Classy as can be, thanks for the interesting infos Georg.
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| Posted by FSWood on April 15, 2014 | |
Living in a non-metric place, I had to Google the conversions: 180 km/h = 111.8 mph & 2.3m drivers = 90.5 inch, 7foot 6inch, drivers. Yep, very clear that that baby was born to go fast!
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That is an amazing locomotive.
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Not to start an argument... but i always thought the English A4 'Peppercorn' pacific was the fastest steam locomotive?
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| Posted by FSWood on April 16, 2014 | |
There may be a difference between "the fastest steam locomotive" and the fastest according to official documentation. Pennsylvania's E series Atlantics were pretty fast and may have been just as speedy, but there doesn't appear to have been an official world record attempt with one. And there could easily be several steam locomotives around the world and through history which were capable of that kind of speed but were not officially tested and documented.
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@ Colin Buckowski: The word "operational" is the key. It is clear, that several steam locomotives were even faster than the 18 201, but this locomotive would be still capable to do this nowadays.
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Hi Colin
Well the A4 are not allowed to run that fast anymore. Thats why 18201 is TODAY the fastest Steam loco.
Felix
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Oh, okay. Thank you everyone who responded, i guess i never really thought of it that way. I know one of the A4s just did i think a 90 mph run, which is pretty impressive when you think the age of these things. Would they allow this locomotive to go anywhere near its top speed now days?
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Hi Colin
Yes the preservation society runs 100mph specials from time to time. Those are booked out normally. This Locomotive was built solely for high speed tests not for normal revenue services! Although in time of need it was pressed into express train duties.
Felix
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| Posted by FSWood on April 18, 2014 | |
Ultimately, no matter who it belongs to or what the exact speed to three decimal points is, the concept of a steam locomotive and train weighing together upwards of 500 tons going 100mph, 160kph, or more, on nothing but the power of hot water is a pretty mind-blowing concept. And to top that off, think how fast the pistons and valve gear linkages are moving at the rate of wheel rotations required for those speeds.
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