2-8-2+2-8-2

2-8-2+2-8-2 (Double Mikado)

SAR Class GE, c. 1966

Equivalent classifications UIC class 1D1+1D1 French class 141+141 Turkish class 46+46 Swiss class 4/6+4/6, 8/12 from 1920s Russian class 1-4-1+1-4-1

First known tank engine version First use 1924 Country South Africa Locomotive SAR Class GE Railway South African Railways Designer Beyer, Peacock and Company Builder Beyer, Peacock and Company

Equivalent classifications
UIC class	1D1+1D1
French class	141+141
Turkish class	46+46
Swiss class	4/6+4/6, 8/12 from 1920s
Russian class	1-4-1+1-4-1

First known tank engine version
First use	1924
Country	South Africa
Locomotive	SAR Class GE
Railway	South African Railways
Designer	Beyer, Peacock and Company
Builder	Beyer, Peacock and Company

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 2-8-2+2-8-2 is an articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-8-2 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-8-2 wheel arrangement has a single pair of leading wheels in a leading truck, followed by four coupled pairs of driving wheels and a pair of trailing wheels in a trailing truck. Since the 2-8-2 type was known as Mikado, the corresponding Garratt and Modified Fairlie types were usually known as Double Mikado.

The 2-8-2+2-8-2 wheel arrangement was used by Garratt and Modified Fairlie locomotives.

The Double Mikado was the fourth most common Garratt type, with 144 examples constructed, 114 built by Garratt patent owner Beyer, Peacock and Company (BP) and thirty built by others under license. Only ten, six for Chile and four for Peru, were built to 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. Ninety were built to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge for a number of different African railways. For Spain, sixteen were built to 1,672 mm (5 ft 5 ¹³⁄₁₆ in) gauge.

The South African Railways (SAR), where the Modified Fairlie concept was conceived as a possible alternative to the Garratt, was the only user. The Modified Fairlie was essentially an adaptation of the Kitson-Meyer concept. It was similar in appearance to a Garratt, but with the boiler, cab, coal and water bunkers all mounted on a single rigid frame which pivoted on the engine units, with the pivot centers located approximately at the centre of the rigid wheelbase of each engine unit. In the Garratt design, by comparison, the coal and water bunkers are mounted directly on the engine units and swivel with them, while the boiler, firebox and cab are mounted on a rigid frame which is suspended between the two engine units.

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Wikipedia