The fascinating story of the British steam locomotive
Britain was the birthplace of the steam locomotive and even today, the world speed record for steam remains with a British locomotive, Mallard. The steam locomotive went through several distinct phases during its long life, which came to an end on regular service in the late 1960s. There was the early phase, then the trend for large single driving wheels, compound locomotives with connected driving wheels once steel became strong enough for the connecting rods, tanks engines that could run equally well forwards and backwards, the 4-6-0 and 4-6-2 expresses, the passion for speed records and streamlining, and then the standardization years of British Railways. Steam locomotives were even incorporated into railcars to improve the economics of branch lines. So significant was the steam locomotive that it gave its name to an era, the Steam Age.