In 1938, the Atlantic Coast Line had Baldwin build twelve 4-8-4 Class R-1 locomotives, also known as Class 1800 because of their numbers, for express service between Richmond, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida. Their design was considered very successful and the boiler in particular exceeded many expectations. They hauled 1,500-ton trains of 20 cars and were even able to accelerate them significantly faster than the manufacturer had initially calculated.

Of note, the direct heating area of the actual firebox was increased from 272 square feet to 568 square feet using a combustion chamber and thermic syphons. The back pressure of the cylinders was also very low, especially in the upper speed range, and allowed greater power output. The only known problem concerned the mass balancing, which was initially calculated incorrectly by Baldwin and still had to be improved.

After the adjustments to the mass balancing, the locomotives were approved for 90 mph and are said to have regularly reached 100 mph. When they later had to haul express freight trains, the maximum train load was rated at 6,200 tons. Their service ended between 1951 and 1952.

For mixed service with freight, passenger and express trains, the Canadian National procured locomotives with the wheel arrangement 4-8-4 for the first time in 1927, known in English-speaking countries as “Northern”. They followed the “superpower” philosophy popular in North America at the time and boasted a grate area of more than 80 square feet thanks to the rear bogie. The heating surface of the firebox was maximized with thermic syphons, fire bricks and water tubes. What was special about the rear truck was that the wheels on the two axles had very different diameters of 34 and 48 inches.

The first delivery from 1927 included 20 each from the Canadian Locomotive Company and the Montreal Locomotive Works, which were designated class U-2a and U-2b. The frames of both series were partly made of vanadium steel and nickel steel. Some had a booster on the rear truck axle that provided an additional tractive effort of 10,900 pounds. ALCO built ten more, almost identical locomotives for the Grand Trunk Western.

From 1929 a new version was produced in which the relation between the flues and tubes in the boiler differed from the first batch. The frames were now only made of nickel steel. Instead of spoked wheels, lighter Boxpok wheels were now used. The first 20 of this design came from Montreal and were designated U-2c. From there came five more as U-2d in 1936 and 15 as U-2e in 1940. Also in 1940, ten U-2f arrived from the Canadian Locomotive Company.

The last version had a smaller tube heating surface than the second version and therefore a larger superheater. The first 35 were completed in 1943 by the Montreal Locomotive Works as U-2g. Later that year and in 1944, another 30 were made at the same plant, known as U-2h.

One locomotive still in existence today is U-2g No. 6213. It was used until 1959 and is now owned by the City of Toronto. It has been displayed at Exhibition Place and has been cared for by the Toronto Locomotive Preservation Society over the years. In 2009 it was transferred to a roundhouse, where it was cosmetically restored in 2019. In its current condition, it is quite conceivable that it could be restored to operational condition in the future.

Another U-2g that still exists is number 6200 in Ottawa. This was recently rebuilt to a condition where it can be moved under foreign power. Number 6218 sits in Fort Erie, Ontario but hasn't been restored yet. Additionally, 6153 and 6167 are on display.

At the Chesapeake & Ohio, the wheel arrangement 4-8-4 was not being called “Northern”, but “Greenbrier” after the hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia that was a famous destination of the C&O. For heavy express trains, the C&O operated a total of twelve locomotives of this wheel arrangement which were delivered in three batches between 1935 and 1948. These Greenbriers were built by Lima and formed the class J-3. They hauled famous trains like the George Washington, the Sportsman and the Fast Flying Virginian, but were sometimes also used for freight and pusher service, especially in war times.

The first batch, numbered 600 to 604, was built in 1935 and named after Virginia statesmen. They had a large modern boiler with a Worthington feed water heater, thermic syphons, arch tubes and a combustion chamber. Pressure was initially 250 psi, but later raised to 255 psi. Built with Walschaerts valve gear, they later received Baker valve gear. In addition to the 67,000 pounds of tractive effort provided by the four driving axles, a trailing truck booster raised the total to 81,000 pounds. 

Numbers 605 and 606 were built in 1942 and also named after Virginia statesmen. They got a pressure of 255 psi and Baker valve gear from the start and had roller bearings on all four truck axles. Since most high-strength steel was needed for the war efforts, Lima had to use more conventional steel, what increased the weight of the locomotives by 15 tons. After the introduction of the J-3a, these were called J-3b due to the changes compared to the first batch.

As the last 4-8-4 locomotives built for an American railroad, Lima built the last five Greenbriers in 1948. They only carried the numbers 610 to 614 and no names and due to several improvements, they became class J-3a. The driving wheels were now of the Boxpok type and had a diameter of 74 instead of 72 inches. Also the older locomotives now got 74 inch drivers. Roller bearings were now on all axles and on all other rotating parts of the running gear. The firebox lost its thermic syphons and arch types, but now had circulators, a larger combustion chamber and the flues in the boiler had an increased diameter. Instead of the Worthington feed water heater, they now had an Hancock exhaust steam injector. 

These locomotives delivered around 3,500 hp on the drawbar and had a top speed of 100 mph or 161 km/h. After all had been retired between 1953 and 1957, 614 was the only survivor. It was restored in 1980 and used as a testbed for Ross Rowland's ACE 3000 Project for a modern coal-burning steam locomotive to counter the rising oil costs. It was placed on static display at Clifton Forge, Virginia in 2012 after it had been used for excursion service. In June 2025 it was brought to the Strasburg Rail Road for an additional restoration into working order.

In 1930, the Burlington Route got eight Northerns from Baldwin, which they designated class O-5. While the first six were designed to burn lignite, the last two had changes in the firebox to burn bituminous coal. One got a special ashpan to make space for a trailing truck booster. They had Timken roller bearings only on the carrying axles. There are reports of a single O-5 hauling 82 mail cars.

Between 1936 and 1940, the Burlington Route built 26 more in their own shops in West Burlington. These had roller bearings on all axles of the locomotive and tender and other improvements. They were now called class O-5a, as were some of the 1930 locomotives which were rebuilt to the same standard. The last batch that got Boxpok drivers was called O-5b.

Later a total of six O-5a and O-5b were rebuilt to oil-burners. Here a renaming took place, so that all oil-burners became O-5b and even the coal-burning O-5b became O-5a. Today four O-5 are surviving, none of which is operational.

The first 65 class R-65 Northerns of the Rock Island were delivered by ALCO-Schenectady in 1929 and 1930. They had a driver diameter of 69 inches and were primarily intended for service with freight trains. Some later received 74 inch wheels to be more suitable for passenger trains and were renamed the R-67 class as a result. In the years 1944 and 1946 further R-67b were built, which had larger wheels from the start. Although they had a higher boiler pressure and a larger firebox, they had a smaller tube heating area and a significantly smaller superheater. The 1944 batch were oil fired while the rest were coal fired.

The Lackawanna was one of the first US railroads to adopt the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement. In contrast to the Northern Pacific, these were not called “Northern” here, but “Poconos”. They were seen here as the successor to the 4-8-2 with a larger firebox. Thanks to thermic siphons and arch tubes, they came up with a firebox heating surface of 493 square feet. With a driver diameter of 77 inches, they were clearly intended for express trains, while a diameter of only 73 inches was chosen at the Northern Pacific. The later Poconos of the Lackawanna also had smaller wheels.

When the French State Railways were already planning the complete conversion to electric and diesel locomotives, André Chapelon designed an express steam locomotive with an output of 4,000 hp at the drawbar. As a basis, he used the Est 241-101, which had not made it into series production, and modified it accordingly. He converted the simple three-cylinder engine into a compound engine and provided the locomotive with streamlined steam pipes and a Kylchap exhaust system.

The result was the most powerful steam locomotive ever built in Europe, producing between 5,230 and 5,430 hp (3,900 and 4,048 kW), depending on the source. While the original locomotive only had 2,550 hp on the drawbar, these were now more than 4,000 hp and it was possible to haul express trains heavier than 1,000 tonnes. Up to 158 km/h were reached on test runs and approval was given for 130 km/h. The locomotive was put into service in 1951, but was only used sporadically due to the decision to electrify the network and was scrapped in 1961.

Two prototypes of the class 06 were built in 1939 as the only German steam locomotive with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement for particularly heavy express trains on mountainous lines. They got the boiler of the class 45 and were streamlined. As with the 45, the boiler with the overly long tubes caused problems. There were also occasional derailments in narrow switches. Due to the Second World War, there was no series production and even after the end of the war, no new locomotives were based on the 06 due to a lack of demand.

Compared to the S-1, the locomotives of the S-2 class received larger driving wheels with a diameter of 80 inches, as they were only intended for express trains. They also burned oil and now had cylinders measuring 29 by 29 inches. They showed up more than 50,000 pounds less on the scales thanks to a smaller boiler. Since the adhesive weight was also reduced as a result, the locomotives slipped more quickly when starting and had to be operated with great care. Nevertheless, from 1949 they were no longer needed for express trains such as the “Empire Builder” and also had to pull freight trains.

The Lehigh Valley used the 4-8-4, which they dubbed “Wyoming” after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, primarily for freight trains. After one prototype each from Baldwin and ALCO, ten more were procured as T-1a and T-2a. These had the most powerful booster of all US steam locomotives in the rear bogie. The T-3 was built by Baldwin from 1934 and was also suitable for passenger trains with larger wheels. The T-2b first emerged during World War II and was derived from the T-2a. Due to the lack of material, however, this was less refined and thus weighed more.