Sorry to bother everybody again, but how popular was the 2-4-2,and in what form was it most common, tank or tender? And where was it most popular, logging/mining, or somewhere else?
TO,
Because you’re asking specifically about the prototype, this post would be better suited for the Prototype information for the modeler forum. You’re also more likely to get the answer to your query.
Tom
That would be a Columbian class. Introduced at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (along with the light bulbpowered by Tesla’s AC electrical power system).
It did not become a really popular class of locomotive. They always looked goofy to me.
The 2-4-2 first built by Grant Locomotive Works appeared in 1869. As originally built it was intended for suburban passenger service. The first batch had tenders, but were intended to be bidirectional. After a few years they were downgraded to gravel trains.
As noted previously the wheel arrangement was revived by Baldwin for the Columbian exposition as a Vauclain Compound intended for high speed service. Their large drivers made them fast, but the two wheel truck proved inadequate for the speeds the locomotive could achieve.
As an industrial type bidirectional 2-4-2s in both tank and tender types were popular in mining and logging.
A four-wheel lead truck most likely would have solved the inadequacy–thus, the Atlantic.
Ed
To be honest, 2-4-2s weren’t really popular in any area of US railroading. A few were used here and there but they really weren’t an improvement over what was then (19th century) currently available. I’m sure some were built for specific uses like agricultural railroads (hauling sugar cane for example) but they weren’t big enough to do much industrial or logging work.
The 2-4-2 was a standard catalog locomotive for logging from about 1870 to 1890. They were most popular in New England and Southern logging. Western logging by rail came along at a later date, and required more powerful locomotives. And the development of geared locomotives, along with logging 2-6-2s and logging 2-8-2s made the 2-4-2 pretty much obsolete by 1890.
Virtually all the 2-X-2 logging locomotives used the trailing wheels for guiding in reverse, rather than supporting a bigger firebox. Whether tank or tender was used depended upon the distance the engine needed to travel. When buying used locomotives for logging, the acquiring company would decide whether to use tank or tender, and convert the acquired locomotive if need be. More than a few engines from tank to tender and vice versa during their lifetimes.
Fred W
The 4-4-2 was much more popular with the big roads and was primariy a passenger engine. The development of steel passenger cars around 1900 quickly resulted in the 4-6-2. The freight engine of choice was the 2-8-0.