2-8-8-2
Encyclopedia
A 2-8-8-2, in the Whyte notation
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 describing 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...
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...
s, is an articulated locomotive
Articulated locomotive
Articulated locomotive usually means a steam locomotive with one or more engine units which can move independent of the main frame. This is done to allow a longer locomotive to negotiate tighter curves...
with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheel
Driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...
s, and a two-wheel trailing truck. 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, refined to Mallet locomotives, (1'D)D1'. These locomotives usually employ the Mallet
Mallet locomotive
The Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatole Mallet ....
principles of articulation--with the rear engine rigidly attached to the boiler and the front engine free to rotate--and compounding
Compound locomotive
A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...
. The 2-8-8-2 was a design largely limited to American locomotive builders.
Other equivalent classifications are:
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...
: 1DD1 (also known as German classification and Italian classification)
French classification: 140+041
Turkish classification
Turkish classification
In 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...
: 45+45
Swiss classification: 4/5+4/5
The first 2-8-8-2 was built in 1909 by Baldwin
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
, who sold two to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(classified MC-1
Southern Pacific class MC-1
Southern Pacific Railroad's MC-1 class of steam locomotive consisted of two locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in April 1909. They are the first two locomotives converted by Southern Pacific to run as cab forward locomotives....
), and then three each to the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
and UP-owned Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company
Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company
The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company was a railroad that operated a rail network of of track running east from Portland, Oregon, United States to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho...
. Baldwin conceived the type as an expansion of the 2-6-6-2
2-6-6-2
In Whyte notation, 2-6-6-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels...
permitting a greater tractive effort
Tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force is the pulling or pushing force exerted by a vehicle on another vehicle or object. The term tractive effort is synonymous with tractive force, and is often used in railway engineering to describe the pulling or pushing capability of a...
.
The next order for the type was from the Southern Pacific; these differed in being cab forward
Cab forward
The term cab forward refers to various rail and road vehicle designs which place the driver's compartment substantially farther towards the front than is common practice.- Rail locomotives :...
locomotives, so that the crew could have better visibility and breathing in the SP's long tunnels and snow shed
Snow shed
An avalanche snow bridge or simply snow bridge is a type of rigid snow-supporting structure for avalanche control . Avalanche bridges can be made of steel, prestressed concrete frames, or timber....
s. They were very successful, and SP continued to order cab-forward locomotives, building an eventual fleet of 256 of numerous classes; later cab-forwards were 4-8-8-2
4-8-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-8-2 is a locomotive with four leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck.Other equivalent classifications are:...
s.
The 2-8-8-2 proved itself to be a capable hauler on mountain grades, enabling the replacement of several smaller locomotives and hauling longer trains than before. Most of them were not fast; they hauled at drag freight speeds, up to 25 mph (40 km/h). However, the Norfolk & Western
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
Y6 class were designed to run up to 55 mph (89 km/h). The locomotives were adopted by a broad spectrum of mountain railroads, including the Norfolk & Western, Southern
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
, Virginian
Virginian Railway
The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....
, Great Northern, Clinchfield
Clinchfield Railroad
The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina...
, Denver & Rio Grande
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to Rio Grande or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a defunct U.S. railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870; however, served mainly as a transcontinental...
, Reading, Western Maryland
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973 and ceased operating its lines...
, Missouri Pacific
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
, Frisco, and the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway
The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway is a railroad operating in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that hauls iron ore and later taconite to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota...
. On many railroads, the locomotives of the type were the most powerful on the roster. When built, the 2-8-8-2s of the Western Pacific Railroad
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California...
were among the most powerful steam locomotives in the world and formed the basis for the later 2-8-8-4
2-8-8-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-8-8-4 is a steam locomotive with two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck.Other equivalent classifications are:...
"Yellowstone" type engines used by the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range.
The very last compound Mallet locomotives to operate on major railroads in the United States were the 2-8-8-2 Y6b class of the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....
. After their final modifications in the 1950s, they were said to be capable of 170,000 lbs tractive effort in simple-expansion mode, although some have questioned this claim (the original design tractive effort was 152,206 lbs SIMPLE and 126,838 lbs COMPOUND). The last were retired in May 1961.
As of 2008, there are two surviving 2-8-8-2 locomotives, both former Norfolk & Western. N&W 2050 is from the railroad's Y3a class; ALCO's
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
Richmond works built it in 1923; and it resides at the Illinois Railway Museum
Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago...
in Union, Illinois
Union, Illinois
Union is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 580 at the 2010 census, up from 576 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Union is located at ....
, USA. N&W 2156
Norfolk & Western 2156
Norfolk & Western 2156 is the strongest-pulling extant steam locomotive in the world, although it is not operational. It is a four-cylinder compound articulated locomotive with a 2-8-8-2 wheel arrangement. The Norfolk & Western Railway built it in 1942 at its Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia,...
is from the railroad's Y6a class; N&W's own Roanoke Shops
Roanoke Shops
thumb|250px|[[Norfolk Southern]] Roanoke Shops in 2004.The Roanoke Shops of the Norfolk and Western Railway in Roanoke, Virginia were founded in 1881 as the Roanoke Machine Works. It came under the control of the railroad in 1883. Locomotive production started in 1884 and 152 locomotives were...
built it in 1942; and it resides at the Museum of Transportation
Museum of Transportation
The Museum of Transportation of the St. Louis County, Missouri, United States Parks Department is a museum located in the Greater St. Louis area. It was first founded in 1944 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the past and has a wide variety of vehicles from American history...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, USA.
