Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Steam trains are iconic machines of an era long gone. But what many do not realize is that there were steam engines built to be slow - rugged beasts of steam and steel constructed to operate over rough track conditions, sharp curves, and steep grades all too extreme for conventional steam locomotives to handle. These steam engines were geared locomotives. Steam engines where the pistons drove flywheels and crank shafts connected to reduction gearing on independent trucks that could each pivot to navigate the rough tracks while maintaining traction. The three main types of geared steam engines are the Shay, Heisler, and Climax. In this 50 minute long video we witness all three main forms of geared steam operate on three different railroads. The 3-foot gauge (narrow gauge) shay at the Hesston Steam Museum's route in Indiana. The wood-fired 2-truck Class B Climax on the standard gauge White Mountain Central Railroad in New Hampshire. And finally moving to the mountains of West Virginia, we see not one, but three Standard gauge Shays on the Cass Scenic Railroad, as well as the Cass Scenic Railroad's 3-truck Heisler. Among the Shays at Cass, we witness 2 particularly notable geared locomotives. 3 truck shay No. 5. A C-80-3 type built in 1905 for the very route the Cass Scenic Railroad runs - 5 is the oldest running shay, and the engine to have remained on its original route longer than any other locomotive in the world. Western Maryland shay 6 is the largest surviving shay, a C-150-3 class, and was the last shay ever produced. We finish the geared steam adventure with two days on the Cass Scenic Railroad for a photo special with Heisler 6 and Shay 4, recreating the type of operations these fascinating machines were built for.