American Steam Locomotives

William L. Withuhn (1941–2017) was the long-time transportation curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. He was a licensed locomotive engineer who ran dozens of steam engines, from saddle-tankers to Northerns. Withuhn was also the chairman of the Federal Railroad Administration's Engineering Standards Committee, which re-wrote regulations for the 21st century and thus helped ensure continued operation of heritage locomotives. He was author of The Spirit of Steam and Rails Across America.

1. High-Wheeled Racers


2. More Wheels and Bigger Fireboxes


3. Vehicular Design for Horsepower


4. Big Wheels Turnin': A History of Counterbalancing


5. Innovation and Risk in Design: From Compound Cylinders to Superheating


6. Superheating: Design and Risk


7. Francis Cole and his Triumph of Empiracl Science


8. Locomotive Safety Regulation: The Locomotive Inspection Act of 1911 and the Nationwide Shopmen's Strike of 1922


9. Leadership in Industrial Research


10. Federal Takeover: Engineering and Politics -The U.S. Railroad Administration, 1917-1920


11. The Formative Contest


12. The Steam Locomotive's Final Form - The Hudson


13. The Steam Locomotive's Final Form - The Texas


14. The Steam Locomotive's Final Form - The Hudson - Part 2


15. The Steam Locomotive's Final Form - The Northern


16. Giants in the Earth


17. Counterpoint: Why the Diesel?


18. "Big Boy" and Allegheny: The Most Powerful of All


19. The T1 and Poppet Valves: The Last Important Innovation


20. The "Big Three" of the Norfolk & Western


21. Resisting the Revolution


22. Industrial Beauty and the Beholder