2-4-2
Encyclopedia
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
for the classification of steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s, 2-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement
Wheel arrangement
In rail transport, a wheel arrangement is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed beneath a locomotive.. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and connections, with the adopted notations varying by country...
of two leading wheel
Leading wheel
The leading wheel or leading axle of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the leading wheels are normally located in a truck...
s on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheel
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
s on two axles, and two trailing wheel
Trailing wheel
On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels was usually located on a trailing truck...
s on one axle. The type is sometimes named "Columbia" after an early locomotive of 2-4-2 arrangement.
Alternative notations
Other equivalent classifications are:- UIC classificationUIC classificationThe UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives, multiple units and trams. It is set out in the International Union of Railways "Leaflet 650 - Standard designation of axle arrangement on locomotives and multiple-unit sets". It is used in much...
: 1B1 (also known as German classification and Italian classification) - French classification: 121
- Turkish classificationTurkish classificationIn the Turkish classification system for railway locomotives, the number of powered axles are followed by the total number of axles. It is identical to the Swiss system except that the latter places a slash between the two numbers.Thus0-6-0 becomes 33...
: 24 - Swiss classification: 2/4
The equivalent UIC classification
UIC classification
The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives, multiple units and trams. It is set out in the International Union of Railways "Leaflet 650 - Standard designation of axle arrangement on locomotives and multiple-unit sets". It is used in much...
is 1'B1', if the leading and trailing wheels are in swivelling trucks.
While a number of 2-4-2 tender locomotive
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
s were built, larger types soon became dominant. The vast majority of 2-4-2s have been tank locomotive
Tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
s, designated 2-4-2T. The symmetrical arrangement suits a tank locomotive, which may travel in either direction.
History
The wheel arrangement was widely used on passenger tank locomotiveTank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
s during the last three decades of the nineteenth, and the first decade of the twentieth, centuries.
New Zealand
- Main article:NZR K class (1877)NZR K class (1877)The NZR Rogers K class was the first example of American-built locomotives to be used on New Zealand's railways. Their success coloured locomotive development in New Zealand until the end of steam.-History:...
In 1877, when the New Zealand Railway needed new motive power, the road turned to the Rogers Locomotive Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the world. Most railroads in 19th-century United States...
, who supplied eight 2-4-2 tender engines that were designated as the "K" class. These were the first American-built engines in New Zealand, and had been quite successful.
UK usage
2-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
tender locomotive
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
and passed into the stock of the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(L&NWR).
In 1864, Robert Sinclair
Robert Sinclair (locomotive engineer)
Robert Sinclair was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Caledonian Railway from 1847–1856, the Eastern Counties Railway from 1856–1865 and of the Great Eastern Railway from 1862–1866.-External links:*...
of the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
designed the first of six 2-4-2T tank classes built by the railway, eventually totalling 262 locomotives by 1912 (see Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway). Francis Webb
Francis Webb (engineer)
Francis William Webb was a British engineer responsible for the design and manufacture of locomotives for the London and North Western Railway .- Biography :...
of the LN&WR also designed two classes, which eventually totalled 380 locomotives, built between 1879 and 1898 (see Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway
Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway
Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway. The LNWR was headquartered at Crewe.- Locomotives inherited from constituent companies :...
). Other companies to build large numbers of the type included the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
(L&YR) (330 locomotive 1889-1911), the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
(60 locomotives 1886-1892), and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
(49 locomotive 1889-1898).
Preservation
Three New Zealand Railways K class tender locomotives, built between 1877 and 1879 by the Rogers Locomotive Works, have been preserved. K88 "Washington" was used on the first through train between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1877. After 50 years of service, "Washington" was dumped in the Oreti River, Southland, as a flood protection measure. In 1974, "Washington" was exhumed from her watery grave and, over the next 8 years, restored to full active service. Sisters K92 and K94 have also been salvaged from the Oreti river. K92 has been restored to full active service, and has re-established her position on the Kingston FlyerKingston Flyer
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train operating in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It uses 14 kilometres of preserved trackage that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch.-History:...
train, which the K class made famous at the end of the 19th century.
One of John Aspinall's
John Aspinall (engineer)
Sir John Audley Frederick Aspinall was a British mechanical engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Southern and Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He introduced vacuum brakes to his locomotives in Ireland, a trend which was followed in Britain, and designed...
5 class
L&YR Class 5
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Class 5 and Class 6 were two related classes of 2-4-2T steam locomotives.- Class 5 :The class began as a John Aspinall design of 1889. The first locomotives had 18"×26" cylinders for a tractive effort of 18,955 lb and power class 2P...
, built for the L&YR in 1889 is preserved at the National Railway Museum
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
.
In fiction
- The character Sammy from Sammy the ShunterSammy the ShunterSammy the Shunter is a fictitious steam locomotive created by Eileen Gibb, featuring in a series of children's books published in the 1940s and 1950s.-Description:...
is based on the UK design of the engine. - Two characters in the 1991 film The Little Engine That Could have this kind of wheel arrangement.