# THE BEST LOCO EVER. PLEASE VOTE



## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

In your opinion, if you were asked which loco/diesel is/was the best loco/diesel ever made, which one would it be? Please vote and include a photo if possible. This is a carry over from my posting on a 2-10-10-2 I'm thinking of making, but now I'd like to hear your opinion on which one is the best ever made? For some it's a few BNSF diesels; and I agree in as far as I really like them too. I love the color scheme and lettering.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Without a clear definition of "best" all bets are off. 

My personal opinion is that the Sante Fe F7 with the War bonnet paint scheme is the BEST looking of the Dismals... I mean, Diseasels... errr... Dastardly Diesels. But even pretty colors don't make it the "BEST" loco ever. 

Does "BEST" mean biggest? Define "BIGGEST", does that mean Longest, Heaviest, Tallest, or most tractive effort? Big Boy, Y6, Triplex, and many others can claim "Biggest"... But which is "BEST"? 

I am partial to the American 4-4-0 known as the "General". Then there is the Nickel Plate Road 765 "Berkshire" or it's sister the Pere Marquette 1225.


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## ralphbrades (Jan 3, 2008)

Deltic. 

The undisputed *GOD* of English Electric diesels. When the last Deltic went silent in Kings Cross grown men were heard weeping, and some swore they would never watch trains again... 

http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/100_0620.JPG 

Butler Henderson. 

http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/DSCN1597.JPG 

The Great Central Railways 4-4-0 Express locomotive a lovely design by Robertson. An Edwardian locomotive statement. 

Avocet. 

http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/DCFC0104.JPG 

So good they preserved it TWICE(!) 

regards 

ralph


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Most will probably disagree with me on this, but my vote would be for the 4-4-0 American Standard. This locomotive was ubiquitous during the early days of American railroading and was still being built into the early 20th century. It's ability to negotiate sharp curves and uneven track, along with its simplicity, ruggedness, and relative ease of maintenance and repair MADE it the American Standard, and it was the very foundation motive power of the great American railroads. It was probably built in larger numbers than any other steam locomotive, and it was still in service right up until the end of steam. IMO it was also the most beautiful, especially the older ones with their wagontop boilers, elegant proportions and lines, Russian iron boiler jackets, polished wood and polished brass, gorgeous colors, and fancy gold striping and lettering - built and run during an era when railroads took great pride in their equipment. While the Mason Bogies were equally attractive, they weren't nearly as popular, as rugged, as powerful, nor did they track as well - especially those without pilot trucks.


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## aopagary (Jun 30, 2008)

it depends on your definition of best, but if it is aesthetics, i would choose the Challenger well before the Big Boy.
six weeks to go and counting!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

If you want a vote, set one up in the Poll Forum with your suggestions and a space for other. If some one doesn't like your choices, and they hit other they can add a post on their favorite engine. As you have set this thread up, there is nothing to vote on.

Chuck


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## jaug (Oct 18, 2011)

MY vote would be: In Elecric Locos, the Pensy GG1, with 4,620 HP and 57 inch drivers it achieved speeds of 100+ MPH and some units were in service for up to 50 years both in passanger and freight duty until replaced by the ASEA Rc4a in 1983. In my opinion it was the nicest looking electric locomotives ever built. As for Steam Locos I think I would go with the 4-8-8-4 Big Boys, just the mear size of this locomotive is breath taking and what a marvelously engineered machine.


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## rmcintir (Apr 24, 2009)

Representing the technological and aesthetic pinnacle of steam, the N&W J Class Locomotive:


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm stayin' out of this fight


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Best? 
Steam: 2-8-0 it was by far the most common class of engine ever made 
Dismal: GP-7/9 it was the single class that drove the steam engine into extinction


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Best? 
Steam: 2-8-0 it was by far the most common class of engine ever made 
Dismal: GP-7/9 it was the single class that drove the steam engine into extinction


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

If you define "best locomotive" as "performing the tasks it was designed to do"... The answer would probably be the Winans Camels. If they aren't actually best, they set the standard. We are talking single locomotive 80+ car coal drags over the mountains BEFORE the Civil War.... many had over 40 service years with just cosmetic changes, minor equipment upgrades and regular maintenance..... and only 3 documented catastrophic boiler failures (less than 1%), ever. 










If you define "best" as photogenic, however....


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

Steam 4-8-4 Northern
Diesel GP 7-9


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Definitely the consolidation. It spanned from the highly decorated period of the 1880s to tourist lines today. Came in all flavors. Used in all types of service.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Ironton on 20 Jul 2012 06:21 AM 
Definitely the consolidation. It spanned from the highly decorated period of the 1880s to tourist lines today. Came in all flavors. Used in all types of service. 
Not 1880's..The first was built in 1866! 
Here is the first, and the namesake for the class:










She was named "Consolidation" because of the recent consolidation of the Lehigh & Mahoney and Lehigh Valley Railroads,
(although it wasn't really a merger of equals..in reality the much larger LV was simply absorbing the smaller L&M)

She was designed as a heavy coal hauler, and was immediately successful, and the 2-8-0 went into production in huge numbers right then..
ending up being the single most successful wheel arrangement of all time..
estimates are 35,000 built world wide..

Scot


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Best loco ever? The Climax. 
As the saying goes "scratch two lines in the dirt and a climax will follow it." 
I'm also a big fan of the N&W J class and the NKP Berks. 
Modern locos? Dash 9 

Also a big fan of the SD9 Terry


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

I knew no matter which word(s) I used, someone would question my question and I still don't know how to put it, but I'll try to explain again. We all have one favorite loco, the loco we always buy and make sure it is always on our layout. Or a loco that you've read about or seen, and based on looks or performance, or speed, or pulling power, or all of the afore mentioned, is one that is special and makes you think: "That is the best dang loco they ever made. I gotta get me one of those." For some it might be as simple as a paint scheme, like UP or BNSF and it don't make no never mind what diesel or loco is behind the paint. I will, therefore, try to assemble a place to vote on your favorite loco. Personally, for me, who started out with a Lionel starter set my father bought 3 years before I was born, the first loco I just had to have, the one that was my favorite, was a 4-8-4 and I didn't care what it was. All I had at the time was my 2-6-2 I think, and when I saw a Lionel 4-8-4, it was a sight to behold; still takes my breath away. If someone visits your layout and/or collection and asks: "Which loco or diesel is your all-time favorite?" what would you say? When I first saw the diesels around town (we had a spur behind our house, and it was always a small switcher) I knew I had to have one; a UP FA-1 even, or an ABBA. So I have that now. Then I saw and heard of the 2-8-8-2 Mallet and I looked at the Aristo-Craft Mallet with awe and knew it was my new favorite, but how about those BNSF diesels? I gotta have about three of those. So if I had to choose my favorite, or best, or biggest, or most powerful right now, I'd have to choose a Big Boy, just because I love the look, and I'd love to just park it on a spur somewhere just so everyone would be able to see it. I've heard nothing but good things about it; everything I've read is from people who are awe struck. So based on those picked on this list, I'll try to get the "vote for one" post organized and see what happens. If anyone has a list of locos that have to be included, let me know. Should I list the locos by wheels? Like 2-4-0, 2-4-2, 2-6-0, or by name, like Mallet, etc. And as an after thought, the general is also a very special loco to me. It's hard to pick just one, ain't it? FESTUS


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

SD40-2 is still to this day the best selling diesel locomotive produced. Best selling as in railroads ordered more of the 40-2 than any other locomotive so far. That must mean something? 

Craig


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Okay... now that you have qualified the term "best" I think I can answer a bit more precisely... well... hmmmm... precision is in the mind of the beholder!









When I was 3 and a half years old, a steam locomotive "jumped out" from behind a building, blowing the whistle and belching steam all over (and under the car I was in) and SCARED me totally airborne (landed in GrandDad's lap) screaming "MOMMMYYYY!". THAT is the locomotive I want to buy a model of! I have studied photos of steam locomotives and studied locos in museums trying to remember what kind of loco it was! I remember it as BIG, but I was only 3 and everything was BIG to me. 

I have returned to the city where it occurred and studied old maps and books about the city trying to figure out where the event took place. I have spend hours reading newspapers from the time frame it had to have occurred in, to see if I could find what Friday (circumstances force it to have been on a Friday night) was hot and raining and I have narrowed it to just one of 3 dates: 6/10, 6/17 or 6/24 in 1949. But I cannot "prove" where the location of the event took place, so I cannot determine what RR it was. (I was hoping to find records of what train was in the area on one of those dates around 8 or 9 PM.)

I remember seeing a shadow moving in the cab and I could not see in the cab from the back as it passed and it was raining; so I believe it had closed glass windows and a very small gap between the engine and tender (the shadow was the fireman stoking the fire, so that implies it was a coal burner). I have no wheel count in my memory, but I have found that the Mikado (2-8-2) wheel arrangement "seems" to be the closest to what I remember... Thus I bought the Aster Mikado (2 of them actually!) and watching it pass at eye level certainly recreates a bit of the "pit of my stomach" feeling I had while airborne way back 63 years ago!

I like my Mikes, but I'd sell them and all of my railroad stuff, (dozens of models of all sorts and scales, and real RR artifacts -- bells, whistles, lights, junk and ephemera -- , if I could prove what Locomotive it was and have a model of just it.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

IMO, there are two different ways to approach this: 

1. What you think the *best* locomotive of all time is. 
2. What your *favorite* locomotive is.. 

Those two things are very seldom the same..and often, someones "favorite" locomotive can be an absolute loser in the "best to worst" lineup.. 
Many people like the Baldwin Sharks..not at all a successful series!  

Using one steam loco wheel arrangement is also problematic.. 
you cant really say "the best locomotive of all time is the 2-8-0 Consolidation" 
because that inst really *one* type of locomotive! ..not even close. 
Using the 2-8-0 (or 4-4-0, or any steam loco arrangement) as "one type of locomotive" is sort of like saying "All diesels with 4-axle trucks: switchers, F-units, GP7, GP20, GP35, GP38, GP40, GP50 Alco S2, Alco Rs1, RS2, RS3, RS11, C424, GE U25B, Baldwin Sharks, (and dozens of other models) are all ONE type of locomotive, because they have the same set of wheels underneath".. 
obviously no one believes that!  

We can separate diesels into different models much more easily that we can steam locos.. 
To treat steam and diesel models the same in an "apples to apples" sense we really have to use only one *order* of steam engines.. 
you can say "I think the New York Central Niagara 4-8-4 was the best locomotive ever made"..but "4-4-0" doesn't really work the same way, because the 4-4-0 was made over 100 years, and there were are about a thousand different models of 4-4-0 made, all very different from each other.. 

but still..this is all a matter of opinion anyway!  not fact..Personally I love the 2-8-0 Consolidation! and think it was a very successful "model".. 

My personal picks: 
Best - EMD SD40-2 
Favorite - Alco PA 

Scot


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Given to opinion there probably would never be a "best".....but there are some factual based overviews for steam reference:

Best of Steam 


When Size Matters 

I would have to agree with Dwight as to the course of Railroad History the locomotive that made the most impact was the Standard 4-4-0 (INYO and PRR D16sb my favorites). If I was running a railroad using steam locomotives I would also have a Northern for work beyond the capabilities of the 4-4-0 (most bang for buck). Which one... J611, GS4, FEF, Niagaras , Santa Fe (as per the order listed).


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## cfra7 (Jan 2, 2008)

Why not make it simple. Just ask if you could only have one engion on your g scale RR what would it be? For me it would probably be my 1:20 Mikado from Bachman.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Even if you decided to break this down by type of locomotive, you'd get different answers from:

The crew in the cab, who want comfort and ease of operation
the RR's accountants, who want low cost
the customers, who want reliability and speed
the railfan standing by the right of way, who wants it to look good. 


I'd go with the consolidation. As far as I know, "more consolidations were built than any other wheel arrangement." Long run in general use, from 1866 till the end of steam.

My personal favorite is the 4-4-2 Atlantic. Maybe even this one:


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## Festus (Jun 28, 2010)

Semper Vaporo.................love that story. Wish I could help and cash in on this hot deal.


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## Axel Tillmann (Jan 10, 2008)

Is it allowed to put a few European Engines into the running













































or Electroengines


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By lownote on 21 Jul 2012 06:11 PM 

I'd go with the consolidation. As far as I know, "more consolidations were built than any other wheel arrangement." Long run in general use, from 1866 till the end of steam.


lownote...
Around 25,000 4-4-0 locomotives were built by companies including Rogers, Baldwin, Cooke and Mason. 
There is a flaw in the number count for the 4-4-0 as it only indicates build by US based manufacturers. Numerous countries and their locomotive manufacturers made the 4-4-0 such as:
British/UK
Australia
Africa
Swiss
Germans
Russians
French
Finland
Canada

I am wondering if the world wide production number of 4-4-0 could easily match the 12,000 of Consolidations plus the US 25K


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## sqor (Jul 24, 2012)

My favorite is the Santa Fe F3 .... just something about the look and the time it was introduced makes it so cool


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Wow. You did open a can of worms with the "best loco ever" question. Best loco for what? and what time period? Talk about narrow gauge logging operations near the turn of 20th century and you'll get 3 dozen guys immediately debating the merits of Shay/Climax/Heislers. Talk about the mid 19th century and people will tell you the 4-4-0 American style loco was a defining loco for its day but ask about late 19th century or early to mid 20th century steam and people will then ask you...for what application? Passenger, freight, switching? What part of the country? The plains? the mountains? Up north? Out west? Urban commuter trains? That's why they made so many different configurations. 0-6-0, 2-8-0, 2-8-2, 4-6-2, 4-8-4, 2-6-6-2, 2-8-8-2.....etc, etc. If there had been one best engine....that's what they would've built. 
Lot's of engines were the 'best' in their own right for the job they did at the time they did it. A Pacific style engine was great for fast passenger service for many RRs, at the same era, but not interchangeable with, say, a Challenger for dragging coal trains up and down out of the mountains. The early road switcher and F series diesels could perform multiple tasks and were kind of 'multi-taskers' but still there wasn't a "best" locomotive for all duties and they made different motor and wheel configurations to suit the need of the specific carrier for passenger and freight applications to suit their specific terrain. Even today they don't just build one type of diesel locomotive. 
There were certainly engines in their day that were very versatile, a standard 2-8-0 could pull passenger trains, short freights, help push a coal drag up over a mountain and be used to switch cars in the yard but that wouldn't neccesarily make it the "best loco ever". Maybe one of the more versatile engines ever. Same could be said for road switchers like the Alco RS diesels and the early Geeps. Versatile.


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## D-n-H - Kirkville Branch (Jan 14, 2008)

I'm partial to the RS-3, the workhorse of many railroads during the early years of diesel PLUS with the amount of smoke they generated they could easily be considered the last of the "steam generation" LOL


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Give me a High Speed consolidation .... a 4-8-0 Mastadon! 
Elegance, grace and a puny firebox ... What more could you want?









Happy Rails 

John


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

The RS 3 and a Class M steamer are both examples of GREAT, locomotives but neither of them are going to climb up poorly laid, narrow gauge track to bring the logs down out of the mountains, they could certainly pull a passenger train, but not very swiftly, or maybe produce steam to climate control the passenger cars . You would also need a lot of them lashed together to go get the coal from places like the Clinchfield, C&O, Western Maryland, etc., etc. went to get the job done. I'm just sayin'...best loco...for what? It might be an easier question to ask what were the LOUSIEST engines produced to do specific tasks that failed to meet their design expectations. There were, unfortunately, quite a few designs that were expected to get a certain task done that were total turds when put into operation.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

I've always loved Shays. When we rode the Cass I was hooked. I appreciated the engineering in the real deal giving them their ability to climb and negotiate poor almost temporary trackage. 
Indeed Bachmann coming out with their Shay was the final push I needed to crawl out of the basement from my N scale to throwing down rails in the weeds. 

I also have an affinity for the look of most Mother Hubbards. Of course they were full of problems so they make interesting models (one day I've got to screw up the courage to try to model one) but weren't great locomotives considering they were explosive death traps!


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## CJGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

EMD SD-18, END OF STORY.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

I've enjoyed stirring the pot here but to answer the original post, for me it has always been the RS-3. No matter what scale, or RR I have modeled over the years, if they had one, I always seem to have to have one of them running around. Kind of dumpy looking, smoky, noisy things, not a sexy streamlined EMC TA or EA that looked like it was going 100 mph even sitting still. But I still have to have one. 

To stir the pot more no one has mentioned switchers. I think i read somewhere that by the the mid 40's there had been an estimated 15,000, 0-6-0 produced. Somebody must have thought they were the best for shunting cars around. 0-8-0 engines also. 

I'm also thinking of the other diesel switchers produced that went on to shortlines that ran day in and day out for decades as their main motive power. Again. I guess it depends on the task at hand as to what the best loco for the job is. 

For me, the RS-3 has to be in the top five for most applications, longevity and versatility of usage.


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## woody1492 (Aug 12, 2012)

wow you hit a nerve I went through the same thing be tween 1941 to 1946 and I am almost positive it would be the Mikado I met her in NY and in the new-york central station. my next meeting and memory of steam locomotives was in pennsylvania, whitch one of them I can not tell you, it was either the Mallet or the Big-Boy hauling coal. two in front, I could not count how many coal cars, then two more locomotives, then a bunch more coal cars then last but not least two more locomotives. I would watch them every day; the track was in front of the house I was living in at that time. all I can remumber is the steam and the smell of coal burning. the only difference in your story and mine is I was walking with my mother thru the steam.

fred s olds sr


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## woody1492 (Aug 12, 2012)

hi Festus I am new to here, but I like it very much and get a lot of info out of it. I have all ready ruffled feathers and most likely will ruffle more before I die. I don't know much about trains, big ones or little ones. ( this is all in my opinion ) in which I think I am entitled to as a member. in which era are you asking?? wood burning, coal burning, or the stinky diesel, and we also have electric, big and small. which I think we can forget. you probably figured out that I dont care for diesels. although I do like the santa fe chief -I think that is what it is called and by looks onlyl. I grow up seeing it in the desert of california. but I had steam all around me like the 2-8-8-2 , 4-8-0, 4-6-0 and many more in ohio penns, Az, cal, NY,. you are asking which is best??. what size?? a lot of power for a small loco and run on track that a goat would have a hard time with then I would say a climax, or a shay, or are you asking about brut HP then it would have either the 2-8-8-2. here it comes the big-boy. and please correct me if I am wrong but I still think that the big-boy is still used pulling trains over the mountains in the northern US or canada I do not know if it is still done or not. so at that I think that is your answer. BUT to say which is the best, it is up to the individual and what they like the best. me if it bellows out black smoke and hissses steam out the sides I love it. and is a lot better for the environment then diesel. and finally there is no end to the power of steam. you ??? it lets see a diesel push a nuck, aircraft carrier. this is all in my opinion. ok I have my helment and shoulder pads on. go for it.
fred


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