Locomotive, Steam, 2-6-4T

History: Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-6-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called Adriatic, from the Adriatic Sea, that was bordering, before 1918, the Austria-Hungary empire were this type was first introduced. The Adriatic wheel arrangement was usually used on tank locomotives, for which various suffixes to indicate the type of tank would be added to the wheel arrangement, for example 2-6-4T for an engine with side-tanks.
Tank engines with the 2-6-4T wheel arrangement were produced for many different railway systems worldwide and were mainly used for freight and suburban passenger working. They have been less successful on express passenger trains. The earliest known example also originated in South Africa, the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway's 55 Tonner of 1898.
In North America, this wheel arrangement was used by a very limited number of companies, mostly for suburban services:
- Boston & Maine / Franklin & Tilton
- Chattanooga & Lookout Mountain
- Illinois Central
- Isthmian Canal Commission/Panama
- Philadelphia & Reading (class Q1-b/c/d)
More information on this site.

Railroad/Company: This set of items is comprised of more than one name. Please look at the component items for details on the specific roadnames and/or manufacturers.