german steam locomotives

[SteamGene]

To add to Sheldon's comments,  European equipment is smaller and lighter than American.  The Russian Decapod was a large locomotive by European standards, but at best a small mid-sized one by ours.  My wine train has a probably fake European wine tank car loaded on a 40' American flat car.  The tank car is no more than 25 feet long.
Gene

[ta152h0]

I just bought a 2-6-6-2 Articulated and I am surprised at how much smaller it is when on the track next to the 2-10-0 decapod ( Susquehanna ). Friction force formulas are entirely dependent on weight, the more you weigh, the more traction you can transfer to the rails.