2-6-2

2-6-2 (Prairie)

CGR 2nd Class of 1875, the first 2-6-2

Equivalent classifications UIC class 1C1 French class 131 Turkish class 35 Swiss class 3/5 Russian class 1-3-1

First known tank engine version First use 1875 Country Cape of Good Hope Locomotive CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT Railway Cape Government Railways Designer Robert Stephenson and Company Builder Robert Stephenson and Company

First known tender engine version First use 1900 Country United States of America Railway Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Builder Brooks Locomotive Works Evolved from 2-6-0 Drawbacks Nosing at speed

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie.

The majority of American 2-6-2s were tender locomotives, but in Europe tank locomotives, described as 2-6-2T, were more common. The first 2-6-2 tender locomotives for a North American customer were built by Brooks Locomotive Works in 1900 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, for use on the Midwestern prairies. The type was thus nicknamed the Prairie in North American practice. This name was often also used for British locomotives with this wheel arrangement.

As with the 2-10-2, the major problem with the 2-6-2 is that these engines have a symmetrical wheel layout, wherein the centre of gravity is almost over the centre driving wheel. The reciprocation rods, when working near the centre of gravity, induce severe side-to-side nosing which results in severe instability if unrestrained either by a long wheelbase or by the leading and trailing trucks. Though some engines, like the Chicago and Great Western of 1903, had the connecting rod aligned onto the third driver, most examples were powered via the second driver and were prone to the nosing problem.

In Australia, no tender versions of the 2-6-2 operated on any system. However, three classes of 2-6-2T did.

In New South Wales a class of twenty engines, the Class 26, entered service in 1892 and operated until the end of steam. Two are preserved, no. 2606 at the Rail Transport Museum at Thirlmere and no. 2605 at the State Mine Museum in Lithgow.

The Silverton Tramway operated two 2-6-2T locomotives from 1891, both of which are preserved in South Australia.