In the

Whyte notation Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twentieth cen ...

for classifying the

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

of steam locomotives, an 0-8-8-0 is a locomotive with two sets of eight driving wheels and neither

leading wheel The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel 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 on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used ...

s nor

trailing wheel On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle ( wheelset) located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels is usually located in a trailing truck. On some large locomotives, ...

s. Two sets of driving wheels would give far too long a wheelbase to be mounted in a fixed locomotive frame, so all 0-8-8-0s have been

articulated locomotive An articulated locomotive is a steam locomotive (rarely, an electric locomotive) with one or more engine units that can move independent of the main frame. Articulation allows the operation of locomotives that would otherwise be too large to neg ...

s of the Mallet type, whether simple or

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

. In the

UIC classification The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification''The Railway Data File''. Leicester: Silverdale, 2000. p. 52. . or German system,Kalla-Bishop P.M. & Greggio, Luciano, ''Steam Locomotives'', Cre ...

, this arrangement would be, refined to Mallet locomotives, (D)D. The type was sometimes called Angus in North America. Other equivalent classifications are:

: DD (also known as German classification and

Italian classification The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification''The Railway Data File''. Leicester: Silverdale, 2000. p. 52. . or German system,Kalla-Bishop P.M. & Greggio, Luciano, ''Steam Locomotives'', Cre ...

)

French classification Under the French classification system for locomotive wheel arrangements, the system is slightly different for steam and electric/diesel vehicles. Steam The French system counts axles, rather than wheels. As with Whyte notation, a conventional r ...

: 040+040

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. Thus 0-6-0 beco ...

: 44+44

Swiss classification For more than a century, the Swiss locomotive, multiple unit, motor coach and railcar classification system, in either its original or updated forms, has been used to name and classify the rolling stock operated on the railways of Switzerland. ...

: 4/4+4/4 The lack of leading and trailing wheels to assist the tracking and stability of the locomotive means that the 0-8-8-0 type is not suited to high speeds. The vast majority were used as very heavy switchers (generally for

hump yard A classification yard ( American and Canadian English ( Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English ( Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railwa ...

work), transfer locomotives for hauling cuts of cars between rail yards, or pushers for assistance on grades. Most locomotives of this arrangement were built and served in North America, but there were exceptions. The

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n State Railways (K.Bay.St.B) built a total of 25 0-8-8-0T

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 a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

s of class Gt 2x4/4 between 1913 and 1923, classified after unification of Germany's railway systems as class BR96. These worked trains over heavily graded stretches of line, mostly as bankers (US: pushers) and were the largest locomotives in Europe when introduced.

Failures

In 1915, the NYC purchased an 0-8-8-0 numbered 2000 but proved to be very unreliable and also very costly to maintain as the engine steamed poorly and derailed often. Eventually in the 1930s, the engine was split into two locomotives. The result was a useful 2-8-0 freight engine and a barely functional 0-8-0T switcher engine. The switcher engine was later sold to the N&W where they decided to convert their W2 2-8-0's to the newly designated W6 class 0-8-0t's based on the aftermath of the NYC 0-8-8-0 that earlier was cut into two engines because at the time they were looking for a yard goat engine that could work in the yards of Roanoke. This would keep the N&W W6 class engines busy working near and around the area of Roanoke like bringing engines in for servicing, taking the engines to the coal elevators, water towers, the ready tracks and so on while the successful N&W S1 and S1a's would handle the major switching tasks and servicing the local industries nearby. The original 0-8-0 was sold for scrap by 1950 while the W6 copies lasted until their retirement after 1958. The 2-8-0 and 0-8-0 locomotives that were split from the 0-8-8-0 locomotive chassis no longer exist.

Popular culture

Used in Lionel O gauge only in Erie and Pennsylvania road names. The Bavarian locomotives have been modelled in HO gauge by Marklin/Trix and by Rivarossi.

References

External links

Web Site of ToyTrains1 0-8-8-0 Angus Steam LocomotivesErie Railroad L1 Class 0-8-8-0
{{Whyte types 88,0-8-8-0

Failures

Popular culture

See also

References

External links