Under 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 the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2-0 usually represents 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 two

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 on one axle, four powered but uncoupled driving wheels on two axles, and no

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, but can also be used to represent two sets of leading wheels (not in a bogie truck) two driving wheels, and no

s. Some authorities place brackets around the duplicated but uncoupled wheels, creating a notation 2-(2-2)-0, or (2-2)-2-0, as a means of differentiating between them. Others simply refer to the locomotives 2-2-2-0.

Usage

The 2-2-2-0 wheel arrangement was first used on some locomotives introduced on the Eastern Counties Railway by

John Chester Craven John Chester Craven (born 1813 in Hunslet, Leeds) was an English locomotive engineer. He was the locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1847 until his resignation in 1870. He died in 188 ...

between 1845 and 1847, and some

Crampton locomotive A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company. Notable features were a low boiler and l ...

s on the South Eastern Railway in 1849.Baxter, (1977) pp.45 & 67. However the 2-2-2-0 type is usually associated with Francis Webb of the London and North Western Railway who between 1882 and 1890 introduced a number of

compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three stages were used in shi ...

classes including the LNWR Webb Experiment Class,

LNWR Dreadnought Class The LNWR Dreadnought class was a class of 40 passenger three-cylinder compound 2-2-2-0 locomotives designed by F. W. Webb for the London and North Western Railway, and manufactured by them in their Crewe Works between 1884 and 1888. The railw ...

and LNWR Teutonic Class. The locomotives were never reliable and Webb's successor George Whale withdrew them all within three years of taking up office in 1903, The type was used with more success on French railways with a 4-cylinder

designed by Alfred de Glehn, of the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM) in 1886. Later examples were of the 4-2-2-0 configuration.

References

{{Whyte types 2-2-2-0