The SP 4449 and N&W 611 are my two favorites! It is sad that all six Milwaukee Road F7 locomotives were scrapped, and that's why I honestly hate Milwaukee Road in my opinion. I would love to Imagine Daylight 4449 and the F7 class Hiawatha steam engine (if would've be preserved) would remind me of Gordon and Spencer from Thomas and friends!

The PRR T1 represents the pinnacle of steam locomotive design in the United States. These locomotives had the capability of achieving speeds in excess of 120 mph, and anecdotal reports indicate that speeds of up to 140 mph were attained. None survive today. However, the T1 Trust is raising money to build a brand new T1 from original plans. They plan to do steam railfan trips with it.

Union Pacific fefs had a top speed of 120 mph. They were specifically designed to be able to handle twenty something passenger cars at 90 so that top speed of 85mph doesn’t line up.

The N&W J class 611 was originally restored in 1982 and put into excursion service until the late 1990s, when it was retired again and placed on display under a cover at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. It was re-restored in 2015.

The Drefuss Hudson (Used for the 20th Century limited) is sometimes argued to be faster than Mallard since the Hudson can be run at 123 mph with no issues while the Mallard was known to sustain damage from constant speeds over 100.

There are anecdotal reports of PRR T-1s exceeding 140 mph in regular service between Crestline, OH, and Chicago, IL.

I got to see 844 fly pasts between 70 and 80 mph here in Eastern Oregon. It was a sight to behold.

Great job on the video! Thank you! I saw the N&W 611 (standing and at speed) in Cleveland OH in late '89 or early '90 and shot a little video at that time. It was a beast!

Just in case you were not aware: The "Daylight" Paint scheme on the 4449 harkens back to her assignment pulling Southern Pacific's "Daylight Limited" - the express train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California along the "Coast Route".

Brother there was a locomotive in pensilvania railroad called S-1 duplex it was doing 156mp/hr (or)250km/hr. It was a compatetor to T-1 class.

I’m impressed with your list. Thanks for your time bud.

If I can please make a small interjection the Union Pacific FEF 844 was clocked at 124mph during testing and the t1 class was estimated to top out at 157mph but they never took it to that speed

A few years back I talked with a Pensy worker, retired, who said he got a T-1 up to 135 mph from Baltimore to Washington. It had not topped out at that, having to back it off due to approaching Landover, MD.

Thanks for the video. Awesome news about the steam locomotives

Another honorable mention on this list is the B&O Cincinnatian P7 Pacific, They pulled the Royal Blue to speeds up towards 80 mph on the route between Jersey City and Washington

Is this a list of the top 10 fastest steam locomotives or a list of you 10 favorite steam locomotives? Because there are a lot more faster engines than 90mph in the US.

The design top speed of the Union Pacific 4-8-4's was about 100 mph. 844 ran that fast on test, and probably at least close to that in regular service when making up time. 815 ran 102 mph with a thousand ton train, including a dynamometer car, in 1938. The occasion was an Association of American Railroads test. There are several books recording this, including " The Mighty 800 " by William W. Kratville , "Locomotive Practice and Performance in the Twentieth Century" by Cecil J. Allen, and "Giants of Steam" by Jonathan Glancey.

Thank you for that, very interesting.

Thank you for this video!

Savannah, Florida & Western No. 110, a 4-6-0, covered five miles in two and a half minutes near Screven, Georgia, in 1900. (That's 120 mph.)

Nicely done video.

Good video, I cannot get over how you said Oregon though😅

the first 2 locomotives #4014 and #844 had been used to celebrate UP's history. I'm so glad to see #4014 back alive. Even if it's no longer coal-fired (it's oil-fired now) it's a "gentle giant" back to service

Thank you for putting ATSF 3751 on the list. It’s my favorite steam locomotive.

The old railroaders always boasted of achieving ludicrous top speeds. I for one choose not to doubt them. Also the "Living Legend" part of UP 844, comes from the fact that it's never been retired or taken out of service. Certainly the only mainline steam locomotive that can boast such.

I heard years back from old guys they could get the GS's up to 120+ with a full daylight consist! Also heard those C&O streamliners were pretty quick :)

Savannah, Florida & Western (Plant System) 4-6-0 #110 which covered 5 miles in two and a half minutes in 1900 - 120 mph. There are lots of fast American locomotives.

The "Steam--ie's,..... come on.......

Awesomeness!

The N&W J class locomotives like #611 had a theoretical top speed of 140 mph. The 110 mph number is because there was no track that the N&W had that was straight enough and level enough for the J's to get to top speed. That speed was achieved on a section of track on PRR's Ft. Wayne Division with a 1,050 ton, 15 car train, which is quite impressive. For it's size, the Class J's were probably one of the fastest trains in the world. The drivers were extremely well balanced, which allowed the high speed.

Amazing

Nice video

You did a good job buddy

The..... steam.......ie's........ good lord........

The PRR T1 is another one of my favorites

FEF-3 my favorite lol and saw it, liked

UP 844 was never retired, that's why it's call the Living Legend. Big Boy #4014 was retired in 1964, and was restored back into service by 2019, replacing Challenger #3985, which was first retired in 1962, but restored to service in 1981.

good job! Watching that big boy go down the tracks Was like looking at America made into metal And steam.

I’m curious, where did you get these numbers from?

NKP 765 and UP 4014 are my favorite trains in usa!!

the nyc 4-6-4 is my favorite

Hey! Did the blueprints and construction manifests for the Blue Comet survive, in case someone got the idea of building a replica?

Incredible technology. Steam is always been impressive.

Union Pacific 844 has a top speed of 120mph not 85mph

Great informative video of the 10 fastest American steam locomotives. My favorite two in the video are the Southern Pacific streamlined 4-8-4 GS-4 number 4449 in Daylight colors that was built by the Lima locomotive works in Lima, Ohio in 1941 and the Norfolk & Western railroad Streamlined 4-8-4 J class number 611 that the Norfolk & Western railroad built in their Roanoke, Virginia shops in 1950. Ther is another favorite steam locomotive which was built by the Baldwin Locomotive works which is the Southern Pacific cab forward 2-8-8-4 AC-12 locomotive number 4294 which is on display at the nations very best state railroad museum in Sacramento, California at the California State Railroad Museum .

GREAT.

What about the PRR K4 Pasifices? Are they fast American Steam Locomotives too?

Can't wait to see the T1 on the rails!

You must annunciate young sir. Thank you for the vid. Great work!

America made some beautiful locomotives.

Nice

the Hiawatha, PRR T1, J3a Hudson, Milwaukee road F3, and many more were well capable of 80mph. Even locomotives back in the 1880s were breaking that speed on a regular basis. 80mph really isn't that fast. The entirety of this list should be at least 110mph with how technology progressed in later years.

Fun list, nice job. Always tough to make a list, because so many others have their own ideas. I would have found it interesting to have seen - perhaps in your comments, the criteria you used in selection. ie: fastest claimed/theoretical speed, fastest measured speed, fastest with a train, fastest as regularly scheduled... there are so many competing claims for top speed it has always been a contentious subject. A list of your sources would have been fun for the serious geeks in here. Some examples of what I mean are things like NY Central's Engine 999 claimed a speed of 112.5 Mph on May 10th, 1893. Of course the English claim Mallard's top speed of 126 mph (on a downgrade) on 3 July 1938 - but then, some folks quibble because in doing so she damaged a bearing and wasn't able to complete her scheduled trip. So many old questions that will never be answered to everyone's satisfaction. But I liked you list, many engines I know and admire, a couple that I was unfamiliar with.

to this day, the new york central video is the only yt video ive seen of an american steamer actually GUNNING it

C&O 614 was owned by Ross Rowland. She was the last 4-8-4 built and was designed to run all day at 125mph with very little maintenance. Check out "614T coal train". She was brought back for tests and then ran excursions for years. She still exists.

Cool

Big Boys were limited to 55 mph in actual operation per UP operating rules. They became unstable above that speed. N&J Js were rarely run above 75 mph in operation. The PRR (who owed a large stake of the N&W at that time) borrowed a J for testing. They were looking for a more powerful engine to replace their K4 4-6-2. The did run it at 110 mph, but severely damaged the J due to high machinery speeds. The J's 70 inch drivers were designed to move a train at more moderate speeds in mountain regions, not for the PRR's Pittsburgh to Chicago racetrack line. The PRR eventually settled on the T1 duplex, which was designed to run at 100+ mph, but the T1 came too late in the steam era to make an impact. It was replaced by diesel-electrics almost as soon as it came into service.

Good Job! Now, if you do some more research you'll find that the British set their record pulling just one car, while the 20th Century Limited ran at 120mph with 12 cars on a regular basis. The British engine also suffered a breakdown and had to be repaired, it was never run as fast on it's regular run from London to Edinburgh. Eventually the New York Central would make more powerful locomotives that could haul more cars rather then just being faster. So the 20th Century Limited was always known for it's high speed no matter what loco they used.

Steam ended on the 20th century limited waaaay before 67. Plus, there were I think 5 Dreyfus streamlined Hudson’s and many more of their class, the J3a Hudson. The locomotives, much less the entire train, were not preserved and not a single NYC Hudson of any denomination survives except for a lone tender converted into a steam heating car or something like that. Very fascinating story and my favorite standard gauge steam locomotives, but probably not the fastest.

Funny thing is that I'm sixteen and I still like steamers. I guess growing up with TTT&F it's kind of engraved into you. I actually attend the 2016 Day Out with Thomas and saw the 611 in Spencer, NC the same year.

I dig that fact on the UP 4014.

My Dad talked about the Powatan Arrow and said it was one of the fastest, Just a mention, Thanks

Can’t wait for T1 to be built but let’s build a Niagara

Big Boy, the only big boy locomotive remaining in his kind

The N&W J class were NOT designed for speed. I have read that the engine was designed to pull a1500 ton passenger train up a grade which is a description of the old alignment up Elkhorn Mountain between Keystone WV and Bluefield. 70 in drivers are for pulling power, not speed.

Did anyone else notice the two people crossing the tracks in front of 4449 at about 7.07 minutes? It's unsafe things like this that discourage the railroads from allowing excursions.

New York central = BIG SPEED

His voice really grates

2 is the new york central hudson

GREAT...GREAT...

I'd love to see the NKP 765 "Big Berk" beat the 20th Century Limited' top speed.

The Big Boys were never used for passenger service. They were built for pulling LONG freight trains. So UP4014 shouldn’t even be mentioned in this video. Considering all the errors mentioned already, Phantom should redo or pull this video.

Not really into trains but I found this video and decided to watch it but I just thought it random fun fact is cool there is a restaurant in my town that was called the Blue comet diner and it had a picture of what looks like that train as it's sign out front I think there once was all right close now of course small town PA

Lord the nickel plate road in the beginning is so fast

There's one way to see if the T1 135mph claim is true. Build it and run it.

The Milwaukee road 261 is also a fast steam locomotive

the 20th century lmimted like all the hudson (exept one) were scraped

You forgot the PRR S1 and NYC Niagara

844 routinely when in service and still to this day goes well in excess of 84 MPH.

Did anyone else’s heart nearly stop when the two nuts went running across the tracks in front of one of those trains?

for as small of a channel as this, this is SOME OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY CONTENT TO COME OUT OF A SUB 1,000,000 SUBSCRIBER CHANNEL! ive seen worse quality videos come from 10,000,000 subscriber channels! keep up the high quality!!!

Is the 20th centrey limited still around to day?

The Duluth Missabe & Iron Range "Yellowstones" were bigger and hauled heavier than the "Big Boys." The "Yellowstones" only were used for hauling iron ore cars from the Iron Range ore pits to the ore docks in Duluth and Superior Wisc. The Yellowstones were 2-8-8-2 mallets with smaller drivers than the Big Boys. They were designed for sheer brute pulling power and not used for any other rail traffic.

there is three types of the gs4s daylight, american freedom train, and the wartime black/war baby

844 has a top speed of 120 mph

what is the fastest steam train in the world

It is widely known that the two fastest locomotives with proven speed records, in N. America, then and now, are the PRR Atlantic E-6 and the Canadian Pacific Jubilee Class 4-4-4. The latter has a proven record of 112 mph during a brake test. The Class J and the NYC S1-b Niagara were the only two Northern types delivered with roller bearings throughout. It was only after their proven records of reliability and lower fuel use that other roads began to order theirs, or had their existing locomotives converted. But, the J only had/has 70" drivers, and is therefore limited to how fast it can run, not because of the driver diameter but because of 'tribology'. That means how the lubrication works at high temps and pressures, which a fast running J would certainly impart to its valves and cylinders. The Pennsy trialed a J and ran it up to 100 mph. Upon inspection, the mechanics found that one of the two valves was burnt. No known records exist, that I know of, that show a high speed in the T1 Duplex that is mentioned, but I will grant that they must have made up time by exceeding 105 mph. All steam locomotives' rides begin to suffer, with increasing crew anxiety, at speeds above 60 mph (the Norfolk & Western Y6-b Mallets, as an example, roller bearings notwithstanding) and upwards of 105 mph for the other Northerns.

Actually, the UP844's top speed was designed to be 110 MPH. High speed photography reveled excessive rod flex at higher speeds so the top operating speed is now limited to the mid 70's

I'll never understand why the US was into scrapping everything especially the NYC 4-6-4 truly amazing speeds😢

NYC J3a was streamlined in 1938 non of these J3a streamlined Hudson's survive today... Imagine seeing a 4-8-2 mohawk being rebuilt into a Hudson

4449 appears in red white and blue when it was the “freedom train” celebrating the US bicentennial in 1976

The SP 4449 is another G.O.A.T.

From what I remember, there were stories saying that the drivers of the F7s would be told to run as fast as possible. Some claims of 130mph on the F7s existed though none were officially documented as a record i think, correct me if I'm wrong

The last 2 you introduced would have almost qualified as _bullet trains_ (200km/h). Word has it that there is at least one (quite probably more, probably younger) that can go that fast.

A train is not a train if you’re just referring to the locomotive

The Chicago to New Orleans run would see common average speeds in the 120MPH range. I read one review where an engineer maintained 140MPH on one outing, and this in the 1920's What made all this possible was men and track gangs. A certain mileage of track was assigned to crews along the entire length of the railroad. There only job was to make that mileage assigned to them, perfect. That is a lot of men on the payroll for maintenance, and as unions demanded more, they were priced out of existence making alternative methods necessary. Now, electronic inspection cars and sensors on locomotives can analyze track data, but whether railroads are as fastidious as they used to be about track condition is a question. If it is desired to go back to the old days of steam and track speeds, the answer is in the track and its upkeep. World railroad history pales in comparison to what we had in the US at one time. Train travel in Britain. The whole country is the size of NC. Train travel in Germany? Germany is half the size of Texas(which makes you wonder why they think they could defeat the US in WW II). It was said you could travel from California to New York and not walk more that 2 blocks, with our interconnected trolleys, interurban, and passenger trains. It was all dismantled for the sale of buses and tires, a point brought home a couple decades ago when Greenpeace one a lawsuit against GM and Firestone proving that exact point, but the penalty was nothing, where perhaps they should have been required to rebuild the system.

0:56 Bigboy joined the topten of fasted steamer despite designed primarily for freight and as Mallets (which aren't expected to be fast)

In 2002, in honor of the victims of 9/11, the 4449 was repainted in its red white and blue paint job that it beared when it pulled the American Freedom Train from 1975-1976.

The big boys can go 80mph, not that surprising than the rising FEF-1-3 Steamers having a top speed of 120MPH

The 844 can go 110 they just won't let it because it will tear itself apart