Under theWhyte notation for the classification ofsteam locomotives,4-4-4 represents thewheel arrangement of fourleading wheels on two axles, four powered and coupleddriving wheels on two axles, and fourtrailing wheels on two axles. In the United States, this arrangement was named theReading type, since thePhiladelphia and Reading Railroad was the first to use it. InCanada, this type is known as theJubilee.
Other equivalent classifications are:
A single, experimental 4-4-4, classified asS 2/6, was built for theRoyal Bavarian State Railways in 1906 byMaffei. It was successful in an experimental sense, but was too light to haul passenger trains of useful capacity. It was fast, attaining 154 km/h (96 mph) on test, and was semi-streamlined with a pointed nosecone and fairings around the cylinders, stack and dome, and slanted-back cab windows. It inspired the later Bavarian S 3/64-6-2 "Pacifics". It passed to theDeutsche Reichseisenbahnen when the German railways were centralised, and was classified as BR 15, number 15 001. It was taken out of service in 1925, and was restored by Maffei to be exhibited at the Munich Transport Exhibition of that year. After the exhibition ended, it was placed in the Nuremberg Transport Museum, where it remains.[1]
ThePhiladelphia and Reading Railway built fourC1a Class locomotives in 1915, numbered 110 to 113. They proved to be quite unstable; after that year, they were rebuilt to4-4-2 "Atlantic" locomotives, classified as P7sa, and renumbered 350 to 353.[1]
B&O created a single 4-4-4 in 1934, rebuilding a4-4-2 "Atlantic" into a solitary class J-1, namedLady Baltimore. This and the single class V-24-6-4Lord Baltimore were built for new lightweight passenger trains. In theLady Baltimore's case theAbraham Lincoln on theChicago and Alton Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary of the B&O. Despite the Alton's flat territory and straight track, the locomotive did not do well. It was returned to the B&O and was again modified at the railroad's Mount Clare shops, a less streamlined cab and front end being fitted. Subsequently, it was placed into local service on the railroad's Wheeling Division, mostly operating betweenHolloway andCleveland, Ohio. It proved no more successful in that service, and was sent to the B&O's Riverside Shop for storage. It was scrapped in 1949.[1]
TheCanadian Pacific Railway built two classes of 4-4-4 "Jubilee" locomotives. Both were semi-streamlined, in a similar fashion to the4-6-4 "Royal Hudson" and2-10-4 "Selkirk" locomotives. The F2a was styled after the Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha"4-4-2 "Atlantic", but with a four-wheel trailing truck to support a longer firebox.
Class F2a consisted of five locomotives, Nos. 3000-3004. They can be most easily distinguished from the other type through the main rods being connected to the leading pair of drivers. Some trouble was discovered with this arrangement, as they had a tendency to bend the main rods in reverse. However, they did hold the Canadian record for speed, at 112.5 mph, during a braking test. Thepilot was smoothly rounded and streamlined, with two stainless-steel bands. None of this group survive.
Class F1a consisted of twenty locomotives, Nos. 2910-2929. These had the main rods connected to the trailing set of drivers, and a more regular pilot, with a straight pilot beam, a drop-coupler sheet steel pilot below that, and a more regular front deck. Two of this class of locomotive, Nos. 2928 and 2929, have survived. No. 2928 is at theCanadian Railway Museum inDelson, Quebec, while No. 2929 is atSteamtown National Historic Site inScranton, Pennsylvania.[1]
In Britain the 4-4-4 arrangement was confined totank locomotives and there to specific applications requiring either high speed stability in both directions (created by a symmetrical arrangement with bogies front and rear) or a powerful locomotive with as short a fixed wheelbase as possible. Eric G. Barker designed three examples for theWirral Railway in 1896.[2] TheMidland and South Western Junction Railway purchased two 4-4-4 tank engines fromSharp, Stewart and Company but these were not a success due to their poor traction. TheNorth Eastern RailwayClass D was designed byVincent Raven in 1913.[3] Between 1931 and 1936 they were rebuilt with a4-6-2T wheel layout and re-classified asA8.[4] TheH Class locomotives built for theMetropolitan Railway in the 1920s are an example of both these factors leading to a rare use of the 4-4-4 arrangement.
The Western Australia Government RailwayN Class 4-4-4 tank locomotives were introduced in 1896.
MÁVAG introduced someMÁV Class 242 4-4-4 streamlined tank locomotives between 1936 and 1939.
The Vishveshwaraiah Iron and Steel Company,Bhadravati introduced a Class-E 4-4-4 tank engine in March 1921. No. 22782 was built by the North British Locomotive Company at Atlas Works, Glasgow in 1920, the first of 23 examples.[5] It is currently exhibited in the Railway Museum in theMysore Junction railway station.
The "D type" 4-4-4T of the Central Uruguay Railway were eight locomotives (Vulcan Foundry 1913 and 1915) for use in the suburban services around Montevideo Central Station.[citation needed]
The3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge Gran Ferrocarril de Venezuela (Great Venezuela Railway) acquired a class of three 4-4-4T locomotives in 1892, theCóndor,Gavilán andHalcón. They were built by Hartmann'sSächsische Maschinenfabrik inChemnitz,Germany. Their maximum speed was 70 km/h (43 mph).[6]
Halcón still exists and, after an overhaul in 1975, was in service on a heritage line until 1997. Today it is in a desolate condition.[7]
