End of Steam

No steam locomotive ever built included all the available proven techniques to maximize its performance in service.
This fact, more than any other factor, is what lead to the downfall of world steam.

The end

Having said such wise words the end of steam was mainly a political and financial issue. To the latter can be said that the railways did not ceonvert traction because of a positive business case, so to save money, but as soon as sufficient money came available to cover the extra expenses, proving the point that steam was cheapar than diesel. In some rare cases countries even reverted to steam because of the lack of funds like Zimbabwe, once again proving that steam is the cheaper option. And that the change-over is primarily politically motivated is demonstrated by a very recent quote: "There is no sense of regret in the Chinese government, which is anxious to crush all memory of something as old-fashioned as steam just a few years before the 2008 Olympics reach Beijing."

But when did steam end exactly? Well in the Dutch mindset steam is something almost pre-historic because by now no one in the working class can remember it, the Netherlands was among the very first to abandon steam. As an answer to that question I made the table below. As a reference point I took mainline steam, a not entirely accurate description, but good enough.

Anybody knowing additional inforamtion is welcome to contribute (contact details at the footer of the page)

This table is only in its infancy and I will work on it when new information surfaces