2-6-6-6

From TrainSpottingWorld, for Rail fans everywhere

The 2-6-6-6 (in Whyte notation) locomotive type has 2 leading wheels, two sets of six driving wheels and six trailing wheels. The only 2-6-6-6 locomotive type ever built was the "Allegheny" class, built by the Lima Locomotive Works. The name comes from the locomotive's first service with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway beginning in 1941. The locomotive was so named because of its job: hauling heavy coal trains up and down the Allegheny Mountains.

The equivalent UIC classification is (1'C)C3'.

History

The only two 2-6-6-6 locomotive types ever built were the "Allegheny" class for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), and the "Blue Ridge" class built for the Virginian Railway. There is often confusion because the locos were Series AG on the Virginian, which was thought to be an abbreviation for Allegheny, but that referred to their being Articulated, Series G. All were built by the Lima Locomotive Works. The name comes from the locomotive's first service with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway beginning in 1941. The locomotive was so named because of its job: hauling heavy coal trains up and down the Allegheny Mountains.

To many, the handwriting was on the wall for reciprocating piston driven steam locomotives, even though they would live on almost another 20 years. Lima Locomotive Works and C&O set out to build the ultimate in high horsepower engines, and they did succeed in that, because no other piston engine ever surpassed the output of these monsters. They were, as a result, also the heaviest steam locomotives ever constructed.

Preservation

There are only 2 surviving Alleghenies. One resides in The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and the other at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Neither is in operational condition as of March 2006.

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