1944: Steam’s last great year

By Angela Cotey | September 19, 2015

| Last updated on December 4, 2020

In our Fall 2019 issue, we devoted 36 pages to the 350-plus steam locomotives built for service in the U.S. and Canada in 1944. Some of the greatest stars of the steam era — including Santa Fe's 5011-class 2-10-4s, B&O's EM-1 2-8-8-4s, Nickel Plate's Berkshires, and Union Pacific's Big Boys — were built in that wartime year. Steam construction fell off sharply the following year, and never again approached the levels of 1944.

Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 2928. Near Romero, N.Mex., with second section of westbound California Limited, October 1947. Preston George photo

Santa Fe 2-10-4 No. 5023. East of Belen, N.Mex., with the eastbound Grand Canyon. Otto Perry photo

Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-10-4 No. 647. Climbing Conneaut Hill with an iron-ore train (and two 2-10-4 pushers). B&LE photo

Baltimore & Ohio EM-1 2-8-8-4 No. 7611. Eastbound at Altamont, W.Va., in the 1940s. Classic Trains collection

Chesapeake & Ohio H-8 2-6-6-6 No. 1622. At Alderson, W.Va., 1940s. B. F. Cutler photo

Chesapeake & Ohio K-4 2-8-4 No. 2721. Eastbound with 140 coal loads (and 2-6-6-2 pusher) at Dock, W.Va., September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo

Canadian National U-1-f 4-8-2 No. 6065. At Oshawa, Ont., mid-1940s. Robert Holden photo

Canadian National U-2-g 4-8-4 No. 6264. Eastbound at Oakville, Ont., June 1946. W. H. N. Rossiter photo

Canadian Pacific G5 4-6-2 No. 1200. Brand new at CP’s Angus Shops, Montreal, 1944. CP photo

Canadian Pacific G3 4-6-2 No. 2439. Westbound between Moose Jaw and Swift Current, Sask., December 1956. Robert Hale photo

Canadian Pacific P2 2-8-2 No. 5459. On turntable at Brownville Junction, Maine, July 1945. Jim Bennett photo

Rock Island R-67B 4-8-4 No. 5103. Westbound at Lawrence, Kans., January 1951. Robert Olmsted photo

Louisville & Nashville M-1 2-8-4 No. 1965. On the “slip track” for breaking in after overhaul at South Louisville Shops, mid-1948. W. Terrell Dickey photo

Lehigh & Hudson River 4-8-2 No. 11. At Maybrook, N.Y., 1949. Stanley Kitzelman photo

Milwaukee Road S3 4-8-4 No. 261. Westbound at Elm Grove, Wis., September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo

Norfolk & Western class A 2-6-6-4 No. 1231. Westbound at Blue Ridge, Va., August 1958. Jim Shaughnessy photo

Nickel Plate Road S-2 2-8-4 No. 750. Departing Bellevue, Ohio, with 124-car westbound freight, September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo

New York Central L-4 4-8-2 No. 3146. On turntable at Harmon, N.Y., late 1940s. Ed Nowak photo

Pere Marquette N-2 2-8-4 No. 1229. Eastbound at Trowbridge tower, 2 miles east of Lansing, Mich., on Chesapeake & Ohio’s Pere Marquette District, June 1950. James R. Stiefel photo

Pennsylvania Q2 4-4-6-4 No. 6131. Builder’s photo at Altoona, Pa., August 1944. PRR photo

Pennsylvania J1 2-10-4 No. 6171. Northbound north of Columbus, Ohio, September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo

Pennsylvania S2 6-8-6 turbine No. 6200. Eastbound at 21st Street Junction, Chicago, March 1948. Robert Bryson photo

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Z-8 4-6-6-4 No. 910. Eastbound at Marshall, Wash., circa 1950. Philip R. Hastings photo

Southern Pacific AC-12 4-8-8-2 No. 4293. Eastbound on Donner Pass just below Soda Springs, Calif., October 1947. Jim Morley photo

Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 835. At Denver Union Station with President Truman’s campaign train, Sept. 20, 1948. Elmer Treolar photo

Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 No. 3937. North Platte, Nebr., circa 1948–49. Arthur Stensvad photo

Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 No. 4024. Under the coal dock at Laramie, Wyo., August 1957. Jim Shaughnessy photo