poll in the usual sense–no set list of locomotives to choose from. So what is the set criterion, you may ask? Only this:
(1) Steam locomotive must be designed and built after the year 1925, the year of the revolutionary A-1.
(2) Locomotive must have been built and run in service in the US, Canada, or Mexico. Nothing built in North America for foreign export will be eligible (not that any such engines would be taken seriously…)
(3) Locos of all wheel arrangements are eligible, so long as they were designed after 1925. Example: PRR K-4 would not be eligible for this contest. Even though the engine was built up to 1928 I believe (moving, my books boxed for the moment), it is still a 1914 design, and therefore not modern (though I still love 'em).
(4) Only one vote per member is allowed, and for one locomotive only. If your decision is split, neither vote counts, so make up your mind! Comment whenever you feel like it, but your vote will only be counted once. (And please, no comments like, “Oh, well this line’s berks were just like that line’s berks, how can a man make up his mind?” Every class was different in some way, however microscopic, so just pick one and be done with it. If things like minor class distinctions on the sam
So, does the J run away on her 70 inch drivers? Did Roanoke Shops build the nation’s finest modern steam? Only you can decide. I need more replies, and I know everyone has a favorite. So vote now, if you haven’t done so already!
While the N&W J is certainly a worth while contender (most tractive effort of any non-booster 4-8-4, pulling a 17 car train on a test on the PRR at over 100 mph and probably the best streamliing applied to a steam engine) I will have to go with the SP GS-4 from personal contact both riding behind and from trackside from 1950 to the present (the 4449 is just one more reason for living in the Pacific Northwest)