Milwaukee Road class F7
The F7s are major contenders for the fastest steam locomotives ever built, as they ran at over daily. One run in January 1941 recorded by a reporter for "Trains" magazine saw achieved twice—in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. Baron Gérard Vuillet, a French railroading expert, once recorded a run between Chicago and Milwaukee where the locomotive reached and sustained an average for . However, the British locomotive LNER Class A4 4468 "Mallard" is officially accepted to be the world's fastest, with a run recorded at but authenticated at 126 mph in 1938.
Le Mistral (train)
Still steam-hauled in 1964, the "Mistral" was one of the fastest trains in France, with an "average" speed of on the Paris – Dijon section, as well as an average speed of 129 km/h on its Valence – Avignon section. It also had the distinction of being the train with the "world's fastest schedule for [a route of] over 500 miles", averaging on its Paris – Marseille section. Slower speeds on the more "rugged country" between Marseille and Nice brought the average speed down to over the full 1,086 km route from Paris to Nice, which was nevertheless a relatively high average speed for 1964. Soon after that, electrification of the route was completed, and "Le Mistral" began being hauled by modern electric locomotives; starting in 1969, it was Class CC 6500 locomotives. This change along with new passenger coaches increased the train's average speed and shortened the travel time, the latter going from 10 hours, 21 minutes, in 1964 to just over 9 hours in June 1969.