Top 15 Extinct American Steam Locomotives 

Watching this makes me appreciate the restoration of the Big boy even more.

Good news on the T-1! One is being built from SCRATCH and is currently 35% done!

As a small correction, the B&O EM-1's were purchased during WWII. B&O wanted diesels, but they could not get them due to war time allocations (Santa Fe got diesels because hauling tank trains of water to desert stations was a big tie-up in resources) and had to wait until after 1945. Indeed, without WWII, the curtain would have fallen on steam much earlier - perhaps as much as ten years earlier. The B&O HS "Sentinel" had an article some time ago citing that post about the supposed "saved" EM-1. It was pointed out that the B&O Museum as we know it today did not exist at the time and Mount Clare was still a working facility; there was no place to keep an engine that large and B&O was in poor financial condition (it would "affiliate" with C&O around 1962 or 1963). Truly a beautiful engine, but it was already obsolete when it rolled out of Eddystone. My late grandfather was a trainman in Fairmont and got to see them first hand. He said that deep whistle was unlike anything he ever heard. In those days they ran "coal drags" straight through from Fairmont to Keyser and, although he was occasionally called to work a "Keyser Turn", he never got to ride a 7600 over the mountains. BTW I think in railfan lore Sand Patch and Seventeen Mile are more "famous" than "infamous", although those grades (including Cranberry, Cheat, and Newburg) were true tests of man and his machines.

The CofG actually wanted to save one of their Big Apples, number 451, but the railroad couldn't find a city to accept it and sadly had to cut it up. Still breaks my heart today.

I swear, If I ever become filthy rich, I'm going to rebuild these locomotives and have them run on tourist lines. I SWEAR.

When I was a youngster living in Island, KY,, circa 1955, my dad would take us to town occasionally to get haircuts for me and my younger brother. A highlight of the trip would be to hear a freight train's whistle signalling it's approach. Even if we were in the seat getting clipped by barber, G.E. Hughes, we were allowed to run out back to a spot just above the tracks to see the behemoth steam engines race by, belching ash and smoke. What a spectacle it was! It made such an impression on me as a 6 year old kid. I never forgot those trains and how they made the ground vibrate beneath our feet.

it's awesome that UP has restored their Big Boy.....

An "O" scale EM=1, 2-8-8-4 and a Hudson J2, 4-6-4 by Lionel run the rails around my home. The realistic sounds from speakers in the tenders and the exquisite detail in their construction gives us all a wonderful look back into the past century. Reading the history and manufacturing techniques that created these great beasts gives amazing insight into how we evolved into the industrial age.

My father was a steamfitter for the DL&W (Delaware, Lackawanna & Western RR in Scranton, PA. I would lie in bed and listen to the steam engines pulling long lines of coal cars out of the yards starting out slowly and at times wheel slippage would occur necessitating starting over again. In many cases a pusher engine would be employed to help the pulling engine get moving. Most of the coal fired engines were converted to oil which was a bit cleaner. Since my father was an employee of the railroad, he and his immediate family had free passage on the passenger trains. As a youngster I traveled many times to NYC, arriving in Penn Station, to see the circus , B'way shows (which were very affordable a the time) eat at my favorite place (the automat) see the displays at Macy's & Gimbal's, the Easter parade etc. Wonderful times that are now inaccessible to many low income people (of which I was one). This was a time when Scranton still had horse drawn cart vendors, the peripatetic sharpener with his grinding wheel pack on his back, coal deliveries to the houses, a bar on EVERY corner, etc. I only ever rode a diesel powered train once out of Lackawanna (Scranton) station in my first year of college. After dad died the free train service stopped and the route to NYC had been discontinued. My father took me when I was still a young boy, to the RR yard in South Scranton where repairs to the engines were made at the "Roundhouse". A locomotive was being sent to be repaired and the engineer whom my father knew Pulled me up and put my hand on the throttle saying "push it forward very slowly" and let me move the locomotive about 20 feet while he kept his hand over mine. A big thrill for a liltle boy.

That jingle between each locomotive is going to haunt my dreams.

We in the UK currently have about ten new steam locomotives under construction. Building the first one is the key - it seems that once the concept is proved then everyone gets on with their own project. I'd love to see one or two of these vast US engines recreated.

That S-1 and Milwaukee Road have a very 1920's futurism aesthetic to it that I find really cool to look at.

While I'm a bigger fan of British steamers than American ones, I sure appreciate the effort and great amount of passion that went into this video. You've earned yourself another subscriber! If I had the chance to save one class of American steam loco though, I would have gone with the T-38 "Camelback" locomotive. Those ugly ducklings have such a unique design, gotta love 'em, I guess..! As for British, I'm not sure. Either another LNER A3, or a LBSCR E2. Granted, the E2s were a technical failure, but they're so iconic being the basis for Thomas the Tank Engine (and I'm a big Thomas fan..!) And their con of water shortage was made up for in the later batch with extended side tanks. On the other hand, the A3s WERE a colossal success, with that enormous firebox of theirs, and the introduction to the new Pacific wheel arrangement. Before that class was drawn to, no engine was powerful enough to tackle the increasingly long and heavy trains from London to Edinburgh. Flying Scotsman simply deserves the company of a preserved sister. It's tough for me to decide!

i am not into trains and locomtovies at all, but i actually enjoyed this piece of content and learned a little about these old beasts.

19-year-old me: *doesn't know half of these trains existed* 4-year-old me, who know almost every train: [press Y to shame]

I was once a Head Brakeman on the Milwaukee Road and rode frequently on their 4-8-4 Northern S-2, and S-3 machines. I'm sure I served on S-3 261 which is restored and in frequent excursion service being billed as the largest coal fired steam locomotive in current service. I remember how exhilarating it was to go storming through the countryside and small towns at 60mph daring anyone to get in the way of that huge solid pilot.

Sincere thanks! I'm so glad that I was able to travel, as a child, on several steam trains, from Chicago to several points in the Midwest. I will always remember the excitement of watching the locomotives approach, and the thrill of listening to the engines and feeling their sheer power -- almost like they were alive!

Thank you Mr. Kovacs for this, you're helping to preserve our American railroad heritage.

They are not retired, just waiting until we need them again.

Interesting and educational. My preference would be the R1 and R2 2-8-8-2 Mallets of the Great Northern.

An old friend of mine(he's 95) told me a story not too long ago about how a friend of his from the army got the chance to ride behind a T1, and in eastern Ohio they did 131 MPH, but it was a "don't tell corporate" type of run

Big boy: heres a little lesson in trickery

So glad I got to see the UP Big Boy 4014 in action. This vid makes me really appreciate the opportunity.

4014 is alive again

i'm 71. I wish was I was older to see these guys in action. I bearly remember Soo-Line steam in my hometown of Stevens Point, Wis.

God. I wished they still kept the 4 6 4 Hiawathas. They were beautiful engines.

With 3D printing we could make any of these engines if we wanted to. Like the streamliners for sure.

Regarding the Y6 A and the Y6 B, I think you mean 166,-000 pounds of tractive Effort or draw-bar pull, not horsepower.

You really jumped the gun with this video, dude. This is pretty amazing, the top 15 American steam loco classes that were forgotten, cut up by mistake or were in cases of "close but no cigar" is something I was not expecting from you. 1,000,000,000/10 for something completely different in steam engine tributes which are the forgotten American railroad legends.

That was terrific....I didn't realize the Hudson Engines were extinct

Watched 4014 steam through Dixon, Illinois on July 30th this year. A beautiful creature to behold.

I find it unique that the T1 duplex is the only locomotive on this list that is being rebuilt. There's one I saw for the 4-4-0 Claud Hamilton locomotives of Great Britain. All of the Clauds were scrapped when the diesels took over, but I heard that a group will do another rebuild project, just like what they did for that one Pacific class locomotive. They intend on building a brand new Claud Hamilton locomotive. I don't remember what they are numbering it, but they are gonna name it "Phoenix"

Great Video! One locomotive (in my opinion) that I think should have been added to the list is the Union Pacific's 9000 class 4-12-2's. Although number 9000 is still in existence, 88 of these beautiful locomotives were made and the first one made was the only one that managed escape the scrape yard, traveling on its own power to the RailGiants museum in Pomona, California in 1956...

The New York Central " NIAGARA's" were the most powerful of their kind, and they had the largest boilers and drive wheels, so I would like to see a new Niagara more than any of the others. Fortunately the Model Trains do have excellent model versions of the Niagara's to fire the Nostalgia and imaginations of generations yet to come. The water pans and scoops that made water stops unnecessary for The Niagara's would have been awesome to witness at full throttle on The New York Central.

At 4:09 the term "horsepower" is used when it should be "pounds of tractive effort". No locomotive of any form of propulsion ever generated anything close to those horsepower ratings.

My favorite extinct steam locomotive is the Wabash P1 class. They were rebuilt mikados and just beautiful transformation into Hudson’s

I was born and raised in Altoona, PA (1943-1960). Both grandfathers were engineers on the PRR and uncles and cousins worked in the PRR Juanita Shops. And I visit the Horseshoe Curve as much as possible. These trains and their magical sounds are embedded in my soul. Thanks for a great presentation.

A well researched and thought out video. I'm old enough to barely remember steam in service, so I really do appreciate someone taking the time to post something like this. And I will NOT argue with your choices -- you more than likely had more options and decided on these. Although it would be a hoot to see a Y6b, Big Boy, Challenger, EM-1, and some other 'big 'uns" pulling freight [together]...

Thank you very much for your effort on putting this together. I am totally enamored with the old steam locomotives. Both my Grandfathers worked for the railroads (one was an engineer and the other was a conductor). I am almost 70 years old and one of my very first memories in this life was sitting on my Grandfathers lap while he moved a steam engine around the railroad train yard. All I recall is the heat from the firebox and the smell of burning coal ( One of my favorite smells)! I also went out two weeks ago and got to see the UP Big Boy under power on its way to Arizona. I followed it from Beaumont to Indio. What a thrill! Anyway, thank you very much again for your efforts! Nice job!!!

The T1 and M1 locos are my absolute favorite steam engines ever made, the streamlining and overall design are just astounding. Though the Southern Pacific Daylight is another favorite of mine, you can't beat the strangness of the M1.

Your #1 PRR 6-8-6 was done by Lionel in the early 1950 & I have one that I use on my great grandson's train setup. Nice to know it was preserved by Lionel.

R.I.P these trains they will be remembered as classics and legends throughout train history. And may the tracks be their grave till the end.

Seeing all the videos that other channels produce, it makes me appreciate these videos more. Reminds me of a simpler time when everyone WASN'T just making videos about historic steam locomotive rankings.

Fantastic video! My grandpa worked for the N&W during the steam era and he had a builders plate and a hooter whistle from a Y6b. I now have both items in my N&W collection.

The funny thing is, that the Swedish were able to develop the steam turbine locomotive to the point where it actually worked well. Heck, so well in fact that 2 have been preserved! There's footage of one of them working with a timber train, so we'd have an idea on what steam turbine locomotives would've sounded like had they been running.

RIP Pennsylvania Railroad S1, N&W Y6B, Erie & Virgin Triplexes,Southern Pacific AC-9s, Prr & c&o 2-10-4s, New Haven I5s 4-6-4,Milwaukee Road F7 and Class A, Florida East Coast Mountain Types, Western Maryland 4-8-4s,

The S1 from Pennsylvania Railroad was a huge monster made of metal

The S1 is a personal favorite. Even if it was a trash design, it would've made a great museum display. That ones on you, Pennsylvania.

My Grandfather, L. T. Weeks, drove that train and others for NW until 1959. I have a photo of him posing the train at Crewe VA.

Honestly that T1 group has the right idea What it comes down to is we need to Build "Reproduction" verisons of these extinct locos if not a working running version for excursion service then at least as Static display pieces for museums just to represent their classes place in history I know for a fact i would love to see the Hiawathas make a come back

6:23. the other engines have bigger fireboxes, while henry has a small firebox i think the triplex locomotives should get some welsh coal

Loved the Top 15 -- Sad to seem them go. Thanks for the video work and extensive editing. You provide a great service. Dean from Minnesota

From the long ago days of my youth, I remember the sound, the subtle vibration of the platform and most of all the smell of the steam locomotives that pulled the train that I often took to school. Then one day there was a diesel.

Wow these are stunning locomotives!! Liked, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful part of history!! :D Have a great weekend!!

Great presentation brother. In Russia they have a whole graveyard of steam engines. I still remember the one steam train in Moldova (previously Moldavia in former USSR) as a museum piece sitting in front of the train station in city called Benderi. Still there today just as I remembered it from 1989 when I was 8 years old

Delightful and informative. Particularly interesting was the No. 1 selection that displayed an innovative approach that was short-lived and economically unable to be further refined. Too bad the concept had not been explored earlier. Thumbs up for including it!

Thank god for model railroading where they live on forever

The fact the triplexes could come to a hard stop on a grade and still continue after rebuilding steam, should speak to their pure pulling power.

Don't forget the designers who put their ideas on blue prints and the shop craftsmen who made the parts and built these magnificent machines.

Western Pacific had 10 Baldwin Chesapeake 2-8-8-2 locomotives running the Feather River route. They were cut up for scrap in the early 50s.

Alexa This Is So sad, Play Thomas The Tank Engine Theme Bass Boosted

I wish they'd rebuild a Dreyfus Hudson, those things looked awesome.

I'm glad that the T1 Trust knows the T1s problems and are fixing them, such as the spring bed and changing the type a poppet valve gears for type b2 rotary cam valve gears. Hopefully it will improve the locomotives performance.

I have ridden the Amtrak rails from Pittsburgh, PA, to Whitefish, MT, a few times. I love rail travel and I wish I could ride on steam-powered trains for extended journeys. The few steam trains we have been able to ride have merely whetted our appetites. Thanks for this marvelous video and here's to steam! 😎

That is a very cool list! I think you should do more of these, like the Top 15 Extinct Diesel Locomotives. I think you did leave out two great locos: Maybe the NP class EM-1s and the Streamlined Santa Fe Blue Goose Hudson

That's very sad for some steam locomotives but at least I've learned a really good history lesson.

Beautiful and amazing beasts that have been on the railroad for years: **gets scrapped** *Thomas has never seen such bullshit before*

Chris, EXCELLENT PRODUCTION! Totally enjoyed it with my morning Java. Earned a subscribe❤

Very interesting list. Your research was clearly very thorough. The only locomotives that I think deserve to be mentioned (while they aren't an entire class) are the Jupiter and the 119, simply because they are arguably the 2 most famous locomotives in U.S. railroad history. Maybe also the SP GS-2's and 3's as well as some of the standard gauge DRGW locomotives. If you were to include logging engines, I'd also throw in the 4 truck shay.

A part 2 please? i LOVE this video and it would make my day (and probably some others) if you were to make a part two. Basically what i am saying is “PLEASE MAKE A PART 2!!!!!!”

There was the 0-6-6-0 Mallets on the B&O and KCS which used as road locomotives, KCS also reportedly had the largest Shays at 150 tons.

What a great video! I really appreciate you making this. I love history and this is good stuff.

And now is 2018 T1 5550 is coming along, I am hoping it continues to completion, that is one locomotive I would love to see in operation more than just about any other.

Sometimes, I admire of the inventions we have built in the past just to take a break from the environmental problems happening today.

I have wondered what happened to the locomotive that pulled the Spirit of 76 train throughout the USA in 1976. I saw it and thought it to be a real beauty but it has been too long ago to remember exactly which it was. I would love to see a documentary on that train.

4:45 "It was sold to a scrap yard in Roanoke, where it's sat until 1976." *RIP N&W Y6b 2174*

Here are some of the locomotives where only one of their type still exists in America: 1. Southern Pacific SP-2 (4-10-2) #5021 2. Norfolk and Western Y6A (2-6-6-4) #1218 3. Norfolk and Western Class J (4-8-4) #611 (which was restored after a wreck and still lives today, even after retirement) 4. Union Pacific FEF-1 (4-8-4) #814 5. Union Pacific FEF-2 (4-8-4) #833 6. Union Pacific UP-1 through UP-5 (4-12-2) #9000 (which was restored after a boiler explosion and preserved after retirement) 7. PRR L1 (2-8-2) #520 8. PRR M1 (4-8-2) #6755 9. PRR D16sb (4-4-0) #1223 10. PRR E7 (4-4-2) #7002

9:22 OMG, I just noticed, there's a PRR T-1 duplex in the picture next to the J-1, almost out of frame. How cool is that?

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to put together such a good educational vid!

I really like your list Chris. I especially liked how you included the PRR S1, NYC Hudsons, Niagaras, WM Northerns or Potomacs, and the turbines. I would’ve like to have seen some engines from the Monon Railway and L&N Railway though, as well as many of the extinct Challengers. Other than that, you did great!

top marks for that but what a real shame they were scrapped

Some really beautiful locomotives on his list

my grandfather and my uncle worked at the juniata gap train yard and when I went to school I walk past the yard every day so beautiful and so sad to see it gone.GOD BLESS MODEL RAILROAD, h.o. SCALE MY FAVORITE !!!!! VERY INFORMATIVE !!!

Excellent! I'm neither a steam or train enthusiast but I thought this was a good insight to the world of steam trains and at the same time an interesting piece of history. How anyone could dislike this video or narration defies me.

It was NOT 166,000 HP, but TRACTIVE EFFORT!!!

Excellent video, Most entertaining and educational - Yes sad that so many in the US were not preserved but it's a mega expensive venture just to preserve, then maintain even the smallest locomotive let alone some of these giants of the rails. I often complain that some of my favourite British steam locomotive weren't rescued and preserved but we have got a great number of survivors operating and earning their keep on lots of heritage railways together with some working the main network rail routes across the UK, not forgetting also the many narrow gauge steam locos in service.

Man, would I love to have seen those locomotives back in their hay days, just hauling their trains and chugging along; those were truly the good old days.

I sincerely hope you folks can restore more of these superb engines wherever possible, the build from the tracks up has been done in the UK and if they can do it so can you! All power to your elbow on this and keep steam alive in America, these are "living" engineering feats not just a railway engine! Excellent documentry.

I remember as a small child seeing the big steamers moving in and out of the round house on Navigation Street in Houston Texas.

I never knew about steam turbine train engines. Thanks so much for sharing. 😉👌

My grandfather and one of my uncles worked for the Rock Island Line, so on many occasions, we visited the Chicago and Joliet rail yards. In the mid to late fifties, I remember the massive, dirty steam engines huffing and puffing through the yards. Everything was black and grimy and the grit seemed to have a magnetic attraction to everything entering the yard. I never realized that I was born at the end of the steam age. In fact, 1952 seemed to be a major turning point for steam, as it quickly disappeared from the working rail scene by the early sixties. As a young boy, I found these belching iron monsters truly impressive and fascinating, with their smoke plumes and steam exhausting everywhere. They seemed to be alive, whereas diesel electric engines, while truly impressive in performance, took rail into an age of cold, hard machinery. I felt this same change in my profession when I began flying jet aircraft. Jets are a "by-the-book" proposition. “Flying by the numbers” is an accurate description of the procedural requirements of the jet, whereas old, reciprocating engine aircraft seemed to have a soul of their own. You flew them largely by feel, not by instruments. As I have long said, "jets have no soul;" perhaps the same is true for the modern locomotive. I note how, as with old aircraft, steam rail aficionados now seem to be mostly older men. The "romance" of aviation, together with the "romance" of rail, has faded with advancing, cold-blooded technology. A desire to return to the "humanity" of that bygone era might well explain the "steam punk" phenomenon. This “progress” was due to war. The drive for wartime technology development eclipsed many existing technologies of the early to mid twentieth century. Aircraft went through the same process of change as the locomotive, with recips giving way to the jet. As with these massive steam locomotives, rapidly advancing reciprocating aircraft engine technology suddenly stalled and then disappeared, with aircraft from that era largely being relegated to scrapyards or museum status. It is interesting to note that steam power is very much alive and well. In fact, the steam turbine technology that ran the last generation of steam locomotives was much the same as that now used in modern, nuclear powered vessels. In terms of power, turbine technology changed everything from aircraft, with its jet turbine, to ships and even turbo charged automobiles. Ironically, rail services left that rapidly advancing technology to return to older diesel-electric technology that came into use largely due to the diesel electric submarine of WWII. At one time, there was even a locomotive called the "U-boat." Children today are too busy with their cell phones to notice mundane things like trains and planes. Digital technology will eventually automate every form of transportation. After all, full automation is now down to the level of automobiles driving themselves. For most children, these once iconic vehicles of western civilization’s development are of no more interest than other utilitarian devices like the toaster oven. Eventually, when “Quantum Teleportation” is fully developed, like the dinosaur, these vehicles will disappear altogether, leaving only rusty, corroded bones to mark their passage.

I'm a fan of steam locomotives. When I was 3 years old in 1957, I remember we took a train headed by a steam locomotive from NYC (I was born in upper Manhattan on May 3rd, 1954) to Cleveland Ohio where my dad's parents lived on W 114th St a few houses north of the Nickel Plate railroad. I remember waiting at the crossing while a steam loco passed pulling a freight train.

That's quite an interesting video, it's sad alot of those steam engines are no more, but I was surprised to hear that a new PRR T1 is going to be built. I wish the steam trust good luck with their work, cause truth be told, I've always wanted to see one with my own two eyes.

Love the music in the beginning!! Lol Great Trains. & video!! Thanks

I so enjoy this. I come watch often. So interesting and a really GREAT video!

I can definitely agree with your choice of #1. And the looks were incredible too!

For me, I absolutely love the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Poconos. There's something about them that I like.

Well done!!! Proved how little I knew of the steam era because I was born too late!!

This was such a great watch thank you!

Excellent presentation. Very informative. Thank you!