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PRR Equipment |
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In general, steam locomotives were classified using the Whyte system. This system counts the number of wheels in each of the three or four sections of the
engine. For example, a steam locomotive with two leading wheels, 8 driving wheels, and 2 trailing wheels was flagged as a "2-8-2".
However, the Pennsylvania Railroad, being the "Standard Railroad of the World", classified their engines differently. Each steam and electric engine was
classified according to its wheel arrangement in groups represented by a capital letter of the alphabet. For example, a "2-10-4" steam engine was classified
by the Pennsy as a "J". This letter was usually followed by a dash and a number indicating the design change. For example, a "J-1" was the first design of
the "2-10-4" group.
| "A" | 0-4-0 "switcher" |
| "B" | 0-6-0 "Shifter" |
| "C" | 0-8-0 (rare) |
| "D" | 4-4-0 "American" |
| "E" | 4-4-2 "Atlantic" |
| "F" | 2-6-0 "Mogul" |
| "G" | 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" (PRR had 90 G5) |
| "H" | 2-8-0 "Consolidation" |
| "I" | 2-10-0 "Decapod" (PRR had 598 I1) |
| "J" | 2-6-2 "Prairie" and 2-10-4 "Texas" (PRR had 250 J1) |
| "K" | 4-6-2 "Pacific" (PRR had 425 K4) |
| "L" | 2-8-2 "Mikado" (PRR had 575 L1) |
| "M" | 4-8-2 "Mountain" |
| "N" | 2-10-2 |
| "O" | 4-4-4 (experimental only) |
| "P" | 4-6-4 (electric engines only) |
| "Q" | 4-4-6-4 and 4-6-4-4 |
| "R" | 4-8-4 (the PRR never had any of these) |
| "S" | 6-4-4-6 and 6-8-6 |
| "T" | 4-4-4-4 "Duplex" |
For diesel engines a two-letter format was used along with a dash and a number. The first letter indicated the builder and the second letter the primary
purpose of the engine. For road-going diesels, the number after the letters represented the number of engines in the train (or lash-up). For example, an
"EF-4" was a collection of four diesel freight engines built by EMD.
For diesel switcher engines, the same two-letter method was used, but the number after the dash represents the hundreds of horsepower the engine produced.
For example, an "AS-10" was an Alco-built switcher that produced 1000hp.
| "A" | American Locomotive Company ("Alco") |
| "B" | Baldwin Locomotive Works |
| "E" | GM's Electro-Motive Division ("EMD") |
| "F" | Fairbanks-Morse Company |
| "G" | General Electric ("GE") |
| "F" | freight service |
| "P" | passenger service |
| "S" | switcher service |
Some information came from the Wikepedia web site, and some from
books I own.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 Peter Vanvliet |
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