Information About4-4-2 (locomotive) |
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gauge 4-4-2 operating on the Riverside And Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells, WI .]] In the Whyte Notation a 4-4-2 is a Steam Locomotive that has a two-axle Leading Truck , two powered Driving Axle s and a one-axle Trailing Truck . This locomotive Wheel Arrangement is commonly called an '''Atlantic''' type. The equivalent UIC Classification is 2'B1'. HISTORY Atlantics were built expressly for passenger service. A number of railroads had extensive fleets of 4-4-2s for use in express, local and commute service. One of the best-known groups of 4-4-2s (after the ''Hiawatha'' engines) was the Pennsylvania Railroad 's vast fleet of E class Atlantics culminating in the E6s class. Atlantics were built with hauling wood-frame passenger cars in mind. Around the 1910s though, American railroads started buying steel passenger cars, which precipitated the introduction of the 4-6-2 Pacific type. Nonetheless, The Chicago And North Western , Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe railways used 4-4-2s until the bitter end of steam locomotive fleets in the 1950s . Atlantics were ill-suited for mountain or very-long-distance operations. 4-4-2s had high-diameter Driving Wheel s; in some cases exceeding 6 Feet (1.8 M ) which were perfect for 70 to 100 Mph (113 to 161 Km/h ) runs. Climbing any railroad grade required a lower driver diameter or more drivers (i.e. 4-8-2 , 4-8-4 , 2-10-2 and 2-10-4 types). ''HIAWATHA'' SERVICE The Milwaukee Road made extensive use of the Atlantic type on its midwestern ''Hiawatha'' Passenger Train s; 4 locomotives of Class A were constructed in 1935. One locomotive of this type typically hauled as many as 10 Passenger Car s behind it at speeds up to 100 mph. The railroad's Atlantics featured Streamline d shrouds that made them a distinctive sight on the tracks. |
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