Angola In 1951, six locomotives were built by
North British Locomotive Company to the design of the
South African Class 19D for the
Angolan Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB or
Benguela railway) as their 11th Class.
Australia Unlike some other countries which utilised the design for heavy passenger duties, the Australian was more typically used as a heavy goods locomotive with small coupled wheels and a very large firebox. The first in Australia was the gauge
Q class of the
Tasmanian Government Railways. Nineteen were built in batches between 1922 and 1945 by
Perry Engineering in South Australia,
Walkers Limited of Maryborough, Queensland and
Clyde Engineering of New South Wales. Until 1950, the class handled the majority of mainline goods trains around the state.
Armstrong Whitworth built ten
500 class 4-8-2 locomotives for the
South Australian Railways in 1926. They were the most powerful locomotives in Australia at the time and the heaviest non-articulated locomotives yet built in the United Kingdom. In 1929, they were modified to 500B class
4-8-4 Northern locomotives. No. 5701 The three-cylinder
D57 class locomotive of the
New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was one of the largest and most powerful locomotives ever built in Australia. Twenty-five were built by Clyde Engineering from 1929. With their large grates and
tractive effort, they were put to good use on the steep, 1 in 33 (3%) and 1 in 40 (2½%)
gradients leading out of
Sydney on the New South Wales mainlines. The D57 design was developed further in 1950 with the smaller cylindered
D58 class, of which thirteen were built at the
Eveleigh and
Cardiff Locomotive Workshops of the NSWGR. This class proved to be less successful, suffering from reliability problems attributed to the rack and pinion valve gear that was used for the third cylinder instead of the
Gresley-Holcroft valve gear that was used on the D57 class. No. W934 The
Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) introduced two classes of 4-8-2 locomotives for freight haulage on the state's network. The first was the
S class, of which ten were built at the WAGR
Midland Railway Workshops from 1943, with the locomotives named after West Australian mountains. The second was the
W class, of which 64 were built by
Beyer, Peacock & Company in 1951 and 1952. The 4-8-2 layout allowed for the weight of these relatively powerful locomotives to be spread over a number of axles, resulting in the W class having a maximum axle load of less than 10 tons. It also enabled the incorporation of a wide firebox for burning poor-quality coal. In 1951, the
Tasmanian Government Railways purchased a modern 4-8-2 locomotive, the
H class. Eight locomotives were built by
Vulcan Foundry for freight train working.
Bulgaria In 1941, the
Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) placed an order with
Henschel & Son in Germany for fifty BDZ class 03 express passenger locomotives. They were of the type (2-4-1 axle arrangement, simple steam expansion, superheating, three-cylinder, fast train service) and were designed to be capable of hauling heavy passenger trains over the often severe profiles of the Bulgarian mainlines, with gradients of up to 2.8%. The first two locomotives were delivered by the end of 1941. During trials, it proved that the specifications of the BDZ designing engineers were correct and that they had successfully overcome the shortcomings of insufficient power and some construction problems that had been experienced with the BDZ
Mikado class 01 and class 02 locomotives. Mass production began the following year, but was interrupted by war restrictions introduced by the German authorities and delivery was halted before the full order was filled. Only ten more locomotives were built and delivered at the end of 1942 and early 1943, and the total number of the BDZ class 03 remained at twelve locomotives, numbered 03.01 to 03.12. After 1958, these locomotives were gradually converted to mixed fuel oil and coal firing, which resulted in improved steaming ability and better performance, particularly on mountainous lines. During their 35 years of service, they exhibited excellent performance with only minor problems such as oval wear on the leading axle's inside crank. After factory repair, one of these locomotives, no. 03.12, was preserved in the depot at
Gorna Oryahovitsa and returned to operation for tourist trains.
Canada The
Angus Shops of
Canadian Pacific (CP) built a pair of locomotives in 1914. While they were not replicated, CP kept them in service for thirty years. CP reverted to
4-6-2 Pacific locomotives before moving on to the
4-6-4 Hudson.
Canadian National operated eighty
U-1 class locomotives in passenger service, built by
Montreal Locomotive Works in 1944. The last twenty, designated the
U-1-f class, were delivered with semi-streamlined conical smokebox covers that earned them the nickname of
Bullet Nose Bettys.
Czechoslovakia The
Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) introduced the 498.0 class express passenger locomotive in 1938 following successful trials in the
Tatra Mountains comparing it to an alternative
2-8-4 Berkshire prototype. In 1954, the design was developed further into the 498.1 class. These technically sophisticated locomotives were reputedly capable of 11%
thermal efficiency. The ČSD also built a lighter and more numerous 475 class locomotive.
France In France, the Mountain, known as the 241 type based on its axle arrangement, began to be used on the more undulating routes as increasingly heavy loads, brought about by the introduction of all-steel passenger cars after 1918, began to overtax the hill-climbing capabilities of the existing
Pacific and the speed capabilities of
Mikado locomotives. Altogether 275 locomotives were built for French service. • The
Chemins de fer de l'Est (Est) took delivery of a prototype four-cylinder compound locomotive from its own
Épernay shops in 1925. This was the first Mountain type to be built for commercial service within France. The Est subsequently ordered forty production locomotives in 1930, based on the prototype design but with improvements. Delivery took place over the following three years. One of these, 241.004, ended up in
Germany during
World War II and served in the
East German Deutsche Reichsbahn until 1955 as , the only Mountain in German service. • Between 1930 and 1932, the
Chemins de Fer de l'État (État) obtained 49 locomotives built to the design of the Est. Under
SNCF management after 1938, these locomotives were transferred to the Est region and served there for the rest of their service lives. • The
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) introduced 145 bullet-nosed Class 241A compound Mountain types in 1925 to increase train speeds over the Seuil de Bourgogne incline. This four-cylinder
compound locomotive was unusual in having short connecting rods for the outside high-pressure cylinders that connected to the first driving axle rather than the second, as was typical of most six- or eight-coupled locomotives. Possibly as a result of this, the locomotive did not run smoothly at speeds faster than . In addition, to limit the weight the built-up locomotive frames were lightly constructed, which allowed torsion and flexing that caused the wheel bearings to overheat. This problem was never solved on the PLM engines. However, despite these shortcomings and true to the Mountain type, they were still able to haul heavy passenger trains over gradients at speed and could take an 800 tonne load over a 1 in 200 gradient at . No. 241.P 17 • Based on the Class 241A, the unique PLM Class 241C1, built in 1930, had connecting rods linking the second and third driving axles. This locomotive served as the prototype for development of the post-war standard
SNCF Class 241P. • The PLM also experimented with a high-pressure watertube boiler on the unique
PLM 241B1 prototype, constructed with a German Schmidt-Henschel boiler in 1930. Soon it was learned, however, that this locomotive was a failure; it was retired and broken up by the mid-1930s. • The État also built a prototype three-cylinder simple expansion locomotive in 1932, the 241.101, which was an embarrassing failure for the company but which was later converted by
André Chapelon into the legendary SNCF Class 242A1
4-8-4 Northern locomotive. • The SNCF, with design input from
André Chapelon, developed the earlier PLM 241C1 into the 35-strong
Class 241P in 1948. These locomotives, although prone to axle box problems caused by a frame that was not rigid enough for the output of the cylinders, were nevertheless very effective and some were still running in the early 1970s.
Mozambique In March and July 1973, twelve reboilered South African Railways
Class 15BR locomotives, built by
Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in
Canada between 1918 and 1922, were sold to
Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), the Mozambique Railways, where they were mainly used for shunting at
Lourenco Marques and occasionally on freight service to
Swaziland.
New Zealand The first of eighteen
X class De Glehn compound locomotives, designed by
Alfred Beattie, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between 1900 and 1913, was built by the NZR's
Addington Workshops in
Christchurch in 1908. The first locomotive in the world to be designed and built as a tender locomotive, it was designed to haul heavy freight trains on the newly completed mountainous central section of the
North Island Main Trunk. One member of the pioneering X class survives and is currently located at the depot of the
Feilding and District Steam Rail Society. In 1948, another ten locomotives, numbered the 100-class, were ordered from the
Pennsylvania-based
Vulcan Iron Works. Another 10 were built in 1948. Both the rebuilt 170 class and the new 100 class were decommissioned starting in 1956, when MRR ordered the replacement of all its steam locomotives with diesel locomotives such as the
GE UM12C. None of these locomotives were preserved like all of MRR's steam locomotives.
Poland In 1931 three
Pu29 mountains were delivered to
PKP. They were used predominantly to pull heavy trains between
East Prussia exclave and main territory of
Germany, transiting through the Polish Pomerania, also known as the
Polish Corridor.
Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia Two locomotives were built in 1952 by
Henschel & Son to the design of the
South African Class 19D, for the
Nkana copper mines in
Northern Rhodesia (now
Zambia). They were numbered 337 and 338 in the
Rhodesia Railways 19th class number range.
Southern Rhodesia A lighter version of the
South African Class 4A 4-8-2 was built for the
Rhodesia Railways (RR) by
North British Locomotive Company (NBL) in 1921. It was designated the RR 10th Class and was used on the long section south of
Bulawayo in
Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) through
Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) to Mafeking in the Cape Province. Like the South African Class 4A, the RR 10th Class had a combustion chamber, the only RR locomotive class with this feature. In 1955, four more, without superheating and numbered from 1 to 4, were built to the design of the South African Class 19D by NBL for the
Wankie Colliery in Southern Rhodesia. • When the
4-10-2T Reid Tenwheelers of the NGR, designed by Locomotive Superintendent G.W. Reid, began to be withdrawn from mainline service for branch line and shunting duties c. 1909, they were gradually converted to a wheel arrangement by removing the fifth set of coupled wheels. In 1912, five such converted locomotives, originally built by Dübs between 1901 and 1903, were designated
Class H2 on the SAR. The SAR converted many more Reid Ten-wheelers to , but reclassified only the first three of these to Class H2, while the rest retained their
Class H classification even after modification. • In 1902, the Imperial Military Railways placed 35 tank locomotives in service, built by Dübs and
Neilson, Reid and Company to the specifications of the
Reid Tenwheeler of the NGR. They became the Class E on the
Central South African Railways, who converted six of them to tank locomotives. In 1912, the five survivors were designated
Class H1 on the SAR. SAR introduced seven Class 15 variants between 1914 and 1938. • In 1914, ten
Class 15 locomotives entered service, built by NBL and designed by Hendrie as large mixed traffic locomotives with larger coupled wheels for use in the
Orange Free State, where grades and curvature were less severe than on the coastal sections. To reduce the weight on the trailing wheels, steel fireboxes were used, a feature that became standard on large locomotives, but necessitated the introduction of water treatment plants in some parts of the country to prevent corrosion. • In 1929, 36
Class 19A locomotives entered service. It was a later model of the Class 19, but redesigned by Collins to achieve a lighter axle loading by reducing the coupled wheel diameter from , reducing the cylinder diameter from and by using a smaller boiler. They were built by
Swiss Locomotive & Machine Works (SLM). The first type to be introduced, although earlier by only a few weeks, was the NORTE 4000 class, 4001–4047 in 1925 and 4049–4066 later. This was a huge four-cylinder
compound machine with a working order weight and coupled wheels, a diameter that was believed to be ideal for passenger locomotives in the mountainous Peninsula. It performed very well on heavy express trains from
Madrid to the French border in
Irun. Although built in Spain, the type was of German design.
Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Zaragoza y Alicante (MZA) commissioned the 1700 type (1701–1795), built by
La Maquinista Terrestre y Marítima (MTM) in
Barcelona. It was a rude two-cylinder simple expansion locomotive, also with coupled wheels and slightly lighter than its NORTE counterpart, with the first ones of 1925 at 159.5 tonnes and the last ones of 1930 at 163.44 tonnes. A controversy arose in Spain between the defenders of these two types. The 4000 was slightly more powerful, but the simplicity and reliability of the Spanish-designed 1700 was preferred. The MZA commissioned an enhanced 1700 type, designed with a streamlined casing
á la mode and designated the 1800 type. The
Spanish Civil War interrupted construction and the ten machines were only completed after the war ended in 1939. Although well-designed and good performers in theory, they lacked the advantages of streamlined casing and especially suffered from problems associated with the high-pressure boiler, which needed specially designed lubricators that were not available in impoverished postwar Spain. The NORTE launched the 4648 just before
RENFE was established in 1941. It was an enhanced 4600 type with new designed cylinders after the proposals of
André Chapelon. The locomotive was slightly more powerful than her sisters and RENFE commissioned 28 more to be built between 1946 and 1948. The increased capacity of the new machines never reached its full potential, however, due to the lack of maintenance typical of post-war Spain. In 1944, RENFE commissioned the 2700 type to run on former MZA lines. The type used the high-capacity boiler designed for the
2-10-2 Santa Fe type of 1942. They were very powerful machines with weights exceeding 204 tonnes and with coupled wheels. They performed well and were appreciated by the crews who called them
Bonitas (prettys). A coal-fired and stoker-equipped design, they were converted to oil-firing in the 1950s. Construction ceased in 1952, with 57 locomotives having been built. The last one was retired in 1973. One is preserved (241-2238F) in
Móra la Nova (
Tarragona,
Catalonia,
Spain) for the APPFI enthusiast association that intends to restore it to running order.
United Kingdom The United Kingdom's entire population of Mountain locomotives consists of
Hercules and
Samson, the two gauge locomotives of the
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway in
Kent, England. The locomotives were built by
Davey Paxman in 1927. The
Southern Railway considered using 4-8-2s for express trains before changing to the 2-8-2 and eventually 4-6-2 design, leading to the
Bulleid pacifics. The
London and North Eastern Railway had designs for 4-8-2s, but during WWII the British government forbid the development of express passenger locomotives, so the plans were dropped. Following the LNER chief mechanical engineer
Sir Nigel Gresley’s death from illness in 1941, neither
Edward Thompson nor
Arthur Peppercorn resumed the 4-8-2 project, and after the United Kingdom nationalized private railway companies into
British Railways in 1948, only 4-6-2s were pursued as express locomotives with the
BR Standard Class 6 and
7 (though they were classified as mixed-traffic), as well as rebuilt versions of the aforementioned 4-6-2s of Bulleid’s design, which would last until
dieselization.
United States The was most popular on the North American continent. When the
4-6-2 Pacific fleets were becoming overburdened as passenger trains grew in length and weight, the first North American locomotives were built by the
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1911. It is possible that the "Mountain" name was originated by C&O, after the
Allegheny Mountains where their first locomotives were built to work. ALCO combined the traction of the eight-coupled
2-8-2 Mikado with the excellent tracking qualities of the Pacific's four-wheel leading truck. Although C&O intended their new Mountains for passenger service, the type also proved ideal for the new, faster freight services that railroads in the United States were introducing. Many locomotives were therefore built for dual service. About 2,200 Mountain type locomotives were built for 41 American railroads. With 600 locomotives, the largest user in the United States was the
New York Central Railroad (NYC), but they used the name, "
Mohawk" rather than "Mountain". Other large users in the United States were the
Pennsylvania Railroad with 301
Class M1, Class M1a and Class M1b locomotives that were used mostly for fast freight service, the
Florida East Coast with ninety passenger locomotives, the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad with seventy, and the
Southern Railway with fifty-eight. The heaviest s in the world were twenty-three
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco) 4400 class locomotives, built by the railroad between 1939 and 1945, using boilers from older 2-10-2 locomotives, riding cast-steel frames, and weighing over . These were a follow-up to the Frisco's 4300 class, similarly rebuilt at their
Springfield, Missouri shops with some parts from 2-10-2s and new cast frames, but with new boilers. The most powerful 4-8-2s in the world were twenty
2600 class locomotives (Nos. 2600-2619) owned by the
Illinois Central Railroad; they were equipped with boilers, and they were able to produce a tractive effort of . The 2600s were constructed in the early 1940s at the Illinois Central's shops in
Paducah, Kentucky, and they were among 146 4-8-2 locomotives the railroad rostered. The
Southern Pacific Railroad ordered seventy-five MT-class 4-8-2s from ALCO for both freight and passenger service. One notable example is
Frisco No. 1522, one of thirty T-54 class Mountains built by Baldwin in 1926. It became the only North American 4-8-2 to have regularly pulled multiple mainline excursion trains. It pulled excursions from 1988 to 2002, but rising insurance rates and a flue sheet cracked beyond repair forced it back into retirement. As of 2026, No. 1522 is on static display at the
National Museum of Transportation in
St Louis. ==Original buyers==