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 cen ...

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 loco ...

s, 0-4-4 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 no

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, four powered and coupled

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 four

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 on two axles. This type was only used for

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank loc ...

s. In American cities, the type known as a ''

Forney locomotive The Forney is a type of tank locomotive patented by Matthias N. Forney between 1861 and 1864 and used predominantly in the USA. Forney design Forney locomotives include the following characteristics: * An wheel arrangement, that is four drivi ...

'', was used on the narrow curves of

elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...

s and other

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

lines. In the UK 0-4-4 tanks were mainly used for suburban or rural passenger duties.

Equivalent classifications

Other equivalent classifications are: *

UIC classification The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification''The Railway Data File''. Leicester: Silverdale, 2000. p. 52. . or German system,Kalla-Bishop P.M. & Greggio, Luciano, ''Steam Locomotives'', Cre ...

: B2 (also known as German classification and

Italian classification The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification''The Railway Data File''. Leicester: Silverdale, 2000. p. 52. . or German system,Kalla-Bishop P.M. & Greggio, Luciano, ''Steam Locomotives'', Cre ...

) *

French classification Under the French classification system for locomotive wheel arrangements, the system is slightly different for steam and electric/diesel vehicles. Steam The French system counts axles, rather than wheels. As with Whyte notation, a conventional r ...

: 022 *

Turkish classification In the Turkish classification system for railway locomotives, the number of powered axles are followed by the total number of axles. It is identical to the Swiss system except that the latter places a slash between the two numbers. Thus 0-6-0 beco ...

: 24 *

Swiss classification For more than a century, the Swiss locomotive, multiple unit, motor coach and railcar classification system, in either its original or updated forms, has been used to name and classify the rolling stock operated on the railways of Switzerland. ...

: 2/4 * Russian classification: 0-2-2

History

Finland

The

Finnish Steam Locomotive Class F1 Finnish Steam Locomotive Class F1 was a class of tank locomotives, which did not have to be turned at terminal stations. The water tank was located below the space behind the cab, in contrast to more modern tank locomotives where the water tanks u ...

entered service with SVR in 1885 were used until 1935. One example is preserved at the

Finnish Railway Museum The Finnish Railway Museum ( fi, Suomen Rautatiemuseo) is located in Hyvinkää, Finland. It was founded in 1898 and located in Helsinki. The museum was moved to Hyvinkää in 1974. The museum is on the original station and yard site of the Han ...

United Kingdom

In the UK the earliest 0-4-4's were well tanks. Both John Chester Craven of the

London Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

and James Cudworth of the

South Eastern Railway (UK) The South Eastern Railway (SER) was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbur ...

introduced classes in 1866. They were followed by

Matthew Kirtley Matthew Kirtley (6 February 181324 May 1873) was born at Tanfield, Durham. He was an important early locomotive engineer. Career Early years At the age of thirteen he began work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway; he was fireman on the Liv ...

on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

(26 locomotive built 1869-70) and Patrick Stirling on the Great Northern Railway (48 locomotive built 1873-81). The more common side-tank version was introduced on the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Ra ...

Samuel Waite Johnson Samuel Waite Johnson (14 October 1831 – 14 January 1912) was an English railway engineer, and was Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Midland Railway from 1873 to 1903. He was born in Bramley, Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar ...

in 1872, and was soon afterwards adopted by most mainline railways in the UK, and became the standard configuration for a passenger tank locomotive until about 1900. Examples have included the

LSWR O2 Class The LSWR O2 class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotive designed for the London and South Western Railway by William Adams. Sixty were constructed during the late nineteenth century. They were also the last steam engines to work on the Isle of ...

Midland Railway 2228 Class The Midland Railway 2228 Class was a class of 0-4-4T side tank steam locomotive designed by Samuel Johnson. They were given the power classification 1P. Overview They were a follow-on to the 1823 class of 1889–1893, and were the Midland's l ...

, the

LSWR M7 Class The LSWR M7 class is a class of 0-4-4 passenger tank locomotive built between 1897 and 1911. The class was designed by Dugald Drummond for use on the intensive London network of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), and performed well i ...

and the

Caledonian Railway 439 Class The Caledonian Railway 439 Class is a class of 0-4-4 T steam locomotive. It was a development of earlier Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T locomotives, including the 19 Class and 92 Class, and predecessor of the 431 Class. The 439 Class was introduce ...

. The last British design of 0-4-4T were the

LMS Stanier 0-4-4T The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Class 2 0-4-4T was a class of 10 light passenger locomotives built in 1932. Ostensibly designed under new Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) William Stanier, they were in fact the last new de ...

of 1932 which were based on the

. Preserved 0-4-4T locomotives in the UK are SECR H class No. 263 on the

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...

LSWR O2 class The LSWR O2 class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotive designed for the London and South Western Railway by William Adams. Sixty were constructed during the late nineteenth century. They were also the last steam engines to work on the Isle of ...

No.W24 'Calbourne' on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, LSWR M7 Nos. 245 in the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

and 53 (as BR 30053) on the Swanage Railway,

Metropolitan Railway E Class The Metropolitan Railway E Class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives. A total of seven locomotives were built between 1896 and 1901 for the Metropolitan Railway: three by the railway at their Neasden Works and four by Hawthorn Leslie and Comp ...

No.1 at the

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, about west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two ...

, CR No.419 by the

Scottish Railway Preservation Society The Scottish Railway Preservation Society is a charity, whose principal objective is the preservation and advancement of railway heritage in Scotland. The society's headquarters is at Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) i ...

and the Duke of Sutherland's 'Dunrobin' which was brought back from Canada by

Beamish Museum Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it w ...

. The Class G5 Locomotive Company Limited are recreating a replica NER Class O (LNER class G5).

United States

The 0-4-4 configuration appears to have been introduced in the US, with the

, was patented by

Matthias N. Forney Matthias Nace Forney (March 28, 1835 – January 14, 1908) was an American steam locomotive designer and builder. He is most well known for the design of the Forney locomotive, Forney type locomotive. Locomotives that he designed served the ...

between 1861 and 1864. These were characterized by a single frame under the boiler and fuel/water tank, which is supported at the rear by the truck under the

coal bunker A coal bin, coal store or coal bunker is a storage container for coal awaiting use or transportation. This can be either in domestic, commercial or industrial premises, or on a ship or locomotive tender, or at a coal mine or processing plant. D ...

/water tank. The locomotives were designed to run cab (or bunker) first and were built for commuter lines in cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston.

References

{{Whyte types 4,0-4-4T