How about Alco’s 25,000th the first A-B-A set of Santa Pa’s?
How about Alco’s 25,000th the first A-B-A set of Santa PA’s?
Flying Scotsman – #4472.
Should 'a been a Castle !!
In the south, it’s the General, hands down. L&N fired it up and sent it on a tour of the south back in the early sixties. It came to Florence, Alabama where I lived as a child. My parents took me to see it. I remember it was under steam. I pretty sure it was the first live steam engine I ever saw. It si now on permanent display in Kennesaw, Georgia.
George
An American type locomotive or a Santa Fe Warbonnet F-unit. As for the kids from the 50’s , anything with LIONEL on it.
What group are you asking? A true random cross-section of the “public”…Thomas the Tank Engine, I’ll wager.
Of course, here in Portland of the Oregon, it would have to be the scale model of the Aerotrain loco that runs at the Washington Park (Portland) Zoo!
I think I’d have to go with Flying Scotsman.
On its Australian visit in 1988-89 I watched its arrival in Sydney at a major junction at Strathfield, west of Sydney. We were on the roof of a high rise apartment block overlooking the station, which was about as close as you would want to get. The train with 4472 was about half an hour late, but the crowd was unbelievable. There were people all over the tracks (this being a six track area with electric trains at a frequency of four or five an hour on each of four routes - the station has ten platforms). As well two long distance trains each with two electric locomotives, each twelve cars long, double stopped to allow passengers to board trains longer than the platforms.
Most of this was just the general public who knew that 4472 was passing through! I’m hoping that the people running over the tracks were railfans and not people who’d never seen a train before!
But for diesel locomotives specifically, The EMD Funit in Santa Fe Warbonnet must be the best known.
Peter
If I were a teacher (I am), I’d have to send some of you to remedial class. As I’ve explained twice, I asked you to consider the most famous locomotive (not train) in the WORLD (not just the United States or Kennesaw, Georgia.)
The Warbonnets were a class; the Orient Express was a train not an individual locomotive, per se. The Stourbridge Lion is a locomotive, the Rocket is a locomotive… and whether a locomotive is popular in your particular neck of the woods is NOT the point. We’re talking the WORLD, boys and girls!
Again class!
What do you think is the MOST famous individual locomotive (not train or class) in the WORLD (not just the United States)? In other words, if you asked a random selection of people on the planet earth, which INDIVIDUAL locomotive would come up most often?
My vote is for the Flying Scotsman (engine #4472, Class A3, LNER/BR) followed by the Mallard and in third the Rocket.
Now class, please stay on topic!
My brother suggested the war bonnet pa locomotives of Santa fe…im
one who loved the f units of santa fe hauling freight or passenger.
think safety
David brown
David…Remedial classes start today at 3:30. Be there (and bring your brother!)
Great locomotives as your list implies have equally great stories behind them.
My vote is for he now largely forgotten ( as your list attests ) engine rightfully enshrined on the main floor of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
The huge drivered New York Central 999, which earned a world speed record in it’s time until it was replaced by The Mallard.
One wonders if time trials were officially recorded here in the U.S as carefully as they were overseas, would The Mallard even be appearing on this list?
You only have to consider the Milwaukee Class A Atlantics who on regularly schedualled runs, not ime time trials, routinely ripped away the roadbed at better than 100 MPH daily or the PRR T1 that was the subject of one of my favorite first person accounts in Trains magazine. That account of that awesome run ranks up there as one of the most compelling railroad true stories I have read—ever.Let’s see how fast this will go-it’s our last chance.
Some epic accounts are lost to history such as the little known story of Frank Sprague’s determined battle to install the nation’s first true streetcar system with his brave Irish mechcanic.riding the roof of a car in the midst of a horrific blizzard with both hands grasping a straw broom to clear the wire with only his feet to balance his precarious stance. It’s a shame these and other great stories are not well known.
I’ll go with the Flying Scotsman and the engines for the Orient Express. I think that the Big Boys have a place in the “most famous” category too.
Willy
I would agree with Thomas the Tank Engine. While not my personal favorite, or even an American engine, it is very visable to the average non-railfan. With or without children. (I hate Barney the dinasour as much as anyone and I don’t have kids.)
This question is almost impossible to answer without personal feelings/home geographic areas coming into play. Most likely your going to pick something you are familiar with. Even the author of this thread picked mostly English locomotives. I’m touched that your third place pick was the Rock Island engine that pulled the first train from Chicago to Joliet in 1852. (Yes, I know you meant that other Rocket. Even being a RI fan, if you say Rocket I too think of the English version.)
I have to give trainspotter credit on a very good question and subject driven discussion. He reminds me of a classmate I had back in the 70’s struggling through Modern Germany under McKale (GCSU - 74)
To get back on subject, and the Santa Fe F units.
A feature of the F3 and F7 units was that they were all virtually identical to the casual observer, because Santa Fe modified them with the same pattern of Farr stainless steel grilles and the same side panels. Only the dynamic brake hatches and the radiator fan types varied.
I would think that the Santa Fe F (A) unit in Red and Silver (any of them) would be most easily recognised. A textbook on industrial design in transport illustrated one as an example of American diesel locomotives.
But as I understand it, like “Flying Scotsman” only one is left, the unit at the Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
So I humbly submit as the most famous American locomotive “AT&SF 347C”
It doesn’t sound right if you say it, but visually, there is no contest!
Peter
When I “googled” the following “famous” locomotives e.g. Rocket + locomotive, I turned up the following results. Not definitive, but interesting:
25,100 The Rocket
7,930 The Flying Scotsman
4,830 Mallard
602 Stourbridge Lion
352 Best Friend of Charleston
2 AT & SF 347C
I also “googled” Rocket + locomotive. I found 25,300 listings. While the vast majority are going to be about the original Stephenson’s Rocket, a very, very random sampling found three references to Rock Island Rocket locomotives (one of which was a model) and one for M-4 Sherman tanks built by the American LOCOMOTIVE Company, some of which were equipped with ROCKET launchers.
I truthfully have to admit that I can’t say which one is the most famous of real locomotives. I asked my wife that question and she said the “steamer.” I asked her to be more specific and she said the UP Challenger. Now I work for the UP and we have been talking about it recently since it will come by us soon. I have a feeling that the average, non-railroad oriented person wouldn’t have a clue. It would be an excellent question for Jay Leno on NBC’s Tonight show to ask on his “jaywalking” segments. Probably here a lot of comments about “the little engine that could.”
You may also find a few references to Rocket Richard…
OK - I’m British so self interest declared.
- Flying Scotsman - to reply to the correspondent as to the fact there is only one Flying Scotsman left that would be because there is only one (There were however quite a few A1 and A3 Pacifics of which Flying Scotsman was one.)
Some of the confusion comes about because there was a train named The Flying Scotsman (10am off London kings Cross/Edinburgh) which was often worked by Flying Scotsman.
She has to be the most famous loco short of Thomas having worked in the US, Australia and the UK and circumnavigated the Globe.
Other candidates would be ‘City of Truro’ first to 100mph (or thereabouts) - not bad for an outside framed 4-4-0.
The ‘American Streamliner’ as a generic type is probably one of the most recognisable rather than famous due to its prevalence in clip art and graphics worlwide.
I still think that Thomas wins the Crown with Flying Scotsman, City of Truro, UP Big Boy and The General following along behind.
All the best
Kev
For the sake of completeness, googling (sounds like a deviant sexual practice) thomas + tank + engine gets 670,000 results. So there’s your answer