Under the Whyte notation

Whyte notation

The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...

 for the classification of steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement

Wheel arrangement

In rail transport, a wheel arrangement is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed beneath a locomotive.. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and connections, with the adopted notations varying by country...

 of no leading wheel

Leading wheel

The leading wheel or leading axle 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 in a truck...

s, eight powered and coupled driving wheel

Driving wheel

On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons...

s on four axles, and no trailing wheel

Trailing wheel

On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels was usually located on a trailing truck...

s. Locomotives of this type are also referred to as "eight coupled".

Other equivalent classifications are:

• UIC classification
  UIC classification
  The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives, multiple units and trams. It is set out in the International Union of Railways "Leaflet 650 - Standard designation of axle arrangement on locomotives and multiple-unit sets". It is used in much...
  
  : D (also known as German classification and Italian classification)
  
• French classification: 040
  
• Turkish classification
  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.Thus0-6-0 becomes 33...
  
  : 44
  
• Swiss classification: 4/4
  
• Russian classification: 0-4-0

Usage

Examples of the type were constructed both as tender locomotive

Tender locomotive

A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...

s and tank locomotives. The earliest locomotives were built for mainline haulage, particularly for freight, but later the configuration was also often used for large switcher

Switcher

A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...

 (UK: shunter) types. The wheel arrangement provided a powerful layout with all weight as adhesive weight

Adhesive weight

Adhesive weight is the amount of a locomotive's weight that is applied to the driving wheels and so capable of delivering traction. The more weight applied to the driving wheels, the greater the locomotive's ability to haul a load. But if the weight on the driving wheels exceeds the axle load of...

 and thus tractive effort

Tractive effort

As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force is the pulling or pushing force exerted by a vehicle on another vehicle or object. The term tractive effort is synonymous with tractive force, and is often used in railway engineering to describe the pulling or pushing capability of a...

 and factor of adhesion

Factor of adhesion

In railroad engineering, the factor of adhesion of a locomotive is the weight on the driving wheels divided by the starting tractive effort.A common rule is that for a steam locomotive a good factor of adhesion equals or exceeds 4, but not by too much...

 were maximised. The layout was generally too large for smaller and lighter railways, where the more popular 0-6-0

0-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...

 wheel arrangement would often be found performing similar duties.

History

This configuration appeared early in locomotive development in the USA during the mid 1840s.

United States

Ross Winans

Ross Winans

Ross Winans was an American inventor, mechanic, and builder of locomotives and railroad machinery. He is also noted for design of pioneering cigar-hulled ships. Winans, one of the United States' first multi-millionaires, was involved in politics and was a vehement states' rights advocate...

 developed a series of 0-8-0 types for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 starting in 1844. The type became popular in the USA where it was more commonly constructed as a tender locomotive and saw extensive use as a heavy switcher and freight engine.

The USRA 0-8-0

USRA 0-8-0

The USRA 0-8-0 was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I...

 was a USRA standard

USRA standard

The USRA standard locomotives and railroad cars were designed by the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalised rail system of the United States during World War I. 1,856 steam locomotives and over 100,000 railroad cars were built to these designs during the USRA's tenure...

 class, designed by the United States Railroad Administration

United States Railroad Administration

The United States Railroad Administration was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.- Background :On April 6, 1917, the...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. This was the standard heavy switcher

Switcher

A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...

 of the USRA types, of which 175 examples were built by ALCO

American Locomotive Company

The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...

, Baldwin

Baldwin Locomotive Works

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

 and Lima

Lima Locomotive Works

Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...

 for many different railroads in the USA. After the dissolution of the USRA in 1920, an additional 1,200 examples of the USRA 0-8-0 were built.

Austria

Two 0-8-0 locomotives were delivered from Andre Koechlin & Cie

Elsässische Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden

The Elsässischen Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Grafenstaden was a heavy industry firm located at Grafenstaden in the Alsace, near the city of Strasbourg....

 in Mulhouse to the Austrian Southern Railway

Austrian Southern Railway

The Austrian Southern Railway was an Austrian railway company established in 1841...

 in 1862. They were later sent to Italy and worked over the Apennines between Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 and Pistoja.

United Kingdom

Two examples of 0-8-0 tank locomotive

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 pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...

s were built by Archibald Sturrock

Archibald Sturrock

Archibald Sturrock was a Scottish mechanical engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the Great Northern Railway from 1850 until c. 1866, having from 1840 been Daniel Gooch's assistant on the Great Western Railway....

 of the United Kingdom’s Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....

 in 1866, but the design was not perpetuated. The tender locomotive version was introduced on the Barry Railway Company

Barry Railway Company

The Barry Railway Company was a coal pit owner developed and owned railway company, formed to provide an alternate route for the sea export of coal mined in the South Wales valleys to the existing monopoly of the Taff Vale Railway and Cardiff Docks...

 in 1889 to haul coal trains.

Francis Webb

Francis Webb (engineer)

Francis William Webb was a British engineer responsible for the design and manufacture of locomotives for the London and North Western Railway .- Biography :...

 of the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 built 282 examples of a compound 0-8-0

Compound locomotive

A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...

 between 1892 and 1904. A further 290 examples of a simple expansion version were built by his successor between 1910 and 1922.

After 1901 numerous classes of British 0-8-0 were introduced in Britain.

Russia/Soviet Union

In Russia the 0-8-0 class locomotives were represented by the various O-class

Steam locomotive O

The russian steam locomotive class O was an early type of russian steam locomotives. Between 1890 and 1928, 9129 locomotives were built; the type was the most numerous in Russia.....

 (Osnovnoj- mainline) freight locomotives. They were built from the end of the 19th century until the 1920s. They were commonly called the "Sheep" (Ovechka) and were the most common freight locomotives in Tsarist Russia. Some are still preserved in working order.

South Africa

On the South African Railways (SAR), shunting was traditionally performed by downgraded main line locomotives. When purpose built shunting locomotives were eventually introduced in 1929, the SAR preferred to adhere to the American practice of using tender locomotives for shunting, rather than the European practice of using tank locomotives. Three classes of 0-8-0 shunting steam locomotives were introduced between 1929 and 1952.

In 1929 fourteen Class S

South African Class S 0-8-0

In 1929 the South African Railways placed fourteen Class S shunter steam locomotives with a 0-8-0 wheel arrangement in service.-Background:Throughout the history of the South African Railways , shunting was traditionally performed by downgraded main line locomotives...

 locomotives were placed in service. They were built by Henschel and Son

Henschel & Son

Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, designed to SAR specifications. The top sides of the tender’s coal bunker were set inwards and the water tank top was rounded to improve the crew’s rearward vision. When they were first introduced, their boiler pressure was set at 216 pound per square inches (1,489.3 kPa), giving a tractive effort of 45400 pound-forces (201.9 kN), but since they tended to be slippery, the operating boiler pressure was reduced to 170 pound per square inches (1,172.1 kPa), resulting in a corresponding reduction in tractive effort to 35890 pound-forces (159.6 kN) at 75% boiler pressure.

The second type, the Class S1

South African Class S1 0-8-0

In 1947 the South African Railways placed twelve Class S1 shunter steam locomotives with a 0-8-0 wheel arrangement in service, built in the Salt River workshops in Cape Town...

, was designed by Dr. M.M. Loubser, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SAR from 1939 to 1949. Twelve of these locomotives, a heavier version of the Class S, were built at the Salt River workshops in Cape Town with the first being delivered in October 1947. A further twenty-five Class S1 locomotives were ordered from the North British Locomotive Company

North British Locomotive Company

The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...

 in Glasgow in 1952 and delivered in 1953 and 1954. The Class S1 was noted for its efficiency and economy and could cope with block loads of up to 2000 long tons (2,032.1 t).

To meet the need for shunting locomotives with a light axle load for harbour work, these were followed in 1952 and 1953 by one hundred Class S2

South African Class S2 0-8-0

In 1952 and 1953 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class S2 shunter steam locomotives with a 0-8-0 wheel arrangement in service.-Design specifications:...

 locomotives, built by Friedrich Krupp AG

Krupp

The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...

 of Essen in Germany. In order to adhere to the specified weight limit, the Class S2 was built with a small boiler, with the result that it had the appearance of a Cape gauge

Cape gauge

Cape gauge is a track gauge of between the inside of the rail heads and is classified as narrow gauge. It has installations of around .The gauge was first used by Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl and the first line was opened in 1862.- Nomenclature :...

 locomotive with a Narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 boiler, particularly when viewed from the front. Also to reduce the axle load, it had Vanderbilt type tenders that rode on Buckeye three axle bogies.

Germany

The narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 Heeresfeldbahn

Heeresfeldbahn

A Heeresfeldbahn is a German or Austrian military field railway . They were field railways designed for the military transportation purposes.- History :...

 class HF 160 D were developed for wartime service during the Second World War. The engines were also classified as Kriegsdampflokomotive 11 (military steam locomotive 11) or KDL 11. After the war the locomotives were put to use for civilian purposes.

External links

• LNER 0-8-0 locomotives in a catalogue of LNER locomotive types
• 0-8-0 - An article by Neil Carlson in Classic Trains magazine on the 0-8-0 type in North America
• Guide to the Moscow Railway Museum with a photo of Ov-841
• Guide to Steam locomotives in St.Peterburg including phot of Ov 6640