Incredible Speed Records of Steam Locomotives 

Special mention is also deserved for Japanese National Railways Class C62 4-6-4 C62 17, which reportedly achieved a maximum speed of 129 kph/80 mph on the Tokaido Main Line between Tokyo and Osaka on 15 December, 1954. As the Japanese railways use a smaller 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge track, as opposed to the larger 4ft 8.5in (1435mm) standard gauge used throughout most of the world, this is therefore the world speed record for narrow gauge steam locomotives.

It wasn't the boiler on Mallard which was broken but the inside cylinder "big end" which ran hot and had a safety "stink bomb" fitted. The stink bomb was activated and the train was braked safely to stop to inspect.

When the designer of A4 Mallard, Sir Nigel Gresley, asked the running department for a driver for the record attempt, they said they would give Sir Nigel their best driver. Sir Nigel replied, I don't want the best driver, I want the most fearless driver.

An honourable mention of 60163 Tornado, construction finished in 2008, which achieved 161 kilometers per hour (101. 6 miles per hour) on the 12th of April 2017. This was achieved to prove it could run passenger service at 90 miles per hour.

Guess Gordon and Spencer were the fastest steam trains on Sodor

It wasn't the boiler that was dammaged on Mallard, she ran a hot big end on the middle connecting rod.

It's significant that Mallard was one of a class of 35 locomotives built for normal passenger and (occasionally) fast freight working, while the Borsig-built record breaker was one of two built specifically for breaking speed records. Incidentally, during the war, A4s were renowned for their ability to haul very heavy trains on steeply graded (by British standards) lines.

Seeing those things go as fast as modern trains is making me feel really uncomfortable Like 6:58 That looks terrifying

The Czech class 498.1 holds the national steam locomotive speed record at 162kph, but it is rumoured to have reached more during the tests at Velim, all the way up to 175. Considering it's wheels are only 1830mm tall, it's probably the world record holder for piston velocity.

Kudos for using actual footage of Milwaukee Road 6402 when she made the run

The "no" in the Milwaukee Road designations stands for "number".

Some steam speed records from Hungary: Highest service speed: 125 km/h (78 mph) by the Class 203 4-4-2. Fun fact: the fastest run at the testing trials was 142 km/h, but after the 203, 015 (Class In. 818) was refitted with bigger tubes and with only 2 cylinders, it made 156 km/h (97 mph) Fastest steamer: Class 242 (nickname: Coffin) 4-4-4 made to 161 km/h (101 mph). The unofficial record is 167 km/h (104 mph).

Here in Britain , it is easy to find the speed of a train . There are white markers at the side of the line every quarter of a mile . They have the distance marked on them usually from the nearest big city . Using a wrist watch with a second hand, it is easy to time taken between two of these markers .

There are anecdotal reports of Pennsylvania Railroad T-1 4-4-4-4 duplex steam locomotives exceeding 140 mph between Crestline, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois.

FWIW: On a steam excursion in late summer of '63, my father & I rode along pulled by CB&Q # 5620 (I think that was the locomotive). Anyway, it was a Northern type 4-8-4 on a run from Union Station in Chicago, IL to White PInes State Park in Oregon, IL and back to Chicago. Due to congestion at the yard (in Savannah, IL I believe) where the locomotive was turned around, it was almost 2 hours late getting back to Oregon, IL. On the run back to Chicago, the engineer let her fly thru the cornfields. My dad and I were timing the run timing the mileposts along the right-of-way and they were flying by every 28-29 seconds. Doing the math using the average of 28.5 seconds, that train was cruising along @ 126.32 MPH. What a rush!

The channel explains the railway in a professional and yet interesting way. Keep going guys! 👏

The CP rail company in Canada had an official speed record set in 1936 using special lightweight 442 F2 locomotive. There were 4 of these made and were numbered 3000 to 3004 and 3003 clocked a speed of 112.5 mph near St Telesphore Quebec.

Those steam locomotives are faster than my country's Diesel Locomotive :')

The main reason for Germany not complaining about Mallard probably was that the German Diesel and electrically driven trains had set higher speed records already. It is reported that the record set by 05 was mainly to show that also steam locomotives were able to run faster than 200kph.

9:08 Eyyyyy everyone forgets about this one. Thanks for including it!

One hint: there were three locomotives of the German class 05... the 200,4 km/h were reached by 05 002 (wich - alas - was dismantled after withdrawal, while 05 001 is preserved in a museum). Several times the video displays 05 003 instead of 05 002. 05 003 was a cab forward and thus can easily be differentiated from 05 001 and 002 :-)

Ich wusste gar nicht, dass die Dampflokomotiven so schnell sein können! Sehr gut erklärt!

Great video! Such fine machines and it makes you want to see them used again. They had such classy design features.

Note: Mallards crown IS set to be challenged as early as 2030, as a group in America calling itswlf the T1 Trust are building a streamlined PRR T1 Duplex Steam Locomotive from scratch, likely to be the first Steamer ever built as such in the 21st century. Theyre aiming to break the speed record by reaching something like 130+MPH. Given T1s mere decade long service and MANY initial problems, it was never given a full service life to prove it COULD be reliable. All Id like to end this off on is this: Steam may be out of fashion, but its FAR from dead.

What an excellent video! Very well put together. Interesting and informative. You earned a new subscriber!

LMS Coronation Class 114mph (183km/h) 1937

Not only the fastest but the most beautiful locomotive, Mallard.

There have been interviews of engineers of the PRR T1 4-4-4-4 locomotives that claim making up lost time on the racetrack out of Chicago going over 100 mph regularly.

Top speed in Poland is 138 km/h (85 mph) in 2003. The record break-in engine: Pm36-2 "Piękna Helena" 😃 its a 4-6-2 built in 1937

Those speeds were pretty damn incredible for those times, compared to now!!😮😮 Much respect for those old steamers!!

Imagine travelng in the 1920's or 30's in luxury at 80-90 mph...there was nothing like it.

10:59 according to my calculations, the RPM of the engine at that speed and wheel diameter would be 420RPM

I still thing we should do a re-run. Mallard is around, a BR 05 is around. Same track, same cabs, two runs. Mallard can use a BR52.80 as a mobility aid for the second leg ;)

Many thanks for this your efforts are greatly appreciated, Cheers Neil

Nice to see City of Truro mentioned. Amazing to think it did 100 mph at the turn of the 19th / 20th century.

The Gresley A4 “Silver Link” that did 112.5mph in 1935 was pretty good for a single chimney engine, and it was pulling the Dyno car plus 7 (streamlined) coaches. And it did it on its first outing, with passengers on board. Wish I was there! It was nearly bought by 2 different private owners on withdrawal, but unfortunately neither were successful and it was scrapped. Another A4 “Sir Nigel Gresley” did 112mph in 1959, with a double chimney and a full train of passengers, but the track inspector wouldn’t let him go any faster. Fortunately this loco was saved and preserved, and has recently had another full rebuild to main line condition.

I'm sure this has been mentioned already, but at 3:12, 110-130 km/h is approximately 70-80 mph, 100 mph would be around 160 km/h

Very informative and enjoyable for steam enthusiasts.

''Thanks'' for taking(stealing) all of the film footage used in your upload from my Account, 75% of the film footage used in this upload is all from my Account and is my own editing and frame adjusting along with the film cropping, you have given ''No Credit'' to my Account or the other Accounts whom you have taken from, you aren't the only youtube channel doing this you are one of many whom are doing this!

What about ČSD 498.1 made by Škoda Pilsen factories? The record holder 498.106 achieved 162km/h, although during the tests (still with a 340-ton train)? These speeds were not used on the regular network as the highest speed for ČSD was 120km/h those days.

All the best,,just keep going an excellent and instructive channel 👏

I get why you put both of these Milwaukee Road engines in but you forgot their fastest engine, the F7 Super Hudson! That one had more power, tractive effort, and with 214 cm driving wheels it had a bigger top gear than any locomotive on this list. The F7 regularly ran for miles at 190 kph for much of the trip from Chicago to Minneapolis. Had the Milwaukee Road RR thought that we'd be here talking about steam speed records in 2023 they likely would have run the thing up to 210kph and duster their feet of it!

Interesting content !! Keep going !!

Hello ! I've always loved the steam locomotives - those black iron ladies with their tenders. And as a child I even drove in their cabins ! Thank you and all the best, with health and we will be happy in peace and love ! Sincerely, Dinu, 62, from Romania.

The Mallard run is a difficult one to judge. It did break the record legitimately, However it was forced to brake heavily right after due to curves in the track ahead. This action resulted in the big end bearing running hot and it had to be removed from the train at Peterborough to be repaired before continuing onwards. At the time the LNER hushed up this little fact. So had the locomotive been allowed to brake gently, it wouldnt have broken itself and there wouldn't have been any shadow of doubt. But on the day this didn't happen. Then again, as far as I'm aware there are no rules stipulating that the locomotive has to be in running order after a run for the record to be valid. So its kind of up to the individuals interpretation wether or not Mallards record is warranted. Interesting topic of debate though.

This is very interesting, just keep going 👏🏻

There was no damage to the boiler on Mallard's record run, but damage to the big end of the inner cylinder after it over heated.

THANK YOU-- love these living machines... and the history..

I just want to point out there are Three possible contenders that beat Mallards record; -The Pennsylvania Rail Road T1 and 4-4-4-4 wheel arranged monster of a steam locomotive with a streamlined cast in body, officially in terms of two separate sets of powered wheel on a steam locomotive it was the fastest of it's type or possibly the fastest compared to a pacific say like an A4 class. Many say that a recording of a speed of 127 mph has happened, however due to logistic reasoning, it didn't count. But still can do 110+ mph. However a group is planning on bringing back the T1 despite no T1 survived, as it turns out they are rebuilding from the ground up and they reached the funding goal, soon a PRR T1 will run again. - The Chesapeake and Ohio #490 l1 and 4-6-4 Hudson and also streamlined sitting the a museum and the only surviving l1 Hudson from the C&O railroad, this one in particular said it did near the 130mph, unbelievable to say the least, not sure what official power figure it's making but it must be a lot to do that speed. But none of these two compare to what I'm going to say next, next is a story and is one I want to believe it happened. - The Milwaukee Road Hiawatha F7 4-6-2, remember in the video you talked about the absolute beast the A class NO.2 Hiawatha was? It was replaced or ran alongside the F7 which is even more insane! It was packing more power especially that it was driven by 6 wheels, exactly like the arrangement as a A4 making more power than a A4 surely just surely it's faster right? No, it was regulated the same 110mph+ as the Atlantic did. But what I just said was facts, what I am going to say now is a story. One day I was watching a different video about USA trains that can potentially beat mallard, but then I went to a comment section and found a comment saying not in exact quotes but the following "I knew a friend that had his great grandfather driving one of the F7s in the Hiawatha's run, the train was held at a junction and was running late, after the all clear signal was given he let the throttle full open to make up for lost time, he ignored the speed limit and hardly was the speed limit regulated or enforced so he kept going, before you know it the odometer was showing 134-137 mph! And made the run just in time." I hardly could believe but looking into the power the F7 was making, it might be true. but sadly I can not find the video because either RU-vid won't show me the video so I can give the link to the video or the video was taken down. seriously I can't find it, and it's a shame really. Anyways hope you found this comment interesting and have a good day.

I was train spotting in Worksop England as a boy, 1963, i was lucky enough to ride with the engine driver and fireman in the Mallard to Retford, a special treat if will never forget.

I'm glad that there was writing on the screen as I didn't understand half of what you said.

The fastest steam locomotive on 3'6'' will be the class 16E, introduced in 1935, between Kimberley and the De Aar, with the numbers within the class reported at various occasions reaching the 100mph mark. They all had 6' drivers, also the largest ever on any narrow gauge locomotive.

Thanks for sharing. 😎👌🏼

Finally, someone actually talks about the class 5.

Well made video, thanks for making and sharing.

The pensilvenya railroad t1 was rumored to go 140mph and the s1 of the same railroad was also rumored to go 156mph

Beautifully clear, thorough & informative👍

The technicians in the Dynomometer car said the paper ink trace on the rolling drum indicated that Mallard had reached 126 mph for only a second, but some of the techies thought it had reached 126.4 mph. The usage for the Dyno car was on normal passage services, the high speed that it was travelling at may not have been a completely accurate reading. The fact that Sir Nigel Gresley, their boss, was on the footplate during the run, may have had some influence on the Dynomometer car staff to authenticate the readout. If the Aniseed paste that was painted on the inside cylinder's big end journal, had not begun to react and start to smell, a common problem on the A4s, resulting in Duddington immediately beginning to slow down to prevent serious damage to the middle axle, the run may have been continued, but they knew they were approaching a track speed restriction because of maintenance work. I wonder if the paper trace is stored in the National Railway Museum in York.

Excellent information and video too. Lovely steam engines.Thanks.

Great video, thank you for sharing! Beautiful machines and facts given professionally.

Very interesting and informative. Many thanks.

german lokomotive numbering scheme explained: Example: 103 113-2 103 113 -2 class serial number random extras(special brakes, special heating system,etc.) class nubers explained: 0xx = steam lokomtive 1xx = elecrtic lokomtive 2xx = diesel lokomotive 3xx = small diesel lokomotive for sorting wagons 4xx = ICE trains 6xx = whole diesel passenger trains

Very good railway video, thanks for explaining the 4-6-2 etc wheel arrangement, some do ask about this method of recognition of various steam engines. Brilliant film and details abound in this video, the British loco's were fast and beautiful but there is just something about the American loco's that take the design card for me, they look so workmanlike and massive, and capable with the multiple wheel arrangement seem so fabulously able when filmed at speed, especially an engine such as "Big Boy". Thanks for this great view into rail speed ability.

There’s a story out there that Savannah and Atlanta #750 went a little over 80 mph during the Southern Steam Program. The story goes that Engineer Bill Purdie wanted to see how fast 750 would go, and so he ran the engine wide open. The president of the railroad was aboard the train, and when they stopped, he sternly told Bill to never do that again, with a big grin on his face. Pretty impressive speed for a small light Pacific with some tonnage behind it. Other stories have circulated that several American locos have exceeded the federal speed limit for all trains (79 mph) in preservation. SP 4449 has supposedly done above 90, and UP 844 exceeded the limit more than once.

Nice video Best of luck

Nice video, will you do diesel trains? Also Coronation did achieve 114mph, it was operated by the LMS on what is now the West Coast Mainline. The LNER wanted to go faster with the A4 on their East Coast Mainline. The flatter, straighter alignment on the ECML has meant that the ECML has been and is the faster of the two mainlines.

There was an engine called tornado and is so modern made In 2008. And got to 101 mph

The thing with Germany is not really correct: The "Deutsche Reichsbahn" (German Empire Railways, "DR") was the rail service of the DDR (German Democratic Republic, East Germany), while the "Deutsche Bundesbahn" (German Federation/Federal Railways, "DB") was the service of the BRD (Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany). Both existed after the german unification of 1990 until their unification 1993, where both were melted together into the "Deutsche Bahn AG" ("DB", German Railways inc.). One was not integrated into the other, but both were fusionated into a completely new company, which isn't even a state company anymore, but a private one.

Where is the LMS Coronation class which reached 114 mph in 1937 and was still accelerating when they had to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing in Crewe station?

Thanks, that was very interesting. I love the steam and steel.

I don't know if anyone mentioned it before, but with the DR 18 201 at around 10:45 you misspelled Deutsche Reichsbahn. 😉

Thank you for this profound vid.

Sadly Mallard may never run again. She ran in the 80's but now so much needs replacing etc. Nigel Gresley is under heavy overhaul. Bittern was given clearance for several 90 mph runs in the UK which she did. Tornado (brand new) was given clearance to do a 100 which she did. I knew a fireman at Wellingborough, unfortunately passed now. He was used to stoking garrets and 8fs at 20 mph but had great stories of being dragged off to work Jubilees when fireman were sick. His favourite quote from a driver (after a few beers) was "stoke like hell son up hill, down hill wrap your arm round the rail, we will hit 98, don't fall out I need you".

Great video, If I have to say probably a number 11 would be New York central 999 which broke 113 on the New York-Chicago run in 1893. She is now preserved at the museum of science and industry in Chicago Illinois

I really appreciate having the speed and distances in both SI and Imperial units

Nice video 👍

The city of Truro may have hit 100mph, however the stretch of track it supposedly did it on was a downwards slope.

You forgot the LMS Princess Coronation class number 6220

The Borsig DRG Series 05 is probably the most bizarre steam locomotive i have ever seen

The Whyte Notation has 4 numbers on the BIG BOY-- 4-8-8-4 and they're BEAUTIFUL... :) GREAT VIDEOS!!!!

Special mention, i think, to some french railways records: 120kph with a crampton from the 1850s also, 156kph with a streamlined Atlantic in 1935 and lastly, the fastest a steam locomotive ever went in France, 178kph with a 231E pacific that was never even built for such speeds.

The original Pennsylvania Railroad 7002 no longer exists, it was scrapped in 1935, for the 1939 fair PRR 8063 another e7 Atlantic, was renumbered to 7002, it currently sits at the railroad museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg PA.

City of Truro often gets a mention on these kinds of vids, but Great Western Railway's most startling achievements were half a century earlier in the early days of their 7'¼" broad gauge network. A broad gauge Iron Duke class locomotive hit 78mph and hauled a passenger train 194 miles at a 53mph average in 1852. To put that in perspective, the last passenger train to depart on that identical route tonight 170 years later will only arrive 3½ minutes faster.

Very educational!

I can't imagine the destruction if one of those rods ever break at full speed and the crew has no where to hide.

old school train, however i love old school stuff, too bad today wee cannot see them anymore

My grandads friend lives in little bytham and has a model railway of the area and sometimes he changes the layout to look like it did on the speed record day and sends Mallard through at 126.6mph

Small correction: "Deutsche Reichsbahn" died with the GDR, the western-German DB (Deutsche Bahn) took over. "Deutsche Reichsbahn" had been germany's railway before/during WW2, so most people were happy tor retire the term.

very interesting, you just dont think of the US having much in the way of fast trains, so its cool to see them making an appearance. What most train people would think off when it comes to the US is sheer pulling POWER, like the Big Boys. Very interesting video, lots of trains that I had never heard off

Love how the thumbnail is a slow lumbering Soviet Freight locomotive, probably didn't break 100 kph

Although it wasn't in the top 10, it is good to see New South Wales Government Railways 3642 at time 0:10! 3642 was in steam until last year when it was time for it's boiler inspection.

Amazing compilation of information.

Actually, the Bittern locomotive's number was #4464 (currently British Railways #60019).

I am amazed about the knowledge you are able to share with your well presented videos. Great job! Only thing that bothered me (as a German) was the double misspelling of “Deutsche Reichsbahn.” But, I guess, that’s a complicated spelling.

No mention of up4014 big boy. That loco was a power house . A beautiful steam loco.

Back in the early 1960's I was a regular train spotter at Brookwood in the UK. There are no platforms on the fast lines so no speed limits. It was routine to see Merchant Navy class locomotives on express services out of Waterloo at over 100 MPH.

10:40 No, after the Reunification, both Western Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and Eastern Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) were still in operation after the re-unification. In 1993, both were integrated into the failed privatisation of Deutsche Bahn AG (DBAG).

You have forget ČSD 498 with official record of 162kmph and unofficial somewhere between 165 and 175 kmph (they had some issue with measuring devices)

I have a question, where did you get the clips of the F6 class? I could only find one clip.

Very good video thanks for sharing this also one sub from me. The steam locomotives are my favorite type of railway transport. 😁😁😁😃