One of the inventors of the world's first steam locomotive George Stephenson downloaded that the creation of such a machine was made possible thanks to the painstaking work of a whole generation of inventors. Beautiful and powerful steam-powered locomotives faithfully served humanity for almost 2 centuries, and today they work on tourist routes, in the depot, and have also become valuable museum exhibits. We will plunge into the recent past to present the largest steam engines that have ever run along the railways of different countries.
1
Union Pacific Railroad. USA
This is the largest steam locomotive in the world, nicknamed Big Boy, which in translation into Russian means "Big Boy", "Big Boy". Our colleagues from TheBiggest.ru included this model in their list of the fastest locomotives in the world.
These giants were produced at the American ALCO plant from 1941 to 1944. The 4000 series had an articulated type with a wheel formula of 2-3-0 + 0-3-2. They worked on the railroads laid through the Wasatch mountain pass.
Colin Garrett writes about a unique engine in his book. The name Big Boy was fixed after one of the factory workers, when the giant left the assembly line, wrote these two words with chalk on board.
Please note that there is a fascinating article on the most beautiful train stations in the world on our site most-beauty.ru.
2
I-01. the USSR
In 1932, in the shops of the British factory Bayer-Peacock & Co. °, an experimental Soviet tank-locomotive series Y was manufactured. They assembled it at the Proletarian plant in Leningrad, and sent it for testing.
He became the only articulated locomotive of the Garratt system on Soviet railways. With a length of 31.1 m, he weighed a little more than 226 tons. It had two separate crews, and the boilers reached the power needed to move heavy trains.
Over time, the Ya-01 was decommissioned, so the repair and manufacture of parts for a single machine was impractical.
3
P38. the USSR
The review on most-beauty.ru will continue the largest of the Soviet steam locomotive of the P series, manufactured by the Kolomensky Zavod. The first copy came off the assembly line at the end of 1954, and was sent to the Krasnoyarsk Railway for testing.
In the history of Soviet steam locomotive building, it became also the most difficult. A total of 4 experimental P38s were produced, and the steam locomotive was not launched into mass production. The fact is that in 1956 a resolution was adopted to expand the work on the creation of electric and diesel locomotives. The sunset of the locomotive era began.
Note that the P38 was an articulated steam engine with a wheel formula of 1-4 + 4-2 intended for transportation of heavy rolling stock. Its length was 22.5 m.
4
BR-05. Germany
A series of "05" began to be produced in 1935. The new German steam engines were to show the economic power of the new Hitler state.
In total, three cars were assembled under the series "001", "002" and "003". The German giant had a streamlined body painted in bright red. Passenger routes between cities served these locomotives, and one was specially seconded to transport passengers at the Munich Olympics.
The length of the locomotive reached 26 meters. "BR-05" went down in history as a speed record holder. On a flat section of the road in May 1936, the engine reached a speed of 200.4 km / h.
5
AA the USSR
The only instance of a large steam locomotive with a 4-14-4 wheel arrangement was assembled by the workers of the Voroshilovgrad plant in 1934. It became the only one in the USSR that had 7 pairs of moving wheels.
The length of the prototype was 20 meters and a weight of 208 tons. “Andrei Andreev” was sent for testing, but because of its size, it simply did not fit into the turns, but destroyed the railway track with its mass.
The designer and a group of engineers tried to improve the design, but were not launched into the AA series. Almost 30 years after decommissioning, it stood on the Shcherbinka siding, and in 1960 it was cut into metal.
6
IS20-16. the USSR
The steam engine "Joseph Stalin" was created at the Voroshilovgrad steam locomotive plant in 1936. On this particular model, an aerodynamic casing was installed, and the locomotive itself shone with steel color.
He became one of the largest and heaviest locomotives of the Soviet Union. After testing the carrying capacity and speed characteristics, he solemnly arrived in Moscow. The model was striking in its size and power. Developed a speed of over 100 km / h.
In 1937, a similar locomotive was assembled under the number IS20-241, which became the winner of the exhibition in Paris. Serially produced similar models without a streamlined casing, and in 1962 the series "Joseph Stalin" was called "FD" - Felix Dzerzhinsky.
By the way, on our site most-beauty.ru there is an interesting article about the most beautiful locomotives in the world.
Conclusion
On the pedestals of many cities are steam locomotives, as a memory of the steam era in the history of Mankind. Large steam locomotives were able to freely transport various cargoes and passengers, and most importantly, at their sizes they developed high speed.
Article author: Valery Skiba