The Baldwin locomotive with the works number 60000 was a prototype that was built at their own expense in 1926 and with which the company wanted to set the course for locomotive construction of the future. It had the 4-10-2 wheel arrangement and a three-cylinder compound engine with three cylinders of the same size, the inner one serving as high-pressure cylinder.

What was special about the boiler was that the sides of the firebox were made of four-inch water pipes. They were connected at the top with 26-inch horizontal pipes that continued into the boiler barrel. The pressure was 350 psi (24.1 bars), which was significantly higher than conventional locomotives. In addition, a Worthington 4-BL feedwater heater was used.

The 60000 was intended to pull trains of up to 7,000 short tons and achieved an output of 4,515 hp at the drawbar. It was loaned to the PRR, B&O, Burlington Route, ATSF and Southern Pacific for trials and was even temporarily converted to oil firing by the SP. Although it performed very well and pulled up to 7,700 short tons, the railroads found the maintenance too expensive and no orders were placed. Today the 60000 is in the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia.

The East Broad Top operated six Mikados, all of which survive to this day. The oldest of these is No. 12, which was christened “Millie”. Like her newer sisters, she had 48-inch diameter drivers, but was lighter and had smaller cylinders. When the EBT was reopened in 1960 as a complete heritage railway with all its equipment, number 12 remained in service with three of her sisters until she had to be retired in 2000 due to wear and tear. After the railroad had reopened in 2020 under new ownership, the locomotive remains inoperable and it remains to be seen if she will be refurbished.

The last steam locomotives that the Florida East Coast purchased new were 23 copies of the USRA Heavy Mountain. They were delivered by ALCO-Schenectady in 1926 and were numbered 801 to 823. After the Mountains of the classes 301 and 401, they were significantly heavier. In direct comparison with the 401, they had a larger boiler and larger cylinders, but smaller drivers for greater pulling power. After three were lost by 1952 due to boiler explosion or accident, the remaining 20 were scrapped in 1954.

With the 5.89 percent grade on Madison Hill in Indiana, the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis operated the steepest line in the United States that has ever been operated in adhesion mode. After the 1.3-mile line was initially horse-powered and briefly operated as a rack railway, Reuben Wells developed a pusher locomotive for adhesion service.

The five-axle tank locomotive was the most powerful locomotive in the world at the time it was put into service. Sufficient adhesive weight was achieved by the fact that all five axles were driven, which made the “Reuben Wells” the first five-coupled locomotive ever. With a driver diameter of only 44 inches, a starting tractive effort of more than 25.000 pounds could be achieved. A special identifying feature were the cylindrical water tanks, which started directly behind the smoke box and went to the rear end of the locomotive.

A year later, a second, identical locomotive with the name “M.G. Bright” was built. The “Reuben Wells” was rebuilt into an 0-8-0T in 1886, shortening it a bit and reducing the supplies. It served in this form until 1898 and was then initially stored. In 1966 it was acquired by the Children's Museum in Indianapolis and transferred to Indianapolis 100 years after she was commissioned.

The closely linked Atlanta & West Point and the Western Railway of Alabama had to pull the Southern Railway's "Crescent" between Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama. So they each ordered one locomotive, which was given the numbers 290 (AWP) and 190 (WRA). Like the Southern Ps-4, they were based on the USRA Heavy Pacific, but like them also had smaller drivers. The diameter was initially 73 inches and was later increased to 74 inches with thicker tires, which explains the designation P-74.

Both machines were operated together. While one hauled the northbound Crescent, the other simultaneously took over the southbound one. They were retired in 1954, after which the 190 was scrapped. The 290 was saved by the “290 club”, but remained non-operational for the time being. It was finally refurbished between 1986 and 1989 and was used until 1992, when maintenance work on the running gear was required. It now resides at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia, awaiting visual restoration.

Of the three classes of 4-8-2 locomotives the Florida East Coast had procured in the twenties, the class 401 was the biggest in numbers with 52 delivered by ALCO-Schenectady between 1924 and 1926. Although they were lighter than the class 801, they had bigger drivers with a diameter of 73 inches or 1,854 mm. So their tasks were not only passenger trains, but also express freights which carried fruits and vegetables grown in Florida northwards.

After the FEC had gone bankrupt in 1931, it started to sell many locomotives to other railroads. Most members of the class 401 which were sold found their new operator in the South East or in Mexico. Ten were even sold to the Western Pacific and shipped to the West coast. By 1955, all FEC locomotives had been either sold or retired. The WP used them into the end of steam, while a two-digit number was still in service in Mexico in the sixties.

The Little River Railroad in Tennessee had steep grades which also had tight curves at the same time. In 1911, Baldwin delivered the number 110 to them for their passenger trains, which was built with an extra short wheelbase and is considered the smallest standard-gauge Pacific in the world. It has a large grate for burning low-quality coal, but no brick arch and no superheater. 

It pulled the “Elkmont Special,” which started in Knoxville until 1938, when the Little River became a pure logging railroad again. The 110 was now purchased by the Smoky Mountain Railroad and pulled freight trains there until 1954. Since 1976 it has been running on the new Little River Railroad, which is based in Michigan. It is still used there today as the flagship of this heritage railroad.