Fastest French Locomotive. 2007  Fastest U.S. Locomotive.  1935

From YahooNews:

French train hits new world new speed record

ON BOARD TGV V150, eastern France (AFP) - France’s TGV train set a new world speed on rails Tuesday, hitting 574.8 kilometres (357.2 miles) per hour on a stretch of track in eastern France.

The experimental version of the Traine a Grande Vitesse (TGV), equipped with two supercharged locomotives and extra-large wheels, easily beat the 515.3 kph set by a TGV in 1990.

The TGV narrowly missed the overall world train speed record of 581kph (360.8 mph) reached in 2003 by a Japanese magnetic levitation, or Maglev, train.

Manufacturer Alstom arranged the exploit in order to test its latest engineering designs in extreme conditions, and also to display the TGV’s technological prowess to clients in a growing world market.

(more here)