Which country was the last to use the steam train?

China was the last main-line user of steam locomotives, with use ending officially on the Jining–Tongliao Railway at the end of 2005. The last steam locomotive for industrial use in China was closed in 2022. JS-class steam locomotives were used in active service at a rural coal mine in western China until 2022.



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The last steam locomotive built for mainline British Railways was 92220 Evening Star, which was completed in March 1960. The last steam-hauled service trains on the British Railways network ran on 11 August 1968, but the use of steam locomotives in British industry continued into the 1980s.

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The B-class locomotives (second series built in 1909) were being used on railways lines that weren't electrified until the 1960s. The last B-class loco wasn't pulled out of service until 1972. The image shows an SJ B-class steam locomotive (B 1382) in 1937 at Arvika train station.

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The DR's last steam engine (on normal-gauge tracks) was taken out of service on 28 May 1988. Much of the electrified rail network that existed in (present-day) eastern Germany in 1945 had been removed and sent to the Soviet Union as war reparations in the early years of Soviet occupation.

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Puffing Billy is the world's oldest surviving steam locomotive. Dating to 1813-1814, it was built by William Hedley, Jonathan Forster, and Timothy Hackworth, for use at the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

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Railfan & Railroad stated in 2022 that the only places on earth to see steam locomotives in revenue freight service are small switching operations in China, North Korea and Bosnia, but that these were sporadic at best. Tourist locomotives are still in regular use.

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But when the price of oil started to fall in the 1960s, and so-called 'dieselisation' began, it marked the beginning of the end for steam. Diesel engines were faster, easier to maintain, and cleaner.

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One of the finest UK heritage railways, the Dartmouth Steam Railway offers scenic journeys along the Torbay coast. This railway runs through the spectacular Devon countryside and across the Dart River, running between Paignton Resort and Dartmouth.

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However, the first use of steam locomotives was in Britain. The invention of wrought iron rails, together with Richard Trevithick's pioneering steam locomotive meant that Britain had the first modern railways in the world.

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Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built for the LNER, the locomotive was named 'Flying Scotsman' in 1923 and continued in regular service until 1963 and then later in preservation. Today, it is owned by the National Railway Museum in York and is operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd.

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Flying Scotsman is owned by the National Railway Museum and operated and maintained by Riley & Son (E) Ltd.

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The advent of buses and large-scale competition meant that buses often ran the same routes as the trams and would jump in front to grab customers, and buses were able to move into Dublin's expanding hinterland more quickly and at less cost than the trams, and the belief that trams were outdated and old technology, ...

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