10 Of The Biggest Steam Engines That Have Ever Been Created!

We delve into the fascinating world of the most colossal steam engines ever built, showcasing their incredible power, innovative engineering, and historical significance. From the legendary Union Pacific's Big Boy, an engineering marvel of the 1940s designed to conquer the Rocky Mountains, to the British Railways Class 9F, the pinnacle of steam power in Britain designed for heavy freight with exceptional efficiency, each locomotive tells a unique story of technological advancement and the pivotal role steam engines played in shaping modern railroading.

Discover the might of the Chesapeake & Ohio H8 Allegheny, the elegance of the Russian P36 class, the adaptability of the South African Class 25NC, and the unparalleled power of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Q2 Duplex. Marvel at the Canadian National Railways U-2-c "Super Mountain," the streamlined Southern Pacific GS-4, the potent German DR Class 45, and the innovative New South Wales Railways Garratt 70 class.

[uptrainmaster_challenger]

Big Boy was a nickname for the Wasatch class the Union Pacific had ordered from ALCO (American Locomotive Company). Also in the industry we don’t use horsepower instead we use tractive effort.

[SaltyDani_Ma]

German Baureihe 45....footage from Baureihe 01 (express passenger engine) Baureihe 41 ( close but not quite) and a Baureihe 52 for the future, use more footage of the engine that is talked about. it brings only confusion to unknowing and inexpierienced whatchers. for example you said 2-10-2 wheelarangement while showing the BR 01 wich has a 4-6-2 frame.

[SimplyRailways]

My personal favourite is the BR 9f as a British rail enthusiast

[ANTHONYEASTMENT]

there may be longer and stronger loco then the BIG BOY but none are better over all. l will always love the BIG BOY.

[nssrrailfan]

Much better! Amazing work. I am sad however that you did not have the DM&IR Yellowstones. They were 5 ft away from being the world's largest steam locomotives! You definitely should've added them.

[pclassproductions]

Just some random train chap from Australia here to politly correct some of the info that was wrong on our garretts. They're the 60 class not the 70 class (ironicly the 70 class is a tiny diesel shunter down here). They have a 4-8-4 + 4-8-4 wheel configuration instead of 4-8-2 + 2-8-4 and they only have one boiler across their 2 sets of wheels.

[KenR]

Marvelous shots of multiple giants from around the globe.

[Missiletuna]

So you are just going to skip the Jawn Henry, it’s STEAM Turbine.

[trainliker]

The first engine shown in the Southern Pacific GS-4 sequence is a 4-8-2 Mountain and not a GS-4. And at 7:29 is shown another 4-8-2 mountain No. 4342 which was a class MT-3.

[Mark_The_Railfan]

Pennsylvania Railroad S1, was one of the biggest steam locos.

[railfandryan]

I like how it shows one of the steam locomotives in ho scale and g scale that’s a scale for model trains

[mackenzie_frenzy]

My all time favorite locomotive is the Union Pacific 4884 Big Boy. It weighed in at 1 and quarter million pounds(605 tons) and 132 feet long. Big Boy was capable of pulling 6 mile long freight trains.

[adventuresinmodelrailroading]

Virginian 2-10-10-2. So big, it had to be disassembled for delivery.
Denver & Rio Grande Western K80 or K90 class ( I can't remember). They were standard guage 2-8-0s that were rebuilt as 3ft narrow guage 2-8-2s, making them among the largest narrow guage steam locomotives in the U.S.

[barbarakerr]

These Behemoths are so beautifully it's almost they are alive ❤

[reinhartreuschel]

And there are some equally powerful engines: What about the SNCF 242 A1 with more than 6200 PSi in a loco only half of a 'Big Boy'?

[StillPlaysWithModelTrains]

Ah, you might want to tell the folks in AI that a steam locomotive "always" has a tender to carry water and fuel...

[heatherjenkins]

You should make a video on the world's biggest diesel locomotives

[martinanschutz]

Russia: P38, a 2-8-8-4 with 16 wheel Tender.
GB: LNER Garrett 2-8-0+0-8-2 six cylinder loco.

Germany: BR 45 is big, and a big failure. The Boiler was really bad construction. BR 52 condens version

[vonLubrich]

The German DR is still used today, I was amazed how many where in Poland.

[ilikeminecraftgaming]

The GS-4's gotta be my favorite, as SP4449, the sole survivor of it's class, is my favorite locomotive.