wheel arrangement

[hollyhanes]

Can you explain the wheel arrangement and names like Hudson etc to me?

[Paul Charland]

Hi Holly,

Hudsons are 4-6-4s... 4 on the pilot truck, 6 drivers, and 4 on the trailing truck.

Pacifics are 4-6-2s with two wheels on a single axle under the cab... the trailing truck.

Don't think any Hudsons made it to the DAR but Pacifics were used.

Paul

[Dan Conlin]

And lets not forget the Mogul, the 2-6-0 which has a pair of leading wheels (2) followed by six driving wheels (6) but no trailing wheels (0). This arrangement was nicknamed the Mogul after the name of an early locomotive which popularized the arrangement. Wheel arrangements acquired these unofficial but widely used names, usually after a route where they were introduced or used to great success. The Midland had a mogul, No. 28, which was acquired by the DAR and became the only Mogul ever used on the DAR. The arrangement was very popular elsewhere in Canada but not in DAR territory for some reason.

Dan Conlin

[hollyhanes]

Dan I believe that mogul was used on the Truro subdivision?
Can you then explain classsuch as D-6-D?

[Dan Conlin]

Yes - No. 28 "Pioneer" started out on the Midland Line which became the Truro Subdivision and I am sure it put in many miles on the Windsor to Truro route until it was retired. Most DAR railwaymen used the term "The Midland" and "Truro Sub" interchangeably.

Classes like the D6 were an internal CPR system of identifying the many subtle differences of locomotives. For an explanation of the many CPR/DAR classes, ask you local library to get this book by interlibrary loan:
Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives by Omer Lavallée ISBN 0-919130-34-8
Published by: Railfare Enterprises, Toronto, 1985

Dan Conlin

[stem]

I found a wheel arrangement chart here:
http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/wheels.shtml

Here's another chart plus it indicates the CPR class designation too (D10a for example):
http://members.shaw.ca/cprsteam/types.htm

Unless you're a real steam techie, the classification numbers mean little as they were a way for the CPR to indicate the differences between what appeared to the public to be the same loco but may have been significantly different on the drawing board. Don't spend too much time memorizing them either as every railway had their own class numbers!!