2-4-6-8-10-12

Mountain Man

Active Member
At least, that's what I think it is!

753d6bec.jpg
 

steamhead

Active Member
Very imaginative and entertaining....Thanks for the link...:thumb:
Overland, sadly, never made it, but I understand one of our members (guess who...?) is working on one....:mrgreen:
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Interesting proposal... even if it's a photoshop job. Isn't it a 2-4-6-8+10 though? "+10" for the booster (i.e. powered wheels on the tender) and no "12" since unpowered axels on the tender don't count? :confused: ;) :D

Andrew
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
okay everyone, prepare for quite possibly the stupidest question you have ever heard and will ever hear sign1

Im not into steam era or steam engines :eek: :cry: ive never understood the numbers and such that they are called, what do they mean? :confused: :eek: wall1 :eek:ops: :eek:ops: :eek:ops:

Does it have to do with how many axles are on them? :eek:ops:
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Josh...

It's the Whyte system of notation - and yes, in a way, it does refer to axles - although indirectly by actually counting the number of wheels. I believe the French method counts axles.

A 4-6-2 (for example) is a "Pacific" type steam loco. It has 4 wheels (two axles) on the pilot or lead truck, 6 powered driving wheels (three axles) and a trailing truck (under the firebox) with 2 wheels/one axle.

Some locos with more than one set of drivers uses an addional number - like Challengers, Big Boys, etc - e.g. 2-6-6-6. This implies two pilot wheels, two sets of six drivers (three axles each) and a trailing truck with six wheels.

Where there are no wheels, it is noted with a zero - e.g. small switching engine 0-6-0 with six drivers only and no lead or trailing truck.

Additions are used for things like Mallet engines - 4-6-2+2-6-4, and other specifics may use letters, like adding "T" for tank engine. Thomas is a 0-6-0T ;)

Andrew
 

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
Josh...

It's the Whyte system of notation - and yes, in a way, it does refer to axles - although indirectly by actually counting the number of wheels. I believe the French method counts axles.

A 4-6-2 (for example) is a "Pacific" type steam loco. It has 4 wheels (two axles) on the pilot or lead truck, 6 powered driving wheels (three axles) and a trailing truck (under the firebox) with 2 wheels/one axle.

Some locos with more than one set of drivers uses an addional number - like Challengers, Big Boys, etc - e.g. 2-6-6-6. This implies two pilot wheels, two sets of six drivers (three axles each) and a trailing truck with six wheels.

Where there are no wheels, it is noted with a zero - e.g. small switching engine 0-6-0 with six drivers only and no lead or trailing truck.

Additions are used for things like Mallet engines - 4-6-2+2-6-4, and other specifics may use letters, like adding "T" for tank engine. Thomas is a 0-6-0T ;)

Andrew


Thanks Andrew for the info, i think i understand somewhat now :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 

tetters

Rail Spiking Fool!
It took me awhile to figure it out too Josh, don't sweat it.

A lighter piece of vernacular that I figured out was the good ol' 0-5-0 switcher. Every MRR has one...it's your hand. :mrgreen:
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
You're welcome...! I find this easier than telling the difference between a GP-38 and GP-40 (or whatever...! ;)).

Andrew
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Interesting proposal... even if it's a photoshop job. Isn't it a 2-4-6-8+10 though? "+10" for the booster (i.e. powered wheels on the tender) and no "12" since unpowered axels on the tender don't count? :confused: ;) :D

Andrew

Not if you allow the '2' for the unpowered pilot wheels. :thumb:
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Not if you allow the '2' for the unpowered pilot wheels. :thumb:

Whyte doesn't seem to account for wheels on a tender when all are unpowered. It's only unpowered wheels on the loco that count. And I am not 100% on how the Whyte system counts to booster - the "+10" is my conjecture based on how the Mallets are counted.

Imagine the notation for a loco with a centipede tender... you'd have to add -30 or something on the end!

Seriously - if anyone knows how to count the booster and/or tender - let us know.

Andrew
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Personally, I think it's hilarious, and there are quite a few locos that defy the Whyte System, chief amongst them being the Holman Horror.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I suspect that one reason that tender wheels are not counted is that the tender was detachable from the locomotive. I don't know if it happened or not, but conceivably a locomotive might use a different type of tender so that if the locomotive used the tender wheels for classification and then changed tenders it's classification would change. In the case of the beast that Mountain Man linked to, since the last set of drivers is actually on the tender, the tender would not be detachable therefore the tender wheels should be counted. Can you imagine trying to get that thing around a curve?
 
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