The first 2-8-2 locomotives introduced on the Bas-Congo au Katanga were built by Porter in the USA in 1917. They had the works numbers 5993 to 6016 and were very large for this builder known for its small industrial and logging locomotives. On the BCK, they got the numbers 201 to 224. Between 1922 and 1930, Haine-Saint-Pierre of Belgium delivered 28 additional locomotives of this type in several batches. Their running numbers were not in consecutive order: 305 to 308, 317 to 322, 401 to 410 and 461 to 468. 410 had been built with a trailing truck booster, but this was removed again. Numbers 461 to 468 were renumbered to 415 to 422 in 1955.

The class 01 of the Bulgarian State Railway was the first class in the Bulgarian standardization program. It was a Mikado express locomotive designed for mountainous lines. Like all these standard locomotives, it had many similarities to the German standard locomotives, but had a larger grate due to the lower quality coal available. Furthermore, the boiler was identical with the classes 02, 10 and 46. The 02 was the three-cylinder variant of the 01.

Between 1930 and 1935, 23 were built by manufacturers in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Initially, they had numbers starting with 8000 and the new class scheme was only introduced in 1937. The Swiss locomotives were called “Tabakloks” since they were delivered in exchange for tobacco.

All 23 locomotives survived World War II. Around 1950, they were converted to run on mazut, what is a low-grade residue from oil production. All locomotives were retired from active service by 1979, with some stored as strategic reserve for some additional time.

The S-1 was the standard freight locomotive of all Canadian National predecessors from 1913 onwards. It was a Mikado with 63-inch drivers and 27 by 30-inch cylinders. The subclasses S-1-a to e were used by the Canadian Government Railways and were only built by Canadian manufacturers. The Grand Trunk operated classes S-1-f to h, which also came from US manufacturers. After these batches were built until 1918, it was not until 1926 that the CN had two more S-1-j built. Three locomotives were preserved, of which only 3254 was operational until 2012. The 3377 had before been dismantled to provide spare parts for 3254.

The first Mikados on the Milwaukee Road consisted of 20 saturated class L1 locomotives built by the company's own shops in Milwaukee in 1909. They already had a combustion chamber and drivers with a diameter of 63 inches. From 1912 onwards the L2 class followed, 40 of which were built in their own shops. Another 115 came from ALCO-Brooks and 25 from ALCO-Schenectady. Baldwin delivered 100 of the L2-a and L2-b classes from 1920 and 1922, respectively, which had a longer combustion chamber and, in the case of the L2-b, a larger superheater. The first ones were retired in the 1930s after they were replaced by more powerful freight locomotives. Basically, a large proportion survived into the fifties, including ten L1s that were later given a superheater. 

A few years after the revolution, China Railway developed a Mikado that would be built in large numbers. The chassis of the JF1 class, which had been built since 1918, was used as the basis. It received a modern boiler and was also adapted to current requirements in other areas. The new class was called JS or “Jiàn Shè”, which roughly means “construction”.

With a coupling wheel diameter of only 1,370 mm, a high level of traction could be achieved. As is usual for China, the tender was chosen to be large with a coal supply of 17 tonnes. The design came from Dalian, but the production was subcontracted to several plants.

The first 1,135 units were built between 1957 and 1965. Another production only started in 1981, which included almost 800 more locomotives until 1988. More than half of them belonged to a “B” variant, which received some improvements. A special feature was a locomotive that was sold new in 1989 to the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad in Iowa.

These Mikados were based on the JF6 and were developed for industrial tasks. With a construction period up to 1999, they were the last large series-built steam locomotives in the world. There are reports that some locomotives were still in use in 2016 in open-pit mines or in heavy industry companies. Accordingly, an extraordinarily large number have survived to this day. Between 1989 and 1991 three US tourist railways ordered brand new locomotives of this type, one of which was lost at sea. One machine was also delivered to South Korea in 1994.

The K-27 class was the last compound locomotive built for D&RGW. The “K” stood for “Mikado” and the number for starting tractive effort of 27,000 pounds. Its engine had four cylinders and was of the Vauclain type, but was replaced by a simple two-cylinder engine just four years after delivery. As with other narrow-gauge locomotives of the D&RGW, the axles were in an outside frame. The nickname “Mudhen” came about because with the original engine they often derailed. Most K-27s were scrapped in the fifties and the last two built still exist today. No. 463 runs on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and No. 464 is owned by the Huckleberry Railroad and last ran in 2019.

When 20 years had passed since the later class K-27 was purchased from Baldwin, the D&RG purchased ten additional locomotives from ALCO-Schenectady. These were also Mikados with an outside frame, in which the cylinders, driving and coupling rods, as well as the valve gear were located on the outside. They were initially listed as class 140 and were renamed into the now better-known class K-28 after the D&RGW was founded.

They were the first D&RG locomotives to have a superheater from the beginning. The fact that the class designation indicates only a slightly higher tractive power compared to the K-27 is due to the fact that the drivers now measured 44 instead of 40 inches. However, this, combined with better mass balancing, ensured higher speeds, which is why the crews nicknamed them the “Sports Models”.

During World War II, seven were drafted by the military and taken to Alaska, where they served on the White Pass & Yukon. These were scrapped after the war, while the other three remained in use with the D&RGW until the fifties. They then came to the Durango & Silverton, where they have been pulling tourist trains ever since. The 473 is still in use today, having been converted to oil firing in 2022.

As the penultimate series of steam locomotives for the three-foot gauge, the D&RGW procured the K-36 from Baldwin, ten of which were delivered in 1925. The “K” in the designation stood for the Mikado design, the number for the tractive force in thousands of pounds. As with its predecessors, the coupling wheels were mounted inside the outer frames and the coupling and connecting rods, valve gear and cylinders were attached outside the frames. The balancing weights were not integrated into the wheels either, but mounted on the outside.

The K-36 was initially used only in front of freight trains. In 1937, three examples were fitted with steam heating and communication lines for use in front of passenger trains. Three more followed in 1945, leading to more than half being equipped accordingly. One locomotive was so badly damaged in an accident on the turntable in 1955 that it could only be used as a spare parts donor. The other nine were removed from active service with D&RGW between 1962 and 1970.

It is unusual for a steam locomotive from the 1920s that all nine engines which were not destroyed in an accident are still preserved and eight of them are still operational. Five of these are now owned by the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, four of which are in regular service. The other four are now owned by the Durango and Silverton and are also used regularly. One of each of the two operators was converted to oil firing around 2020.

The East Broad Top operated six Mikados, all of which survive to this day. The oldest of these is No. 12, which was christened “Millie”. Like her newer sisters, she had 48-inch diameter drivers, but was lighter and had smaller cylinders. When the EBT was reopened in 1960 as a complete heritage railway with all its equipment, number 12 remained in service with three of her sisters until she had to be retired in 2000 due to wear and tear. After the railroad had reopened in 2020 under new ownership, the locomotive remains inoperable and it remains to be seen if she will be refurbished.