Which steam locomotive was the heaviest?
- UP’s 4-8-8-4 Big Boy
- C&O’s 2-6-6-6 Allegheny
- N&W’s 2-8-8-2 Y6b
- SP 4-8-8-2 Cabforward
#1 Big Boy
Depends who you ask, either number 1 or 2.
Probably #2, but some sorces say #1.
I agree with cnw…Depends where one gets his “facts”…I have located figures that cite both number 1 and 2 to be the heaviest and of course that is impossible. So depends on the source of the info. It’s not going to be settled now…
WIth or without a full load of fuel in the tender?
Bigboy
I thought the debate between Big Boy and Allegheny concerned which one was most powerful. I guess weight did enter into it, though, and there was something about the Allegheny’s weight being mis-stated. So I’m going to go with the H-8s (the Alleghenies, to you non-C&O folk).
#4
With her tender, and fueled up the Big Boy was the heaviest thing on the rails. Even though the Alleghany had a higher tractive effort, was heaveir without the tender, and was wider. The correct answer, the Union Pacific Big Boy.
…Engine and Tender Allegheny: 1,215,600 lbs…Engine and tender Big Boy: 1,208,750 lbs…
These are figures available to anyone…but as I stated in previous post…We’ll not know whether these or other figures are the correct ones…No one knows at this point.