In view of the increasing loads in express train service around the turn of the century, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways launched a tender for a heavy express locomotive, in which seven designs took part. The requirement was to transport trains weighing 200 tonnes up gradients of 0.33 percent at a speed of 100 km/h. The contract went to Maffei, which also later developed the express trains for Baden.

In 1902, at the time of delivery, they were the largest of their kind in Europe with an operating weight of around 75 tonnes, which rested on a chassis with the axle configuration 4-4-2 (Atlantic). They were powered by a saturated compound engine, the four cylinders of which all acted on the first coupled axle. In contrast to the later Maffei express locomotives, the frame was not yet designed as a bar construction, but as a plate frame, as was usual at the time. Due to the elongated firebox, the distance between the rear coupled axle and the trailing axle was very large. The latter was designed as an Adam's axle, since the ash pan would not have allowed space for a drawbar.

Due to the long wheelbase and a large driving wheel diameter of 2,100 mm, the locomotives were remarkably smooth running right from the start. During test runs in 1904 with a train of four cars, top and average speeds of 144 and 116 km/h were reached. The first was broken three years later by the Bavarian S 2/6, which was also a Maffei design, but unlike the II d it was only developed as a one-off for test purposes.

The first production batch of twelve engines was manufactured by Maffei and delivered in 1902, another came in 1905 from the Karlsruhe mechanical engineering company and comprised six units. After the First World War, a total of ten engines had to be handed over to France. This left only seven units, as one engine had to be scrapped as early as 1903 due to an accident. The locomotives that remained in Germany were still intended to be redesignated as class 14⁴, but they could not expect a long life due to their only two coupled axles and were therefore retired in 1925. The now French locomotives remained in service for another nine years.

The S 2/5 was an Atlantic express locomotive that was developed at the beginning of the century together with the S 3/5. Both implemented learnings from the locomotives borrowed from Baldwin and were the first German locomotives with a continuous bar frame. 

The bar frame consisted of much thicker metal than the plate frames used up until then and therefore had a lower installation height. The result was not only a sleeker look with see-through undercarriage, but also much better accessibility to the internal parts of the chassis. Especially in locomotives with more than two cylinders, the inside cylinders could be serviced more easily.

Compared to the 1,870 mm coupled wheel diameter of the S 3/5, the wheels of the S 2/5 had a diameter of 2,000 mm, making it suitable for longer journeys on flat land at high speed. Due to the larger diameter, however, the last coupled axle had to be replaced with a trailing axle, which reduced the possible traction. As a result, the S 2/5 was able to run up to 135 km/h in tests, but the permitted speed was set at 110 km/h like its sister. Initially it also pulled high-value international trains, but soon its tractive power was no longer sufficient for the increased loads and so it was replaced by the S 3/5 and S 3/6.

A total of ten engines were delivered in 1904, which were relocated to the Palatinate network in 1910. After it was founded, the Reichsbahn still registered half of the stock, which was given the numbers 14 141 to 14 145 in 1925. They were phased out in the next two years.

In order to gain experience with steam locomotive designs from the USA, the Bavarian State Railways ordered four locomotives from Baldwin in 1899 and 1900. These were the two type E I Consolidations and the two type S 2/5 Atlantics. What both had in common was the four-cylinder Vauclain compound engine and the bar frame. The S 2/5 was based on the Milwaukee Road class A-1, but to save weight the drivers were made smaller by six inches.

The special feature of the Vauclain drive was that all four cylinders were outside the frame and were easily accessible. Although this design did not become established in Europe, the Bavarian State Railway adopted the bar frame for all later four-cylinder locomotives. This made maintenance of the cylinders located within the frame easier. The bar frame was later also used on the standard locomotives of the Reichsbahn, even though in principle only a few southern German influences were allowed on these. The two S 2/5 remained in service between Munich and Salzburg for more than 20 years, but were decommissioned in 1923 and were therefore no longer renumbered as Reichsbahn class 14.

In 1939, the Belgian State Railways ordered Cockerill to build six streamlined Atlantics to speed up express trains between Brussels and Ostend. While this wheel arrangement was already unusual at the time, the inside cylinders with outside valve gear were also unusual. With a maximum permitted speed of 140 km/h, trial runs reached 165 km/h, while the trains often exceeded an average of more than 110 km/h. Average speeds of 120.46 km/h from station to station were also achieved, which is still the European record for steam trains to this day. When the route for which the locomotives were built was electrified, they were used on other routes. They were decommissioned by 1962 and road number 12 004 is now in the “Train World” in Schaerbeek.

Almost identical to the Japanese Atlantics with the JNR numbers 6600 to 6623 were the six locomotives that the Cape Government Railways received from Baldwin in 1897. The order came about because the CGR could not order from the British manufacturers as usual due to strikes and Baldwin had already developed a locomotive that largely met the requirements. Only the heating surface was slightly enlarged and the locomotive had to be converted to South African Johnston couplers, which is why a lower purchase price could be offered. They were assigned to class 4, which also included 4-6-0 locomotives.

It is said that the chief engineer of the CGR, H.M. Beatty, was impressed by the robust construction and he valued the merits of the bar frame so much that his later designs also all got a bar frame. After the founding of the South African Union in 1910 and the merger of the railway administrations, it became apparent, as with the Japanese sisters, that the locomotives had too little adhesive weight to reliably start heavy trains. They were therefore classified as obsolete, but remained in use on their main route until 1931.

The class of the D Chicago & North Western was one of the first Atlantics with a wide firebox. With this arrangement, it was quickly discovered that firing was much easier and that much power could even be delivered with inferior coal. Production consisted of a first variant, of which 77 were built between 1900 and 1907, and another, of which 14 were built in 1908.

The first variant had an inside Stephenson valve gear with valves that were also inside the frame. The last ten of the second variant were built with a Walschaert valve gear and Young rotary valves.

The locomotives pulled trains, usually consisting of ten, sometimes eleven cars. 74 were later retrofitted with a superheater. When the wooden cars were replaced with steel cars and more powerful express locomotives were introduced, the class D was used in commuter and local traffic. Almost all locomotives survived into the late 1930s, 15 even survived into the late 1940s.

In order to increase average speeds in the fight against other railroads, the Milwaukee Road had ALCO build four class A streamlined locomotives from 1935 onwards. In order to save weight, not only particularly light passenger cars were developed for the “Hiawatha”. Weight was also saved on the locomotives by choosing the 4-4-2 wheel arrangement, which was no longer used in the USA by this time.

By only having two driving axles, the moving masses could be reduced. Furthermore, the first driving axle was driven, which led to shorter connecting rods. Additionally, a boiler pressure of 300 psi (20.7 bars) was used, allowing smaller cylinders with lighter pistons to be used. Despite only two cylinders and the imperfect mass balancing, high speeds could be achieved with seven-foot drivers.

Shortly after its delivery in May 1935, number two reached a speed of 112.5 mph (181 km/h), which could be counted as a world record thanks to the dynamometer car that was present. There are also unconfirmed reports of speeds in excess of 120 mph. What is undisputed, however, is that they were able to travel at sustained speeds in excess of 100 mph with their light trains.

The 422 miles from Chicago to St. Paul were to be completed in six and a half hours with eleven stops. In fact, the trains completed this route in six and a quarter hours. Even after the introduction of the more powerful class F7 Hudsons, they continued to pull the Hiawatha. Between 1949 and 1951 they were replaced by diesel locomotives.

The class A2 designated the first Atlantics on the Milwaukee Road to have a Vauclain-type compound engine. This means that there was a high and a low pressure cylinder on each side, which were connected to a common crosshead. The trailing axle had special inside bearings developed by J.H. DeVoy which were part of a large single casting.

Nine A2 and 15 A2a were built by Baldwin in 1901 and 1902 respectively. The five A2b had drivers whose diameter had been increased to 85 inches. While these were built in the railroad's own workshops at Milwaukee, the twelve A2cs were built at Baldwin again. These were all scrapped between 1927 and 1930.

An exception were two locomotives that were built in 1907. These had what was known in the USA as a “balanced compound” drive, which had separate inside and outside cylinders. These locomotives were rebuilt in 1938 to class A-4a with simple expansion and remained in service until 1951.

The 57 series IId locomotives of the Kaiser Ferdinands-Nordbahn were the first Atlantic locomotives in Europe. The trailing axle was fixed in the frame, but was only just behind the second driving axle. In the kkStB they became the class 308 and the twelve in 1908 with steam dryers became the 308.5. Three units were rebuilt to class 227 with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. The Warsaw-Vienna Railway received 18 locomotives that were almost identical. After World War I almost half ended up in either Czechoslovakia or Poland. Regardless of the operator, the locomotives had almost completely disappeared around 1940.

The class E-1 of the Erie Railroad consisted of 29 Atlantic express locomotives built by Baldwin between 1899 and 1901 and rated for speeds of 100 mph. They were Camelback locomotives with a square Wootten firebox measuring 96 by 96 inches.

Propulsion was provided by a Vauclain compound engine, i.e. with high and low pressure cylinders one above the other. A rebuild began as early as 1904, in which the four cylinders were replaced by two cylinders with simple expansion. One also increased the distance between the tube sheets by six inches to increase the heating surface area.