Locomotives

Articulated compound locomotive

The Mallet articulated compound locomotive was introduced in Europe in 1887 and in the United States in 1904. It used two sets of driving wheels propelled by two independent steam engines, and the boiler was pivoted on the chassis. The power of steam locomotives was determined by their size, and their length was restricted by the curves in the track over which they ran. Articulation permitted the locomotive to be longer because it could pivot around curves.

The first electric locomotives

The first electric locomotives appeared in service on a branch of the New Haven & Hartford Railroad in the United States on June 28, 1895. The first main line electric locomotive service began just five weeks later on the Baltimore & Ohio.
Diesel locomotives were first built in Switzerland in 1912, but were initially deemed less efficient than their steampowered cousins (see page 39). The first practical streamlined diesel was the German Flying Hamburger, which started operation in May 1932. In the United States, the diesel streamliner Pioneer Zephyr made a lOl5-mile (1633-km) nonstop run on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad between Denver and Chicago, averaging 77.6 mph (124 kph), on May 26, 1934. By the late 1930s, diesel locomotives began replacing steam on most major passenger routes in North America, and by the mid-1950s they were the leading means of motive power on American railroads, although they were far outnumbered by electric locomotives in Europe.