"Zeppelins of the Rails" was the unlikely epithet the Chicago & North Western tried to pin on the 35 Class H 4-8-4s delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1929. Weighing in at 498,000 pounds minus tender, these behemoths when introduced were the heaviest non-articulated locomotives in service in North America. The locomotives' main frame, including the cylinders, was a single steel casting 58 feet 3 inches long and weighing 73,000 pounds. Boasting cylinder dimensions of 27x32 inches, with a working boiler pressure of 250 pounds and 76-inch drivers, these engines produced 65,226 pounds of tractive force augmented by a booster that produced an additional 11,300 pounds of starting tractive effort. They had a 100-square-foot grate area, 5214 square feet of evaporative heating surface, and 2357 square feet of superheating surface. This photo of No. 3035, which turned up in an antique shop, was taken by C. C. Grayson of Longview, Texas and shows the Class H design in its original configuration. No. 3035, which was among those selected for the late-1940s rebuilding program, was scrapped in 1953. For a photo of No. 3024 of this class as displayed at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1934, visit my 1942 C&NW Historical Booklet web site.