Witnessing steam engines in actual service rather than as excursion trains

bobotech posted:

I'm just curious when steam engines were last used in main paid duty?  Not as tourist excursion engines but as actual engines used in regular service?

Are you limiting your quest to just the United States?

I'm wondering because honestly, as time marches on, people who got to witness steam engines in regular service are dwindling fast.   I'm 52 and the only experience I have with steam engines is excursion runs at different railroads over the years.   When I was born, in 1967, I don't think there were any regular in service steam engines left.  

Again, are you limiting your quest to just the United States? Just from memory, there were a few shoreline, standard gauge railroads still operating steam in the mid 1960s, such as the Buffalo Creek & Gauley RR (West Virginia), Crab Orchard & Egyptian (Illinois), Kentucky & Tennesse (Kentucky), and of course the Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge system (Colorado & New Mexico), to name just a few.

I guess I was thinking about this subject because I enjoy reading anecdotes and stories from people here who talk about when they were a kid and saw such and such train come through their town or whatever.   

Makes me a tad sad knowing that as time marches on, there will be less and less who got to see and experience steam in its great heyday and tell about it to younglings like me.  LOL

The oldest thing I remember being in service was when I lived in Naugatuck CT and would occasionally see the Bridgeport to Waterbury Metro North passenger car(s) being pulled by what I think was an Alco FA unit back in the late 80's to mid 90's before I moved to Spokane.   The Alco was outfitted in classic McGinnis era livery.  Loved seeing that train, man how I wish I had a digital camera at the time, would loved to have saved those memories as pictures.   

 

I'm not really limiting to anything in particular.  I'm just fascinated by stories about people who were alive to witness live steam being used for its intended purpose rather than as excursion trains.  

Northwestern Steel and Wire used ex-GTW 0-8-0's bought for scrap until 1980.  There were two in operation when I visited in the early 70's.

Granted, not glamorous freight or passenger duty, but in use none the less.

Rusty

China still uses steam to this day I believe.....if they’ve stopped, it’s been as of recent....I know they were still using steam to haul coal in 2007-2008......Pat

bobotech posted:

I'm not really limiting to anything in particular.  I'm just fascinated by stories about people who were alive to witness live steam being used for its intended purpose rather than as excursion trains.  

OK, but just because a steam locomotive was/is being used in excursion service, does NOT mean that the locomotive may not be working properly, or working hard, no matter what is coupled behind the tender.

Hot Water posted:

bobotech posted:

I'm not really limiting to anything in particular.  I'm just fascinated by stories about people who were alive to witness live steam being used for its intended purpose rather than as excursion trains.  

OK, but just because a steam locomotive was/is being used in excursion service, does NOT mean that the locomotive may not be working properly, or working hard, no matter what is coupled behind the tender.

As demonstrated by 1630 hauling 135 hoppers in 2016...

Rusty

Even China has retired all of its steam as of 2012 i think.

A lot of folks have emphasized that steam was pretty rare in the US by 1955.  That's one of the reasons the Nickel Plate Berkshires, Big Boys, N&W, etc., are so famous.  They were the holdouts! 

I get a lot of my impressions from videos.  I especially like Sunday River and Herron Rail.  I also ask older people in my family to share their perceptions about railroading during the steam era.  From what I can gather, it was dangerous, dirty work that took courage and skill.  NO dynamic brakes.  Air line respirators (oxygen masks) in long tunnels.  If the loco throws a rod, it could come through the cab floor (and we're not even talking about Camelbacks!)  Always keeping one eye on the water glass, and worrying about how much is in the tender.  Water at least every hundred miles, and oiling 'round.  Dumping the ashes at the end of the run!

Amazing machines, but very labor intensive.  AND they required a host of infrastructure that diesels didn't.  Still, I wish I could peel back the veil of time and stand trackside in Reading or Altoona circa 1950!!

My wife worked with a woman whose husband's Dad was killed in the last boiler explosion on the B&O.

I look to be about 4yr old in this pic of a B&O passenger train at the station in Butler, Pa. That would make it 1954 and had to be the tail end of steam:

While I don't recall that day I do have a distinct memory of a cold snowy Winter day at the grade grossing South of the Cowan Tunnel. A B&O passenger train came by drawn by a steam locomotive. That is my only revenue service steam memory. Oh, not quite. I also remember riding a mixed-train on the D&RGW narrow gauge from Durango to Silverton and return on a Summer day in what had to be 1954. 

Very interesting!  See, you don't learn those kind of things with the casual mentions of the steam locos in general media, hearing stories from people who lived during those times is fascinating!  

How I regret not talking so much more to my grandfather who died in 2003.  He was 100 years old when he passed, born the same year the Wright Brothers flew their plane at Kitty Hawk.   I remember learning little bits of things from him like what it was like to live in the depression era.  

But now that I'm older, i realize that there was so much more I could have learned from him.   

bobotech posted:

The oldest thing I remember being in service was when I lived in Naugatuck CT and would occasionally see the Bridgeport to Waterbury Metro North passenger car(s) being pulled by what I think was an Alco FA unit back in the late 80's to mid 90's before I moved to Spokane.   The Alco was outfitted in classic McGinnis era livery.  Loved seeing that train, man how I wish I had a digital camera at the time, would loved to have saved those memories as pictures.

From what I have read, Alco FAs were rather smoky as diesels go. Diesels with modern emission controls still pull passenger trains (on Metro-North Railroad) through Naugatuck, Connecticut. They are impressive to watch and I ride them all the time. The Waterbury branch, to this day, still takes you on a ride back in time.

MELGAR

The Strasburg RR still uses their steam locos to pull freight from their terminal to the interchange at Paradise PA. Although the SRR is a excursion line, they do a very good business with freight traffic.

Just like the Greatest Generation of WW II vets, many of those who saw steam in regular service are no longer with us.

MELGAR posted:

bobotech posted:

The oldest thing I remember being in service was when I lived in Naugatuck CT and would occasionally see the Bridgeport to Waterbury Metro North passenger car(s) being pulled by what I think was an Alco FA unit back in the late 80's to mid 90's before I moved to Spokane.   The Alco was outfitted in classic McGinnis era livery.  Loved seeing that train, man how I wish I had a digital camera at the time, would loved to have saved those memories as pictures.

From what I have read, Alco FAs were rather smoky as diesels go. Diesels with modern emission controls still pull passenger trains (on Metro-North Railroad) through Naugatuck, Connecticut. They are impressive to watch and I ride them all the time. The Waterbury branch, to this day, still takes you on a ride back in time.

MELGAR

My parents live in Bethany.  I visit them about once every 6 months or so.  i am going to be going back in a few months.  I actually have the Metro North Lionel set that I purchased from someone at my parents house a few months ago and I want to bring that back home with me to Spokane.  I love riding on the metro north but we normally get on the train at Milford and take it to Grand Central.  

When we come, we should take the train from Naugatuck or Waterbury.   I regret never doing that when I was younger.

I honestly don't know which model engine it was, it just had that ALCO FA look to it, and was painted in the black/white/red mcginnnis era paintjob.   I remember thinking how cool that was back in the 90's to see an old engine like that still being used. 

I grew up in Grand Island, NE, which was mainly Union Pacific territory and in the early to mid-1950s there was a lot of steam still running on the UP mainline.  We'd see an occasional Challenger (4-6-6-4) wandering that far east and saw lots of challengers and big boys from the City of Portland dome car heading west on vacation (not to mention all three versions of the GTELs).  Looking back on it, I think the best memories I have was when my family would visit my grandmother in northeast KS (Hanover), which was then on the UP branch line from Grand Island to St. Jo, MO.  In the early to mid-1950s, UP ran long manifest freights on that line (now I think it is mostly coal) headed up by the 9000 class three-cylindered monsters (4-12-2) engines - sometimes double-headed.  The ground shook.  Hearing the whistle, I'd run the two blocks or so to the tracks to watch.  A helper engine was stationed at Hanover and sometimes coupled on the front, so watching a double- or triple-headed train pull out of the station area was just amazing.  One of the best things that happened - I was probably 7 y.o. - was when the helper engine returned (dead headed) it needed to be turned using the small steam-powered turntable about a half-mile down the tracks from the station.  The engineer saw me standing next to the tracks with the station agent and said 'hey kid, wanna ride down to the turntable and back?'  He didn't have to ask twice...

C&S 641 was the last standard gauge steam locomotive to operate in revenue service for a Class 1 railroad. It ran on the Climax branch until late 1962.

 Not sure if it was paid duty, but....UP 3985 and 143 double stack container cars in 1991  :     https://youtu.be/XhgHrDbN4EU

RickO posted:

UP 3985 and 143 double stack container cars in 1991 : https://youtu.be/XhgHrDbN4EU

That is an EXCELLENT example of high horsepower steam in REVENUE service, in the modern era. Then there was the event when UP FEF-3 #844 pushed/helped a stalled manifest freight train, westbound up Archer Hill (2005?).

Rusty Traque posted:

Hot Water posted:

bobotech posted:

I'm not really limiting to anything in particular.  I'm just fascinated by stories about people who were alive to witness live steam being used for its intended purpose rather than as excursion trains.  

OK, but just because a steam locomotive was/is being used in excursion service, does NOT mean that the locomotive may not be working properly, or working hard, no matter what is coupled behind the tender.

As demonstrated by 1630 hauling 135 hoppers in 2016...

Rusty

I have seen this and 135 cars with one locomotive.Pretty stout locomotive and I have seen dash 8 pull 65 cars.

Hot Water posted: Then there was the event when UP FEF-3 #844 pushed/helped a stalled manifest freight train, westbound up Archer Hill (2005?).

https://youtu.be/RU9uEwSGp9M

Runner up,  N&W 1218 pulling 100 hoppers, yeah they're empty but theres still 100:

https://youtu.be/pl-QVxHIq6o

seaboardm2 posted:

Rusty Traque posted:

Hot Water posted:

bobotech posted:

I'm not really limiting to anything in particular.  I'm just fascinated by stories about people who were alive to witness live steam being used for its intended purpose rather than as excursion trains.  

OK, but just because a steam locomotive was/is being used in excursion service, does NOT mean that the locomotive may not be working properly, or working hard, no matter what is coupled behind the tender.

As demonstrated by 1630 hauling 135 hoppers in 2016...

Rusty

I have seen this and 135 cars with one locomotive.

They were empty coal gondolas, but still a pretty good load for #1630.

Pretty stout locomotive and I have seen dash 8 pull 65 cars.

Loaded cars on flat terrain? Not that big of a deal.

Hot Water posted:

RickO posted:

UP 3985 and 143 double stack container cars in 1991 : https://youtu.be/XhgHrDbN4EU

That is an EXCELLENT example of high horsepower steam in REVENUE service, in the modern era. Then there was the event when UP FEF-3 #844 pushed/helped a stalled manifest freight train, westbound up Archer Hill (2005?).

That was on trains unlimited on the history channel.I will not lie that brought a smile to my face.Look at her as old as she is.She still can do her stuff.Truth be told I like 765.First saw her in a book at the local liberry.

Surprised no one has mentioned this, but how about the runs of Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 no. 614 between Huntington and Hinton, W.Va? She was numbered as 614T during this time, and hauled 4000 ton loaded and empty coal trains between the two cities, 6 days a week, in January and February of 1985. This was to test a project launched by Ross Rowland to build a brand-new coal-fired steam locomotive, in an attempt to reduce dependency on foreign oil, for which prices were high at the time.

Perhaps these weren't revenue runs, maybe someone could correct me on that. Regardless, she put on a grand show unlikely to be seen again.

The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad located in Marion, Ill ran a steam locomotive in revenue service until around 1986.  One of the guys involved in the operation of the CO&E  was Chuck Roehm who also had quite an interest in Lionel trains.

TrainMan1225 posted:

Surprised no one has mentioned this, but how about the runs of Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 no. 614 between Huntington and Hinton, W.Va? She was numbered as 614T during this time, and hauled 4000 ton loaded and empty coal trains between the two cities, 6 days a week, in January and February of 1985. This was to test a project launched by Ross Rowland to build a brand-new coal-fired steam locomotive, in an attempt to reduce dependency on foreign oil, for which prices were high at the time.

Perhaps these weren't revenue runs, maybe someone could correct me on that.

They were indeed "revenue runs"!

Regardless, she put on a grand show unlikely to be seen again.

richs09 posted:

I grew up in Grand Island, NE, which was mainly Union Pacific territory and in the early to mid-1950s there was a lot of steam still running on the UP mainline.  We'd see an occasional Challenger (4-6-6-4) wandering that far east and saw lots of challengers and big boys from the City of Portland dome car heading west on vacation (not to mention all three versions of the GTELs).  Looking back on it, I think the best memories I have was when my family would visit my grandmother in northeast KS (Hanover), which was then on the UP branch line from Grand Island to St. Jo, MO.  In the early to mid-1950s, UP ran long manifest freights on that line (now I think it is mostly coal) headed up by the 9000 class three-cylindered monsters (4-12-2) engines - sometimes double-headed.  The ground shook.  Hearing the whistle, I'd run the two blocks or so to the tracks to watch.  A helper engine was stationed at Hanover and sometimes coupled on the front, so watching a double- or triple-headed train pull out of the station area was just amazing.  One of the best things that happened - I was probably 7 y.o. - was when the helper engine returned (dead headed) it needed to be turned using the small steam-powered turntable about a half-mile down the tracks from the station.  The engineer saw me standing next to the tracks with the station agent and said 'hey kid, wanna ride down to the turntable and back?'  He didn't have to ask twice...

I saw the 4-12-2 on t.v. on of all shows captain kangaroo.Had the song I am a train by Albert Hammond.It was pulling a refer train.

seaboardm2 posted:

richs09 posted:

I grew up in Grand Island, NE, which was mainly Union Pacific territory and in the early to mid-1950s there was a lot of steam still running on the UP mainline.  We'd see an occasional Challenger (4-6-6-4) wandering that far east and saw lots of challengers and big boys from the City of Portland dome car heading west on vacation (not to mention all three versions of the GTELs).  Looking back on it, I think the best memories I have was when my family would visit my grandmother in northeast KS (Hanover), which was then on the UP branch line from Grand Island to St. Jo, MO.  In the early to mid-1950s, UP ran long manifest freights on that line (now I think it is mostly coal) headed up by the 9000 class three-cylindered monsters (4-12-2) engines - sometimes double-headed.  The ground shook.  Hearing the whistle, I'd run the two blocks or so to the tracks to watch.  A helper engine was stationed at Hanover and sometimes coupled on the front, so watching a double- or triple-headed train pull out of the station area was just amazing.  One of the best things that happened - I was probably 7 y.o. - was when the helper engine returned (dead headed) it needed to be turned using the small steam-powered turntable about a half-mile down the tracks from the station.  The engineer saw me standing next to the tracks with the station agent and said 'hey kid, wanna ride down to the turntable and back?'  He didn't have to ask twice...

I saw the 4-12-2 on t.v. on of all shows captain kangaroo.Had the song I am a train by Albert Hammond.It was pulling a refer train.

Sure. Nothing like watching steam locomotives on TV!  Give me a break.

I grew up across the pond so I remember working steam up until the mid 60s or so. My local branch line closed in 1965, and went diesel around 1963. The local was usually a copperpot tank engine hauling a short mixed train, so my "smell memory" is heavily sparked if I ever get a whiff of coal smoke, oil and steam together. My grandfather took me to his local station to watch the last steam on the mainline, around the same early 60s time span. I was young enough to be angry that I had to ride a bus instead, but too young to realize that steam had disappeared.

I spent the summers on my uncle's farm in Iowa. Close by was a track and we would stand almost at attention as the steamer went by. We were located by a section where the trains were always full speed. It was awesome.

There are books describing what it was like to be an engineer, fireman, conductor, etc, in the days of steam.  I believe Kalmbach has one on sale at the moment.  It sounds to me that you would like to hear first hand, stories from days gone by.  

Growing up, I always listened when the older people in my family spoke about events from their younger days.  I am fascinated by stories of how life was back in the day.  So much history can be learned this way.  Fortunately for us, nowadays, there is the internet.  Sites like Youtube are a treasure trove of knowledge.  Some of the older films of trains and railroading have been restored and even enhanced, to the point that I can't believe how clear they are.  

Now that I am in my early seventies, I often like to tell my grandchildren about how things were when I was growing up.  They sit there with deer in the headlight expressions.  I don't know if they believe me or if they think I'm making this stuff up.  Even my own children sometimes look at me, when I tell them about life in the fifties, like I'm talking about an alien world.  

I have found that some older folks don't like talking about the past.  It's sad, because the younger generations need to know, whether they think so or not.  Even when you think they're not listening, they are, in their subconscious minds, and some day in their older years, those stories will surface at the right time.  

I never saw US steam in revenue service, but I did see the last days of steam in the U.K. 

I didn’t actually realise it at the time, it was just one change among many; but in hindsight, those memories remain clear, if disjointed. 

The main thing is that operating steam traction was hard, dirty work. Very labour intensive, and involving jobs (like going into hot fireboxes and smokeboxes) which wouldn’t be allowed now. It was mostly unpopular with the workforce, especially after WW2 and unpopular with the population because of the soot and cinders. 

It was the past, at a time when people didn’t value the past. 

To answer the OP's question, as was stated earlier, the Crab Orchard & Egyptian (CO&E) had regular service steam operations until 1985~1986. I did get a chance to see this operation in service when I was in school in Carbondale, IL.

CO&E is based in Marion, IL. Not sure what the operations are today.

Charlie

I recall seeing a lot of steam still in service when I was growing up.  I am 75.  I don't recall anyone that I knew taking photos of the trains.  

This is what I recall.  I saw mainline steam on the SP in about 1952 pulling a passenger train through Berkley, CA.  When I visited relatives in Sumner, WA, I saw steam on the Northern Pacific in the mid 1950s.  There was a 2-6-0 that pulled a local freight and big 4-8-4s pulling 100 + car freights.  I saw Challengers on the UP mainline across Wyoming during a cross country trip.  I recall seeing steam on the N&W in the mid 1950s.  Sometimes steam was so common that it was more exciting to see a diesel powered train.  

My family moved to England in 1958.  Diesels were rare.  Except for the electrified lines of the Southern Railway (it was BR but much of the equipment was still in pre-merger livery), nearly all trains were steam powered.   I would visit train stations around London and watch steam powered passenger trains arriving and departing every few minutes.  The English boys kept a black book that held a record of every engine that they saw and where and when they saw it.  I wish that I kept a similar record.  

Our house was near Victoria Station.  Steam was smoky and dirty and was awful for the environment.  Stations and everything around them was covered with soot.  London's fog was a thick yellow color.  You could not see 6 inches in a thick fog.  I got lost on the front porch of our house one day and the front porch was only 2 X 4 feet.  Most of the pollution was caused by burning coal in fireplaces to heat buildings and homes.  The end of coal burning both for heating buildings and for the railroads was a good thing.  NH Joe

The recession of 1958 pretty much ended all main line steam on class 1 railroads. Steam power was dead-lined when business slowed down. When business picked up again, the diesel locomotive had made its presence known as a much cheaper form of power. The steamers never got another call to service.

As others have pointed out, there were a few other small roads that used steam power much later than that. But big, main line steam pretty well disappeared in 1958.

richs09 posted:

I grew up in Grand Island, NE, which was mainly Union Pacific territory and in the early to mid-1950s there was a lot of steam still running on the UP mainline.  We'd see an occasional Challenger (4-6-6-4) wandering that far east and saw lots of challengers and big boys from the City of Portland dome car heading west on vacation (not to mention all three versions of the GTELs).  Looking back on it, I think the best memories I have was when my family would visit my grandmother in northeast KS (Hanover), which was then on the UP branch line from Grand Island to St. Jo, MO.  In the early to mid-1950s, UP ran long manifest freights on that line (now I think it is mostly coal) headed up by the 9000 class three-cylindered monsters (4-12-2) engines - sometimes double-headed.  The ground shook.  Hearing the whistle, I'd run the two blocks or so to the tracks to watch.  A helper engine was stationed at Hanover and sometimes coupled on the front, so watching a double- or triple-headed train pull out of the station area was just amazing.  One of the best things that happened - I was probably 7 y.o. - was when the helper engine returned (dead headed) it needed to be turned using the small steam-powered turntable about a half-mile down the tracks from the station.  The engineer saw me standing next to the tracks with the station agent and said 'hey kid, wanna ride down to the turntable and back?'  He didn't have to ask twice...

don't mean to hijack, but 30 years later and 30 years past the engineers would let us climb up in the cab while they were on the siding.   They would show us how the engine worked, all the controls and give us a bottle of water from the cooler way before anyone paid for bottled water.  (it was a UP line i remember a lot of illinois central box cars).  To the OP I remember 3985 going by on an excursion and thought it was regular service because why not?  That was late 80's I was 10-12 and was modeling big steam in HO.  In my head it seemed like a 4-6-6-4 should be working.   I didn't see real steam, but i thought I did!!

The small town of Wolsztyn, Poland, situated on what was once the Prussian plain, is home to the last steam passenger  service in the world. This is not a museum, this is not a tourist train. The Polish State Railways (PKP) still use 1950s steam locomotives in the daily commuter train service here. 

Howard Jones, a British Businessman, has worked very hard with the PKP to establish a mutual trust society to help keep steam from completely disappearing. Participants of "The Wolsztyn Experience" come to Wolsztyn to learn about the intricacies of mainline steam railroading and - as a result - get their hands dirty. TWE members, under the watchful eyes of Polish crews, get to actual drive (run) and fire the mainline, high speed commuter trains. 

I visited Wolsztyn in August of last year and spent a week at the controls of OL49-69, a 1950s Polish built 2-6-2 running 3x daily commuter trains from Wolsztyn to Zbysznek, Poland and back. Speeds around 60mph, mileage maybe 100 miles roundtrip, everything completely REAL. There are well over a dozen locomotives in Wolsztyn but 3 are operable at this time, 2 of the OL49s, #59 and #69 and PT47-65, a large 2-8-2. Many others have operated in very recent history but are awaiting the manpower and funding to be brought back to life. 

More details? See this while you can, every year brings the risk that it may end! 

See here and here and here. Every May, there is a large steam locomotive festival with dozens of locomotives and an elaborate evening show, see here (Watch in HD, click the little "gear" icon on the lower right)

RSJB18 posted:

The Strasburg RR still uses their steam locos to pull freight from their terminal to the interchange at Paradise PA. Although the SRR is a excursion line, they do a very good business with freight traffic.

Just like the Greatest Generation of WW II vets, many of those who saw steam in regular service are no longer with us.

AND.... You can even buy a ticket to ride on the mixed train to experience real freight operations.

https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/ride/mixed-train/

The SMS railroad is restoring an 0-6-0 and plans to put this engine in service on their active roster for work.

https://www.smsrail.com/steam-engine.html

Have Fun!

Ron

I was born in 1942 in NYC. Most of my train watching was done at the Hollis, Long Island train station, which was a 10 minute walk from my Grandparent's house. I spent many hours standing at the platform, from 1949 to 1956, watching trains.

Picture a setting 4 tracks across, and those tracks going straight into the horizon in both directions. Because of this, you could see a train coming or going most of the time. The "outer" 2 tracks were used by electric commuter trains which stopped at Hollis. The "inner" 2 tracks were used by express passenger trains pulled by steam. Because the PRR owned the LIRR, the engines looked a bit like the PRR K4. They roared through at full speed. Without fail, a steam engineer or fireman would return my wave. Not often would one do that from the later diesels. I think the last steam ran in 1954.

A few years ago I was thrilled to find a original 8x10 B&W photo on eBay showing a steam express approaching the same location I stood on at the Hollis station. Written on the back, was the date, 1949. It is a prized possession. 

BOBOTECH - Growing up in Canada our two Class 1 railroads (Canadian Pacific and Canadian National) continued to provide revenue service into the early 1960s, and there is a wide variety of 'steam' DVD/Blu-Ray videos available from companies like Greg Scholl Video Productions and Green Frog that you may want to check out on their websites (GF even provides short video clips on theirs). One in particular that I have and find quite interesting is by GSVP entitled 'CPR STEAM - The Final Chapter' because it features three former CPR engineers who narrate some of their experiences (while you're watching the video) while working many of the locomotives seen in this show.

To respond to the original question, The Illinois Central ran steam seasonally in regular service out of Paducah, KY, until April 1960. Engines employed were 0-8-0's 4-8-2's, 2-10-2's and 1 2-10-0. Grand Trunk Western ran 4-8-4's and 2-8-2's in commuter service, as well as Detroit Division extra freights for the auto industry, until March 1960; light 4-6-2's and 2-8-2's ran out of Pontiac, MI in freight service into April 1960. Norfolk & Western used 0-8-0's at Williamson, WV and 2-8-8-2's in WV mine run service until May 1960. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range used 2-8-8-4's in iron ore service May-July 2nd, 1960. Also, (2) 2-8-2's and a 2-8-0 worked commercial business in Duluth, based at the Endion engine house during the same time period.

Of course the D&RGW narrow-gauge was still active, using K36's and K37's in freight service, until Spring 1968. Canadian Pacific was using 4-6-4's and 4-6-2's in Montreal commuter service until June 1960 and kept 15 locomotives on house steam in the St. Luc roundhouse until August 1960. Some Canadian Pacific Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick  and state of Maine Branch line activity was still steam powered into April 1960. These included 4-6-0's, 4-6-2's, 0-8-0's, 2-8-0's, 2-8-2's and 4-4-0's (these into early 1960, in NB). CP had quite a bit of steam working in/out of Winnipeg through 1959; don't know precisely when that wrapped up. CNR steam ceased in April 1960, with 4-8-2 #6043 pulling a passenger train into Winnipeg from LaPas, MAN. Again, an abundance of Canadian National steam was concentrated at Winnipeg through 1959, rapidly diminishing in early 1960. 

Mexico provided a marvelous steam respite through 1962, tailing off after that. In 1962, one could see live 4-6-0's, 4-6-2's, 4-6-4's, 4-8-0's, 4-8-2's, 2-8-0's, 2-8-2's, 2-8-4's, 4-8-4's and 2-6-6-2's, in passenger and freight service. Plus the NdeM narrow gauge, Mexico City-Cuatla, was entirely steam operated with 4-6-0's and 2-8-0's.

harmonyards posted:

China still uses steam to this day I believe.....if they’ve stopped, it’s been as of recent....I know they were still using steam to haul coal in 2007-2008......Pat

I was in China in 1979 as part of a railway engineering study group looking at the Chinese railways.  We were a group of 24 US railway men and the group was officially recognized by the Chinese railroaders.  We had several meetings with them.  On that trip, we had many opportunities to photograph steam engines, and we visited the steam locomotive manufacturing plant at Wuhan.  That was five to ten years before several U.S. excursion railroads bought 2-8-0's made in Wuhan

While in Wuhan, one evening we walked on the bridge over the Yangtze River and photographed steam trains on the lower deck of the bridge.  Amusing incident - one member of our group had to change film in his camera.  During several minutes squatting on the sidewalk opening the camera, etc., there were at least 30 Chinese crowded around him just to watch.

At the locomotive factory, we were told that they were combining the best of steam locomotive technology from America, Germany, France and others.  What we saw looked like engines from the 30's - no Lima Super Power.