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2-8-0

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   A Chinese-built 2-8-0 on display at the National Railroad Museum in
   Green Bay, WI, April 26, 2004.
   Enlarge
   A Chinese-built 2-8-0 on display at the National Railroad Museum in
   Green Bay, WI, April 26, 2004.

   In the Whyte notation, a 2-8-0 is a railroad steam locomotive that has
   a single-axle leading truck followed by four powered driving axles. In
   the US, this wheel arrangement is commonly called a Consolidation.

   The equivalent UIC classification is 1-D.

History

   Of all the locomotive types that were created and experimented with in
   the early part of the 19th century, the 2-8-0 was a relative latecomer.
   The 2-6-0, often considered the logical forerunner to the 2-8-0, was
   first created in the early 1860s.

   The first locomotive of this wheel arrangement was likely built by the
   Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), but like the first 2-6-0s, this first
   2-8-0 had a leading axle that was rigidly attached to the locomotive's
   frame. To create this 2-8-0, the PRR's master mechanic John P. Laird
   modified an existing 0-8-0, the Bedford between 1864 and 1865.

   The locomotive Consolidation, built in 1865 is widely considered the
   first true 2-8-0 built in the United States. It is this locomotive that
   is the origin of the class name.

   Only a few railroads purchased this locomotive type upon its
   introduction by Baldwin. Even the Baltimore & Ohio, which had nearly
   180 of this locomotive type in regular service by 1885, didn't purchase
   any of this type until 1873.

   The 2-8-0 design was given a major boost in 1875 when the PRR made it
   the railroad's standard freight locomotive. 1875 was also the year that
   the Erie Railroad began replacing its 4-4-0s in freight service with
   2-8-0s. The railroads found that the 2-8-0 could move trains twice as
   heavy for half the cost of their earlier brethren. From a financial
   standpoint, the choice of freight locomotives was clear.

European use

   The 2-8-0 was also a popular type in Europe, again largely as a freight
   hauler.

Germany

   The 2-8-0 enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Germany during the
   period of the State Railways (Länderbahnen) prior to the establishment
   of the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (German National Railways) in
   1920. The DRG chose the 2-10-0 as the heavy freight locomotive type for
   the new, unified rail system. Under the DRG's classification system,
   all 2-8-0s were assigned to series (Baureihe) BR 56, with different
   types receiving sub-classifications. The earliest type was the Prussian
   G7^3 of 1893.

United Kingdom

   The 2-8-0 was the standard heavy freight steam locomotive type in the
   20th Century. The first 2-8-0 built in Britain was the Great Western
   Railway's 2800 Class from 1903. Other systems followed the GWR's lead;
   notable British 2-8-0s include the LMS Stanier Class 8F, the GCR Class
   8K, and the WD Austerity 2-8-0 of the World War II period.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-8-0"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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