This seems to be a foam topic rather than serious preservation, but what the heck, it's Christmas............

Hands down, UP 3985 with 143 cars and almost 8,000 tons back in the early '90's after it's
conversion to oil, running Cheyenne to North Platte and making schedule time except for 1 service stop.

The entire North Platte yard came to a standstill momentarily when that showed up at the eastbound receiving yard.

Somebody whose name I won't mention on the Georgetown Loop many years ago........bringing 40 up the grade wide open with a full train after overhaul to see how well she'd do.

She did fine.....

dave

Two that I recall, both of which involved the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's 4-8-4's in fantrip service:

Class O5A #5618 on a photo run alongside the Mississippi River. The Northern backed up at least a mile and then brought her 4 car train past us FAST, supposedly with the train brakes set so she was really working! That was the engines last operations as she reportedly ran out of flue time 5 days after the weekend trip.

Class O5B #5632 being "given" the railroad on her run back from Galesburg with a 20 plus car train after the breakdown of 2-10-4 #6315 on the run out from Chicago made us very late! Folks on board who were able to time her from mileposts flashing by in the dark, reported her speed as in excess of 80 miles per hour.

If anyone ever decides to restore one of the remaining four O5's to service, I have told my wife that I will be there to lend a hand!

Les

I'm tempted to answer with 4449/700 and the NRHS trip to Wishram, WA for the Portland convention. It was really a sight to see these engines doubleheading and doing almost Amtrak speeds...

Here's 4449 on the return to Portland, coming out of that tunnel like a rifle bullet (I couldn't believe it wasn't blurry when i got the film back...)

But my ultimate experience with observing locomotive performance is one I never could have gotten a photo of.
Leaning out of the tool car window behind 1218 on a return trip to Jacksonville, FL from a run to Valdosta in the winter of 1987. She was doing mainline speeds and absolutely tearing southbound through the night. It was dark as the inside of midnight at the time, you could feel and hear her, but couldn't see anything but the glow of the headlight down the tracks. Everyone pressed halfway out that window snickered every time we saw a door fling open and the silhouettes of people standing there in disbelief at the sight. We were freezing in those open windows, but nobody cared.
I felt like I was inside a O Winston Link photo. But the sound, I'll never forget that, hearing a N&W A hooked up just right and doing what she did best...

Sitting beside the NYC main line (the "air line" tangent track) at the depot in Delta, Ohio, where my father took me when I was about 12 years old, and watching the parade of the steam-powered "great steel fleet" -- whistle wailing, rods flailing, smoke trailing low over the speeding train. Nothing I have seen since really approaches that drama.

Reading 2102 climbing Locust Summit in both directions unassisted on its last trip to Shamokin in 1964.

CP 2839 on Fairfax Hill in a thunderstorm around 1979 or 1980.

1522 turned a few heads during her restored running days.
The eastbound trip up Rolla Hill from Newburg, MO was an excellent example of what she was all about. Considerably over her tonnage limit from an old Frisco Employee Timetable rating. She never missed a beat and never offered to slip. No booster used and at the stiffest part of the grade just knuckeled down at a steady 12 MPH.
On an NS excursion to Centralia, IL she took the train up the eastbound approach to Merchant's Bridge in St. Louis and got a red signal right at the steepest part and had to stop. She started the train and after cutting in the booster just slowly went up the stiff grade and was slowly accelerating. Long train and near her tonnage rating.
Of course, she never went about her affairs quietly.
Quite and engine and made believers out of a lot of people.
Wish I could have been with the 3985 on that run to N. Platte.

p51

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXvydw7fhc

Here is video my dad took of that trip with the 1218. I remember being in the back of the truck and watching the headlight shoot through the trees that night.

CP 972, sometime around 1970 on a cold rainy October trip from Jim Thorpe to Nesquehoning PA... About a mile onto the branch, she stalled because of leaves on the rails and sand pipes plugged, not lined up directly on the rails. After repairs (read big hammer), she started the train again. The first exhaust was a crisp as a rifle shot, and echoed off the mountains before the next exhaust. One of those things that you had to be there to appreciate. I did get the whole trip on reel to reel tape, but have no idea if the tape is still around.

I have to say the 765 running flawless this past year on NS. I was lucky enough to spend two straight weeks with her in WV and then onto Conway, PA. I've been around this locomotive most of my life but she never ceases to amaze me at what she can do!

My personal favorite of the locomotive was on the return trip from Wolf Creek, WV back to Williamson. I was firing and a well respected, veteran engineer took the seat to get us going. Once we got the signal, he looked over and said "Start firing junior!" and it was on. He worked the throttle to get us moving and then next thing I know the throttle was on the roof. I've never hard the 765 pound that hard and get up to track speed so quick! After emerging from the tunnel that was around the bend, he backed off and gave the seat back to the regular engineer for the rest of the run. A moment I will never forget!!

WOW, thanks for that! I really think I saw myself on that runby at the crossing

Back in the Spring of 1987, I was hanging out doing some train chasing with a friend who was visiting from Scotland. It was the Monday or Tuesday after 1218's Inaugural excursion to Bluefield and she was heading back east on a ferry move. We were on the south side of the N&W main line opposite where the Blue Ridge station stood. We heard the "hooter" in the distance and the exhausts going in and out of sync, as 1218 came blasting upgrade at 40 mph with about 20 passenger cars. The ground shook, and time rolled back 30 years......

I havent heard anything about diesels in this thread, this is definately one reason for the restoration, you can't beat steam for the experience.

Let them rods hammer the rails....

some years back 1218 and NKP 587 dualed up near chicago I think I was near griffith IN or near, and when 1218 led, then 587 passed 2nd it shook the ground.

I think the 1218 is a pretty good balanced engine.

I'm glad there has been such a positive input from everyone, so here are a couple of my own:

1. Taking former Magma Arizona #5 and walking out of the yard with fifty plus cars of grain and a caboose from the ATSF yards to the Galveston Wharves on a transfer train. She was accelerating the whole load quite nicely until we had to stop and back the whole train into the yard, so I had to start the drag moving twice..

2. My first big steam experience: Listening to T&P 610 blast out of Navasota, Texas after a water stop from five miles away while waiting for her with my two railroader uncles and my father. They knew what was coming, and I had no clue. Once the 610 came in sight working up the grade, I understood in four to the beat thunderous exhaust exactly what they meant.....

3. Firing SP 786 with 14 cars on a cold December night with a light snow falling and the engineer starting the train from a dead stop on a two percent grade. She walked right up that four miles of grade singing a song. I had the steam guage sitting on 200 lbs. and the feedwater pump working and never losing either water or steam.. but man did she sound good!

One of the more interesting ones for me came from the tiny mine lokies of the Wanamie Railroad. I was mesmorized one time standing at the Railroad Street crossing as one of the lokies was pounding up the grade from the mines. You could close your eyes and imagine a 4-8-4 coming at you - only to have the illusion dashed when the whistle sounded and you opened your eyes, only to see an 0-4-0T working hard to get her train to the breaker.