4-6-0

4-6-0 (ten-wheeler)
Diagram of two small leading wheels, and three large driving wheels joined together with a coupling rod
Front of locomotive at left
Prussian P 8, the most numerous 2'C 4-6-0 in the world
Equivalent classifications
UIC class2'C
French class230
Turkish class35
Swiss class3/5
Russian class2-3-0
First known tank engine version
First use1880
CountryColony of Natal
LocomotiveNGR Class G
RailwayNatal Government Railways
DesignerKitson and Company
BuilderKitson and Company
Evolved from2-6-0T
First known tender engine version
First use1847
CountryUnited States
LocomotiveChesapeake
RailwayPhiladelphia and Reading Railroad
DesignerSeptimus Norris
BuilderNorris Locomotive Works
Evolved from4-4-0
Evolved to4-6-2 and 2-8-0
BenefitsLarger and more powerful than the 4-4-0
DrawbacksSmall firebox

A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the absence of trailing wheels.

In the mid-19th century, this wheel arrangement became the second-most-popular configuration for new steam locomotives in the United States, where this type is commonly referred to as a ten-wheeler.[1] As locomotives pulling trains of lightweight all-wood passenger cars from the 1890 to the 1920s, they were exceptionally stable at near 100 mph (160 km/h) speeds on the New York Central's New York-to-Chicago Water Level Route and on the Reading Railroad's line from Camden to Atlantic City, New Jersey.

  1. ^ White, John H., Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880. New York, NY: Dover Publications. p. 57. ISBN 0-486-23818-0