If the government was willing to give an unlimited grant to have one steam engine built from scratch to represent the best of the steam railroading period to go on a tour around the country which engine should it be? What would be the big factors to overcome to have such a project happen? Castings? Foundries? I would think a lot of things would definitely have to be contracted out and sent to one shop and put together. Can one be built today from scratch?
I’m sure a steam locomotive could be built. After all, in the US they were being built up to the 1940’s and some countries were building them much later.
I don’t know how to decide which was the best steam locomotive. Here in the US, though, I would prefer to pick something that best symbolizes American railroads. Perhaps a 4-4-0 design. A replica of the Central Pacific’s “Jupiter” does exist as well as others. The original “John Bull,” the Camden and Amboy’s first engine from the 1830’s (I think) is in the Smithsonian Institution and ran in the 1980’s. And there are others. We could just use one we already have.
By far, the biggest factor to overcome would be deciding which engine it should be. That part would be impossible.
I agree with Bucyrus. The problem is not so much choosing the best, not even deciding which type of the many varieties should be selected as the best, which is like asking which motorized petrol-burning four-wheeled vehicle should be built from scratch to represent the best of that era, asked, say, in 2350. The problem would start right away in defining what best is, or what it should mean, or which of all possible and recognized criteria would/should be used. Once that is settled, what weights would you assign those criteria to assign them primacy so that ties can be broken?
Dump trucks carry a great deal, and they can move along a a pretty good clip. The are costly to build and to run, though. A Smart Car from Mercedes is a great people mover, but not for parties of six and more. Two are fine with luggage. Speed and elegance would be meh, but…and you see how this goes. There is more to locomotives than form and visual appeal, or more to them than brand loyalty, or road loyalty, nostalgia, and other subjective elements that will get in the way of an easily settled debate.
Crandell