Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. In the United States and elsewhere, this wheel arrangement is commonly known as a Consolidation, after the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad’s Consolidation, the name of the first 2-8-0.White, John H. Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880. New York: Dover Publications, p. 65.
The notation 2-8-0T indicates a tank locomotive of this wheel arrangement, the "T" suffix indicating a locomotive on which the water is carried in side-tanks mounted on the engine rather than in an attached tender.
The Consolidation represented a notable advance in locomotive power. After 1875, it became "the most popular type of freight locomotive in the United States and was built in greater quantities than any other single wheel arrangement."
Overview Of all the locomotive types that were created and experimented with in the 19th century, the 2-8-0 was a relative latecomer.Swengel, F.M. (1967). The American Steam Locomotive: Vol. 1, the Evolution of the Steam Locomotive. Davenport: Midwest Rail Publishing, pp. 16, 102, 134, 186.
The first locomotive of this wheel arrangement was possibly built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Like the first 2-6-0s, this first 2-8-0 had a leading axle that was rigidly attached to the locomotive's frame, rather than on a separate truck or bogie. To create this 2-8-0, PRR master mechanic John P. Laird modified an existing 0-8-0, the Bedford, in 1863.
The 2-6-0 Mogul type, first created in the early 1860s, is often considered as the logical forerunner to the 2-8-0. However, a claim is made that the first true 2-8-0 engine evolved from the 0-8-0 and was ordered by the United States' Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad, which named all its engines. The name given to the new locomotive was Consolidation, the name that was later almost globally adopted for the type. According to this viewpoint, the first 2-8-0 order by Lehigh dates to 1866 and antedates the adoption of the type by other railways and coal and mountain freight haulers.
From its introduction in 1866 and well into the early 20th century, the 2-8-0 design was considered to be the ultimate heavy-freight locomotive. The 2-8-0's forte was starting and moving "impressive loads at unimpressive speeds" and its versatility gave the type its longevity. The practical limit of the design was reached in 1915, when it was realised that no further development was possible with a locomotive of this wheel arrangement.
Usage As in the United States, the 2-8-0 was also a popular type in Europe, again largely as a freight hauler. The type was also used in Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Africa.
Australia The 2-8-0 locomotive was used extensively throughout Australia. It served on the broad gauge, and narrow gauge and was employed mostly as a freight locomotive, although it was often also employed in passenger service in Victoria.
The first Australian locomotive class with this wheel arrangement were the Queensland Railways C13 and C15, built as goods locomotives in 1879 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. Another lot of Consolidation engines consisted of 20 standard-gauge New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) J Class engines, which arrived from Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1891. The Js remained in service until 1915, when they were withdrawn. Wartime shortages between 1916 and 1920 had six engines re-entering service after being shopped and fitted with superheaters. The last engine of this class was finally withdrawn in 1934 and all were scrapped by 1937.
The next batch of NSW 2-8-0 locomotives to appear, between 1896 and 1916, was the T class engines. The class was delivered from one local and several overseas builders, 151 locomotives from Beyer, Peacock & Company, 84 from North British Locomotive Company, 10 from Neilson & Company, 30 from Clyde Engineering in Australia, and five from Dübs & Company. During World War II, 14 of these locomotives were equipped with superheaters, which raised their tractive effort from to .
From 1899, the Victorian Railways (VR) also used a range of broad-gauge 2-8-0 locomotives. The first of these locomotives were the Baldwin-built V class. These engines were built at Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat. By 1930, they had disappeared from the VR. The VR's next type was the 26 C class engines, which saw freight and passenger service. In 1922, a smaller and lighter 2-8-0, the K class, was introduced for branchline freight and later also passenger services.
Finally, the VR introduced sixty light 2-8-0 J class engines in 1954. These also worked both freight and passenger services.
The first 2-8-0 engines in private service on the Midland Railway of Western Australia arrived in 1912. These were gauge locomotives. The five in the class operated until 1958. All were gone by 1963.Oberg, Leon. (1975). Locomotives of Australia. Sydney: Reed.
In 1912, some of the NSWGR T class types were also purchased by the private East Greta Railway, later to become the South Maitland Railway, but these were converted to 2-8-2 tank locomotives. The class proved to be successful throughout its long service life, until being retired from government revenue service in 1973.
During 1916, Commonwealth Railways acquired eight K class for the Trans-Australian Railway.
In 1924, a private coal company, J & A Brown in NSW, obtained three ex-British military Railway Operating Division ROD 2-8-0 locomotives. Brown later ordered another 10 of these locomotives, but only nine of that order arrived in Australia. The last was withdrawn in 1973.
Belgium To compensate for wartime losses, Belgian railways acquired 300 2-8-0 locomotives in 1946. They were built in North America, 160 by Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada, 60 by the Canadian Locomotive Company, and 80 by the American Locomotive Company in the United States. These machines proved to be very reliable and were used for mixed traffic until the end of the steam era, when number 29.013 hauled the last scheduled steam passenger train from Ath to Denderleeuw on 20 December 1966.
This locomotive survived in preservation and is used on special excursions. On 16 December 2006, number 29.013 re-enacted the last 1966 run on the same route.
Canada
The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) N-2-a, b, and c class locomotives were a class of altogether 182 Consolidation type locomotives, built by Montreal Locomotive Works between 1912 and 1914. They were numbered in the range from 3600 to 3799 and were used almost everywhere around the system. The order for these engines came about when CP needed bigger locomotives for their mainline since their current engines were wearing out and were too small for the loads that were being hauled. Most of the class were converted to oil-firing in later years.
One of the locomotives, No. 3716, is run and maintained in Summerland, BC as part of the Kettle Valley Steam Railway.Kettle Valley Model Railway - Kettle Valley Consolidations Part 2 (Accessed on 22 October 2016)Kettle Valley Model Railway - Kettle Valley Consolidations Part 3 (Accessed on 22 October 2016)
Finland Finland had five tender locomotive classes with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement, the classes Tk1, Tk2, Tk3, Tv1, and Tv2. The class Tk1s were numbered from 271 to 290 and were nicknamed Amerikan Satikka.
The class Tk2s were numbered 407 to 426 and 457 to 470. They were nicknamed Satikka. Three were preserved, No. 407 at Närpes, No. 418 at Junction City, Oregon, in the United States, and No. 419 at Haapamäki. The class Tk3s were numbered 800 to 899, 1100 to 1118, and 1129 to 1170. They were built by Tampella, Lokomo, and Frichs. The class Tv1s were numbered 594 to 617, 685 to 741, 900 to 948, and 1200 to 1211. They were built by Tampella and were nicknamed Jumbo. Four were preserved, No. 609 at Haapamäki, No. 933 at the Veturi museum at Toijala, No. 940 at Lapinlahti and No. 943 at Ylivieska. The class Tv2s were numbered from 618 to 637. They were nicknamed Wilson. Only No. 618 was preserved, also at Haapamäki.
Finland had only one tank locomotive class with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement, the class M1 consisting of one solitary locomotive numbered 66. It was not preserved.
Germany The 2-8-0 wheel arrangement enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Germany during the era of the Länderbahnen or State Railways, from about 1840 to 1920, prior to the establishment after the First World War of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German National Railways. Under the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) classification system, all 2-8-0 locomotives were assigned to class 56 (Baureihe or BR 56), with different types receiving subclassifications. The earliest type was the Prussian G73 of 1893.
Indonesia
In response to the increasing need for freight and passenger transports on the Buitenzorg–Bandung–Banjar line, the Java Staatsspoorwegen at the time ordered 42 Consolidation locomotives from 4 different engine manufacturers, including Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM), Hanomag, Hartmann and Werkspoor, came in 1914, 1915 and 1921, classified as SS Class 900 (901–942). These locomotives were made to fulfill the requirements that submitted by SS, being able to haul 550 tons of freight with speeds of up to 50 km/h (31 mph) or 30 km/h (18.6 mph) on lines with a gradient of 4% or 1 in 25. In order to be able to negotiate 150 meters curve radius, the leading wheels adopted Adam axle system which could enable to turn radially by 70 mm. As for the fourth driving wheels, adopted Golsdorf axle system (patented by Karl Golsdorf), this make the outer driving wheels able to move laterally by 100 mm. As by result, it's not only able to turn at 150 meters curve radius, but speeds up to 75 km/h (46.6 mph) was made possible from its initial of 50 km/h (31 mph). Based on record in 1938, the SS Class 900/DKA 50s ever been used to haul the Eendaagsche Express or One Day Express train on Bandung–Banjar southern-west line replacing the SS Class 1250 (DKA DD52) due to resource and asset saving policies during Great Depression and SS Class 1700/DKA C30s which were considered to be inefficient in serving the increasingly congested volume of freights and passenger transport. In 1939, the Eendaagsche Express shortened the time journey for Bandung–Yogyakarta–Surabaya to only 11 hours. These locomotives worked on Bandung–Purwakarta–Batavia line and also assigned to work the eastern express trains in East Java on Banyuwangi–Surabaya line in tandem with SS Class 1100 (DKA C27). To make the SS 900s have the characteristics of express locomotive, each unit received the modification of two pair of smoke deflectors.Spoor- en Tramwegen, 5 July 1938 Spoor- en Tramwegen, 16 January 1943 In the need of increasing freight transport in South Sumatra, the Java Staatsspoorwegen allocated 4 of them to serve coal transport from Bukit Asam to Kertapati. Not quite a long, the South Sumatra division of SS or so called Zuid-Sumatra Staatsspoorwegen (ZSS) were also ordered 11 of these from two German engine manufacturers, 5 were imported from Hartmann in 1925 and the rest of 6 from Hanomag in 1926.
Preservation