>>1740944I think that's mostly because the country was smaller, and their approach to railroading was different. They didn't have to build railroads over the great plains or across an entire continent like we did, neither did they have the sheer population, come the late 1800's and early 1900's, hence not the same freight demand. e also tended to build less tunnels, opting instead to go around hills and mountains when we could, and as such, our roads were curvier. Bigger trains and bigger locomotives conflicted with a need for more nimble locomotives, which led to the giant American articulated steam engines. Only Russia and Australia ever made locomotives as big as ours, and for similar reasons, I imagine.
Kinda funny that the swiss came up with the idea first. Makes me wonder if it was the Alps that drove Anatole to invent what he did.
