Locomotives are the lifeblood of the railroad. The workhorses which haul all the freight and passenger trains. Since the very first locomotive was built, people have been striving to create better locomotives. Locomotives, as the evolved, have had different wheel arrangement's to distribute the weight of the locomotive, and provide traction for hauling the trains.
This perpetual quest to perfect a locomotive has driven the progress of locomotives, from steam to diesel, from switcher to mainline runner, all locomotives have had their hay day being number one in service.
Railroaders have developed an alphabet to naming locomotives based on their wheel arrangements, and so I will go over this today.
The alphabet for steam locomotives goes as follows:
So can you name the following loco, with O being a powered axle, and o being idle?
o-OOO-o
2- 6 -2
It a prairie locomotive, which has one idle axle, then three powered axles, then another idle axle in back.
With that said, here are all of the following combinations in Whyte Notation, which counts wheels, not axles. How many can you name?
Rigid frame:
oo-O Jervis
o-O-o Jenny Lind
OO Porter
OO-o Porter
o-OO-o Columbia
oo-OO American
oo-OO-o Atlantic
oo-OO-oo Jubilee
OOO un-named
o-OOO Mogul
o-OOO-o Prairie
oo-OOO Ten Wheeler
oo-OOO-o Pacific
oo-OOO-oo Hudson
OOOO un-named
o-OOOO Consolidation
o-OOOO-o Mikado
o-OOOO-oo Berkshire
oo-OOOO Mastodon
oo-OOOO-o Mountain
oo-OOOO-oo Northern
OOOOO un-named
o-OOOOO Decapod
OOOOO-o Union
o-OOOOO-o Santa Fe
oo-OOOOO-o Overland (or Southern Pacific)
o-OOOOO-oo Texas
OOOOOO Pennsylvania
oo-OOOOOO-o Union Pacific
Articulated:
OOO-OOO Mallet (US style)
o-OOO-OOO-o un-named mallet type
o-OOO-OOO-oo un-named mallet type
oo-OOO-OOO-oo Challenger
o-OOOO-OOOO-o un-named (pre-Yellowstone)
o-OOOO-OOOO-oo Yellowstone
oo-OOOO-OOOO-oo Big Boy
And that concludes most common types of US locomotives. This wheel arrangement alphabet is also known as the Whyte Notation for locomotives.
Diesel locomotives have a different alphabet, called the AAR, and the characters are described below:
This perpetual quest to perfect a locomotive has driven the progress of locomotives, from steam to diesel, from switcher to mainline runner, all locomotives have had their hay day being number one in service.
Railroaders have developed an alphabet to naming locomotives based on their wheel arrangements, and so I will go over this today.
The alphabet for steam locomotives goes as follows:
- 2: one axle, either powered or idle.
- 4: two axles, either powered or idle.
- 6: three axles, usually powered
- 8: four axles, powered
- 10: five axles, powered.
- a dash indicates a separation of wheel assemblies.
So can you name the following loco, with O being a powered axle, and o being idle?
o-OOO-o
2- 6 -2
It a prairie locomotive, which has one idle axle, then three powered axles, then another idle axle in back.
With that said, here are all of the following combinations in Whyte Notation, which counts wheels, not axles. How many can you name?
Rigid frame:
oo-O Jervis
o-O-o Jenny Lind
OO Porter
OO-o Porter
o-OO-o Columbia
oo-OO American
oo-OO-o Atlantic
oo-OO-oo Jubilee
OOO un-named
o-OOO Mogul
o-OOO-o Prairie
oo-OOO Ten Wheeler
oo-OOO-o Pacific
oo-OOO-oo Hudson
OOOO un-named
o-OOOO Consolidation
o-OOOO-o Mikado
o-OOOO-oo Berkshire
oo-OOOO Mastodon
oo-OOOO-o Mountain
oo-OOOO-oo Northern
OOOOO un-named
o-OOOOO Decapod
OOOOO-o Union
o-OOOOO-o Santa Fe
oo-OOOOO-o Overland (or Southern Pacific)
o-OOOOO-oo Texas
OOOOOO Pennsylvania
oo-OOOOOO-o Union Pacific
Articulated:
OOO-OOO Mallet (US style)
o-OOO-OOO-o un-named mallet type
o-OOO-OOO-oo un-named mallet type
oo-OOO-OOO-oo Challenger
o-OOOO-OOOO-o un-named (pre-Yellowstone)
o-OOOO-OOOO-oo Yellowstone
oo-OOOO-OOOO-oo Big Boy
And that concludes most common types of US locomotives. This wheel arrangement alphabet is also known as the Whyte Notation for locomotives.
Diesel locomotives have a different alphabet, called the AAR, and the characters are described below:
- 1: one un-powered axle
- 2: two un-powered axles
- 3: three un-powered axles
- A: one powered axle
- B: two powered axles
- C: three powered axles
- D: four powered axles
- - :separates trucks, but not whole assemblies
- +: is a joint on the locomotive meaning articulation where the body spans two or more truck assemblies.
- ( ): parenthesis symbolize a truck assembly that is contained on its own, but the body of the locomotive overhangs to another truck assembly. Two sets of parenthesis are separated by a +.
So referring to the Whyte Notation, a "1A-A1" is basically a, oO-Oo with "o" being an un-powered axle, and "O" being a powered axle.
Below will be a list of various types, with the Whyte Notation translation for simplicity:
1A-A1 oO-Oo
1-D o-OOOO
2-A1A oo-OoO
2-B oo-OO
3-A1A ooo-OoO
A1-1A Oo-oO
A1A-2 OoO-oo
A1A-3 OoO-ooo
A1A-A1A OoO-OoO
A1A-B+B OoO-OO+OO
B OO
B-1 OO-o
B-2 OO-oo
B-A1A OO-OoO
B-B OO-OO
B-2-B OO-oo-OO
B-B-B OO-OO-OO
B+B+B OO+OO+OO
2-B+B-2 oo-OO+OO-oo
2-B+B+B+B-2 oo-OO+OO+OO+OO-oo
B-B+B-B OO-OO+OO-OO
B+B-B+B OO+OO-OO+OO
B-B-B-B OO-OO-OO-OO
B-B+B-B+B-B OO-OO+OO-OO+OO-OO
C OOO
C-B OOO-OO
C-C OOO-OOO
1-C+C-1 o-OOO+OOO-o
2-C+C-2 oo-OOO+OOO-oo
2+C-C+2 oo+OOO-OOO+oo
2-C1+2-C1+B oo-OOOo+oo-OOOo
C-C+C-C OOO-OOO+OOO-OOO
1-D-1 o-OOOO-o
2-D-2 oo-OOOO-o
D-D OOOO-OOOO
2-D+D-2 oo-OOOO+OOOO-oo
B-D+D-B OO-OOOO+OOOO-OO
1B+D+D+B1 oOO+OOOO+OOOO+OOo
(B-B+B-B)+(B-B+B-B) (OO-OO+OO-OO)+(OO-OO+OO-OO)
It is important to keep in mind that the Whyte Notation is not used correctly here. However, AAR is a bit confusing, and most people know the Whyte Notation, so I have adapted it for use in explaining the locomotive arrangements above.
A third Alphabet is the UIC Notation. It is used in Europe, and is similar to the AAR Notation.
If anyone here is confused, join the club, I'm confused, and I'm explaining it! But I'll be happy to try and clear things up, so if you're confused, please leave your question in the comments box below.
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