At the end of the 1920s, the BBÖ tried to increase the average speeds of the ever-increasing train weights of 550 to 600 tonnes. Instead of further increasing the maximum speed in the lowlands, the aim was to significantly increase the speeds in the mountains. However, since the electrification of the Austrian routes did not progress as quickly as hoped, there was a need for powerful express steam locomotives. In order to be able to achieve a power similar to that of the electric locomotives of the time, exceptionally large locomotives were required.

Since Austria already had good experience with express locomotives with trailing bogies and a 2-6-4 wheel arrangement, locomotives with a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement were designed. Thanks to four driven axles, this allowed a high adhesive weight, but at the same time, thanks to the bogie, a long and wide firebox. Due to the 1,940 mm wheels and the drive on the third coupled axle, the longest connecting rods ever installed on a steam locomotive were required. This record was not surpassed by any other locomotive later. The 114.01 with three cylinders and the 214.01 with two cylinders were built as prototypes.

Since the smooth running of the three-cylinder locomotive was offset by noticeably higher consumption, the 214 was selected as the series model. In 1931 and 1936 six were built at the Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf. They were the most powerful express locomotives in Europe and were used on the Westbahn as far as Passau. In trial runs, speeds of up to 155 km/h were reached. From 1938 they became the class 12 on the Deutsche Reichsbahn and kept this number later on at the ÖBB. After the western railway was electrified, they were used in the south of Austria, where there was greater wear and tear due to the tighter curve radii. As a result, the locomotives were no longer used for express trains after 1956 and were retired by 1962.

The Romanian State Railways CFR acquired the license to build these machines and produced 79, which were designated as series 142 there. Today only the Austrian 12.10 and the Romanian 142.063 exist, neither of which have been preserved in working order. The latter was bought by the Austrian Society for Railway History (ÖGEG) in the 1980s and given the originally unassigned number 12.14.

In 1928, the Boston & Maine procured their first 20 Berkshire-type locomotives from Lima. This meant a leading axle, four driving axles and a two-axle bogie under the firebox. Thanks to the bogie, the grate area could be exactly 100 square feet. After the 20 locomotives of the class T-1a, another five were ordered in the following year and classed T-1b. These were slightly heavier than the T-1a, which were later upgraded to the same level.

Because the adhesive weight was relatively low compared to the power of the engine, the maximum cutoff was set at 60 percent. The actually achieved starting tractive force therefore deviates from the result of the formula usually used, as this assumes a cutoff of 85 percent. An additional 12,000 pounds of traction came from a booster driving the rear axle of the bogie. A special feature of the locomotives was the Coffin feedwater heater, which lay in a semicircle above the smokebox.

The locomotives were unpopular in operation, as the bogie was often the cause of problems. Because the weight of the firebox rested on it, high forces acted on the boiler when running through curves. In addition, the bogie tended to derail when reversing.

In view of the problems, the Boston & Maine was able to sell ten engines to the Southern Pacific and seven to the Santa Fe during World War II. The Santa Fé gave the locomotives a rebuild that increased boiler pressure to 270 psi and used smaller diameter, longer stroke cylinders. These were able to prove themselves in service until 1954, while the others had already disappeared in 1949.

Around 1950, André Chapelon developed two modern locomotive types with the 2-8-4 and 4-8-4 wheel arrangements for several Brazilian railway companies. While the machine shown here was designated 142N, the larger one was designated 242N. The 142N was developed for a maximum axle load of around ten tonnes and was designed to burn lignite or wood. It was used in mixed service.

Despite the meter gauge, the locomotives were all modern in design. In order to achieve enough power with the fuels used, they had a large firebox with thermic syphons. The superheater could reach temperatures of up to 380°C. Depending on the operator, different tenders were used, some of which had six axles.

The 66 locomotives were built by an export consortium called “GELSA”, which in this case involved Fives-Lille, Schneider-Creusot and Cail. In reality, it turned out that the curves with radii down to 50 meters were narrower than expected, for which the locomotives were not really suitable. That's why they were rather unpopular with the crews, who called them “too modern”. Instead, the old British locomotives were often preferred.

In order to be able to cope with the increase in fast freight trains caused by the war, the C&O had locomotives built with the wheel arrangement 2-8-4. While this wheel arrangement is commonly known as “Berkshire” in North America, the C&O named it “Kanawha” after a river in West Virginia. The engineers called them "Big Mikes". They shared many similarities with the Pere Marquette N class, but were slightly heavier overall and had a tender with a larger amount of coal. By 1947, a total of 90 had been built by ALCO and Lima. They all had a booster in the trailing truck. They were used not only for fast freight trains, but also for passenger trains. The first of these locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives as early as 1952, and by 1957 the last one had disappeared from active service. Twelve of these still exist today and number 2716 is being restored to working condition since 2019.

The Erie was the American railroad that ordered the greatest number of 2-8-4 “Berkshire” locomotives. These 105 locomotives were not only delivered by all three major manufacturers, but also had the biggest heating surface of all Berkshires. As usual for the late twenties, they were fitted with thermic syphons, arch tubes, Worthington feedwater heaters and had a limited cutoff.

25 of the class S-1 were built in 1927 by ALCO, followed by another 25 S-2 in the same year by Lima. 35 S-3 were built by Baldwin in 1928 and 20 S-4 again by Lima in 1929. Both Lima subclasses were designed for a boiler pressure of 250 psi, but operated at only 225 psi like their sisters. These classes made it possible for the Erie to greatly accelerate their freight services and they were all scrapped between 1950 and 1952.

The class A-1 of the Illinois Central consisted of 50 2-8-4 superpower locomotives which were based on the Lima A-1 demonstrator. 50 were completed in 1926 with 7000 to 7039 having an Elesco feedwater heater and 7040 to 7049 having a Worthington BL. The IC also bought the demonstrator from Lima and numbered it 7050. The crews called them “Big Mikes” since they were like Mikados with a larger firebox thanks to the two-axle trailing truck.

But since they were based off the Berkshire's prototype, they were not without flaws. One was the rough riding above 40 mph, what sometimes even made the reverser gear suddenly jumping into the full forward position. Another problem was the trailing truck tending to derail when running backwards, what was also observed on other locomotives with a two-axle trailing truck.

In 1937, the IC had the plan to convert all its 2-8-4 into larger-drivered 4-6-4 locomotives for express freight service. So 7038 was rebuilt in this way, with the type E superheater being replaced by a type A that was easier to maintain. But due to insufficient adhesion it remained the only one. Instead, all others were rebuilt in 1939 without changing their wheel arrangement.

In this process, their numbers were increased by 1000 and the changes in the boiler were the same as in 7038. The boiler pressure was increased from 240 to 265 psi, while the bore of the cylinders was decreased from 28 to 27 inches. Additionally, the load on the trailing truck was decreased and the booster was removed. Some even lost their thermic syphons in exchange for circulators. In this form, they were retired between 1948 and 1956 and all were scrapped.

In order to reduce the axle load of the trailing axle of the D50 class with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, a two-axle bogie was installed in its place from 1951. Along with other modifications, the D60 class was created. The D51 class was converted into the D61 class and the D52 class into the D62 class in the same way. In addition, the cylinder diameter had been reduced from 570 to 550 mm to reduce the tendency to slip. The locomotives were retired between 1966 and 1974. Four have survived to this day.

The C&O T-1 class with the 2-10-4 wheel arrangement was developed from the Erie 2-8-4. Lima reduced this again by one driving axle and thus created the class S of the NKP. In the years between 1934 and 1949, a total of 80 class S, S-1, S-2 and S-3 locomotives were built, which shone with exceptional performance and pulled fast freight trains. They produced around 4,500 hp and were designed for speeds of 70 mph. They were scrapped between 1957 and 1964. Today there are still six preserved. The best known is the 765, which runs fully booked special trips on a regular basis. The 779, which still exists today, was Lima's last steam locomotive built in 1949.

The NSB had the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever used in Norway built to operate the increasingly heavier express trains on the steeply graded Dovre Railway. They became known by the nickname “Dovregubben”. They were built in the 2-8-4 design in order to achieve a high tractive force in addition to be able to accommodate a large firebox, with which a large steam production could be maintained on long inclines. Since high speeds could not be run on the route and traction was more important, the driving wheels were designed with a diameter of just 1,530 mm and a top speed of 90 km/h was enough. Since the total length was also limited due to the existing turntables, the smaller driving wheels also made it possible to accommodate the four driving axles. These were necessary in order to be able to maintain the maximum axle load of 15.5 tonnes on the mountain routes. The engine was designed with four cylinders and compound action.

The first two machines, later designated type 49a, were delivered by Hamar and Thune in June and September 1935. Despite the small wheels, one reached 115 km/h at a press tour. The pronounced lightweight construction of the entire locomotive led to problems in some places, which was improved by adapting some parts. The one-off type 49b, which was also built in Norway, followed the next year. The bogie had an engageable booster with drive on both axles in order to provide additional tractive power for starting and on steep inclines.

Two of the Type 49c were delivered by Krupp in 1940 and two by Thunes in 1941. These had no booster and were similar to the 49a, but with some detail improvements. This included making the cylinders smaller in order to save weight and to strengthen the axles at the same time. Seven more were destroyed in a bombing raid on the Krupp factory in World War II, four others were never completed in Norway and were used as spare parts donors.

Due to the four cylinders, the locomotives were very demanding in terms of maintenance, but were able to fully convince in terms of their performance and economy. The economy was even certified in Germany by the Grunewald Locomotive Testing facility during tests with one of the locomotives built by Krupp. When the NSB introduced the Di 3 diesel locomotives, they were initially used together with the type 49. It quickly became apparent that the steam locomotives could maintain their speed much better on long inclines than the diesel locomotives with 1,900 hp. However, since the latter were much easier to maintain, all type 49 were retired by 1958.

For use in front of fast freight trains, the Pere Marquette also chose the 2-8-4 “Berkshire” wheel arrangement in the late 1930s. It was able to develop great power at speeds of up to 70 mph thanks to the large firebox above the bogie. Of a total of 466 square feet in the firebox, 122 were made up of thermosiphons and water pipes. This allowed 26 by 34 inch cylinders to be operated with 69 inch wheels.

The first delivery from 1937 included 15 class N locomotives. The last five of these had a booster in the bogie. In the years 1941 and 1944 twelve more N1 and N2 each followed. When the Pere Marquette was merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio in 1947, the N1 and N2 classes became the N-1 and N-2 and the N class became the N-3. The two newer series, which had not yet been paid for by the C&O, kept the color scheme and the old numbers.

From 1951 the locomotives were also used on routes other than those originally operated by the Pere Marquette. The first series was scrapped by 1954. The use of the newer machines ended in 1958 and a total of 13 units were stored until 1961, as payments were still outstanding.

Numbers 1223 and 1225 are still preserved today, both of which belong to class N1. The 1225 is the only still functional Pere Marquette locomotive today. It has been used intermittently since 1985 and formed the basis for the locomotive in the book and film “The Polar Express”. Today it is used almost every year around Christmas time on the “North Pole Express” in Michigan.