4-8-4+4-8-4

KUR EC3 class, 1939

Equivalent classifications UIC class 2D2+2D2 French class 242+242 Turkish class 48+48 Swiss class 4/8+4/8, 8/16 from the 1920s Russian class 2-4-2+2-4-2

First known tank engine version First use 1939 Country Kenya & Uganda Locomotive KUR EC3 class Railway Kenya-Uganda Railway Designer Beyer, Peacock & Company Builder Beyer, Peacock & Company Evolved from 4-8-2+2-8-4

Under theWhyte notation for the classification ofsteam locomotives bywheel arrangement, the4-8-4+4-8-4 is aGarratt locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two4-8-4 locomotives operating back to back, with theboiler andcab suspended between the two engine units. Each engine unit has two pairs ofleading wheels in a leading bogie, followed by four coupled pairs ofdriving wheels and two pairs oftrailing wheels in a trailing bogie.

There were only two classes of4-8-4+4-8-4 steam locomotives worldwide, all of which were constructed byBeyer, Peacock & Company, the owners of the Garratt patent.^[1]

The predecessor4-8-2+2-8-4 Double Mountain was likely the optimal Garratt wheel arrangement, with the four-wheeled leading bogies and the two-wheeled trailing trucks on each engine unit ensuring stability at speed and with sixteen coupled wheels for traction. More coupled wheels would inhibit the locomotive on tight curves, while the only advantage of more non-coupled wheels, such as on the Double Northern, was to reduce the axle loading.

The second 4-8-4+4-8-4 class were theAD60 class Garratts of the Australian4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gaugeNew South Wales Government Railways, of which 47 were delivered in 1952. Of these, 42 were delivered fully assembled while the last five were delivered in pieces as spare parts. The locomotive weighed 260 imperial tons and was the largest locomotive in the Southern Hemisphere. The last of the AD60 class entered service in 1956 and the last one was withdrawn from service in 1973.^[1]

Four of the New South Wales AD60 class have been preserved.

• No. 6029 has been restored and was namedCity of Canberra until late 2017. It was restored to running condition in 2015.
• Numbers 6039 and 6042 are owned by theDorrigo Steam Railway & Museum.
• No. 6040 is stored on display atNSW Rail Museum,Thirlmere.^[2]

The first 4-8-4+4-8-4s to be built were thirtyclass EC3 locomotives for the1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge Kenya Uganda Railway (KUR). The thirty locomotives of the class were constructed in three batches in 1939, 1940 and 1949. These engines later became classes 57 and 58 on theEast African Railways (EAR).^[1]

One of the East African Railways locomotives survives, no. 87Karamoja of 1940, EAR no. 5711. It is on display in theNairobi Railway Museum in Kenya.^[3][4]

Media related to4-8-4+4-8-4 locomotives at Wikimedia Commons

• Garratt locomotives
• Whyte notation

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata