Under the

Whyte notation Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twentieth ce ...

for the classification of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s, 2-2-2-0 usually represents the

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

of two

leading wheel The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the leading wheels are normally located on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used ...

s on one axle, four powered but uncoupled

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

s on two axles, and no

trailing wheel On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle ( wheelset) located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels is usually located in a trailing truck. On some large locomotives, ...

s, but can also be used to represent two sets of leading wheels (not in a

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

truck) two

s, and no

s. Some authorities place brackets around the duplicated but uncoupled wheels, creating a notation 2-(2-2)-0, or (2-2)-2-0, as a means of differentiating between them. Others simply refer to the locomotives 2-2-2-0.

Usage

The 2-2-2-0 wheel arrangement was first used on some locomotives introduced on the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English Rail transport, railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on t ...

John Chester Craven John Chester Craven (born 1813 in Hunslet, Leeds) was an English locomotive engineer. He was the locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1847 until his resignation in 1870. He died in 188 ...

between 1845 and 1847, and some

Crampton locomotive A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company. Notable features were a low boiler and l ...

s on the South Eastern Railway in 1849.Baxter, (1977) pp.45 & 67. However the 2-2-2-0 type is usually associated with Francis Webb of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

who between 1882 and 1890 introduced a number of

compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three stages were used in shi ...

classes including the

LNWR Webb Experiment Class The London and North Western Railway ''Experiment'' Class was a series of 30 three-cylinder 2-(2-2)-0 compound locomotives designed by Francis Webb for the London and North Western Railway between 1882 and 1884. They were Webb’s first large ...

LNWR Dreadnought Class The LNWR Dreadnought class was a class of 40 passenger three-cylinder compound 2-2-2-0 locomotives designed by F. W. Webb for the London and North Western Railway, and manufactured by them in their Crewe Works between 1884 and 1888. The railw ...

and

LNWR Teutonic Class The LNWR Teutonic class was a class of 10 passenger three-cylinder compound locomotive, compound 2-2-2-0 locomotives designed by F. W. Webb for the London and North Western Railway, and manufactured by them in their Crewe Works between 1889 and ...

. The locomotives were never reliable and Webb's successor

George Whale George Whale (7 December 1842 – 7 March 1910) was an English locomotive engineer who was born in Bocking, Essex, and educated in Lewisham, London. He worked for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Career In 1858 he entered the LNWR' ...

withdrew them all within three years of taking up office in 1903, The type was used with more success on French railways with a 4-cylinder

Alfred de Glehn Alfred George de Glehn (15 September 1848 – 8 June 1936) was a notable English-born French designer of steam locomotives and an engineer with the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM). His steam engines of the 1890s combined el ...

, of the

Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques The Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (the Alsatian Corporation of Mechanical Engineering), or SACM, is an engineering company with its headquarters in Mulhouse, Alsace, which produced railway locomotives, textile and printing machi ...

(SACM) in 1886. Later examples were of the

4-2-2-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, four powered but uncoupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. The arrangement beca ...

configuration.

References

{{Whyte types 2-2-2-0