How far could a steam locomotive go before needing water?

During the very early days of steam locomotives, water stops were necessary every 7–10 miles (11–16 km) and consumed much travel time. With the introduction of tenders (a special car containing water and fuel), trains could run 100–150 miles (160–240 km) without a refill.



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As an example Southern Railway 2-8-2, # 4501 in excursion service averaged about 13 miles to the ton of coal and approximately 100 gallons of water to the mile. Larger engines such as N&W 611 were probably in the 150-200 gallon range. 1218 was hungrier, and thirstier, 11miles/ton and 130 gallons.

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An A4 Pacific locomotive running uphill with an express train was generating a drawbar horsepower of between about 1200 to 1300 horsepower. (Allen, 1950, Table 50, p xl). So an A4 Pacific running under these conditions was using between about 30000 and 32000 lb of water per hour (13.6 to 14.5 tonnes per hour).

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Steam locomotives exhausted to the atmosphere so water had to be constantly replenished. Over the course of a route, considerable variations in water quality were found, creating different types of incrustation. The problems were less with land boilers as the feedwater was constantly recycled.

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By the late steam era (1930s-1940s) a locomotive used in main line service could run anywhere between 75 to 150 miles before needing to refuel, which typically coincided with a train crew's district/territory.

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1000 miles between refuellings would not be unreasonable for a road locomotive with a 4000 gallon tank averaging 40 mph on a line with a maximum grade of 1%. However I would want refuel before I am running on the bottom third of the tank, so perhaps 700 miles is more realistic.

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It costs around 5,000,000 GB pounds ($6000000+) to build a brand new steam locomotive. That's the estimated final cost of the new P2 2–8–2 that's being built in the UK. The previous one “Tornado” a A2 4–6–2, took 18 years and also 5000000 GBP to build, both are financed by public charitable donations.

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Towards the end of the steam era, a longstanding British emphasis on speed culminated in a record, still unbroken, of 126 miles per hour (203 kilometres per hour) by LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard.

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Mallard: The world's fastest steam locomotive | National Railway Museum.

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Of course they do! Trains have windshield wipers the same as cars do, and generally speaking, the rain isn't enough to short the electrical motors on their own. The worst case scenario is that if the rains are hurting visibility, the trains might slow down so to not over run a signal.

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Actually they did, except for the oldest. In the earliest years of steam railways trains did stop frequently, so all the facilities could be found at the station: Toilets, refreshments, sale of meals into the train. As the trains went on longer distances with fewer, shorter stops, they also had toilets installed.

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Many locomotives can last 30–40 years, depending on the maintenance done on them. Our GG1 Lasted 41 years, but many of the steam locomotives were retired early. So they had years left in them, but the company did not want to run steam anymore, so they were retired early.

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