The Hunter Valley Steamfest in New South Wales, Australia holds a Great Steam Train race every so often. [more inside]
posted by pjern on Oct 30, 2010 - 7 comments

Union Pacific's steam locomotive No. 844 has a rich and storied history. Delivered in 1944, No. 844 pulled the Overland Limited, the Los Angeles Limited, the Portland Rose and the Challenger. When diesel locomotives began pulling passenger trains, No. 844 was transferred to freight service in 1957, and in 1960 it was held for special service. Today, No. 844 travels the country as Union Pacific's "living legend". Here's its schedule. If you're in the Bay Area, No. 844 is on display today, from 8a to 6p at the Oakland yard.
posted by mattdidthat on Apr 21, 2009 - 17 comments

On a traditional steam locomotive the pistons drive the wheels directly via cranks. An unusual looking series of variants, the geared locomotives, took a different approach - using gears and driveshafts, giving them an advantage in traction at the cost of speed, making them ideal for steap grades and tight curves of logging railroads. The most common was the Shay Locomotive (video), with it's vertical pistons. Other variant included the Climax (video, seen at the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad) and the Heisler, which had it's pistons in a V-formation (video). Many examples of the geared locomotive can be found at the Northwest Railway Museum.
posted by Artw on Nov 8, 2008 - 19 comments

Steam Train Maury caught the Westbound home. The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind and you won't find no policemen there.
posted by orthogonality on Nov 21, 2006 - 38 comments