LNER Class A4
The Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 "Mallard", holds the world record as the fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen - Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.
Saint Paul Union Depot
The "Morning Hiawatha" may have held the record as the world's fastest steam train on two or more measures: The run from Sparta to Portage, Wisconsin was scheduled for 58 minutes—an average of . Speeds up to and above were achieved on a daily basis, and the powerful Milwaukee Road class F7 engines (designed for a "reserve speed" of ) likely ran more miles at or above than any other steam locomotives in history.