Locomotive

4-4-0 (American, Eight-Wheeler)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/WheelArrangement_4-4-0.svg/300px-WheelArrangement_4-4-0.svg.png

Front of locomotive at left

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/1836_Campbell_4-4-0_Steam_Locomotive_patent.png/300px-1836_Campbell_4-4-0_Steam_Locomotive_patent.png

1836 Patent drawing of the first 4-4-0 locomotive

Equivalent classifications
UIC class	2′B
French class	220
Turkish class	24
Swiss class	2/4
Russian class	2-2-0

First known tank engine version
First use	1849
Country	United Kingdom
Locomotive	GWR Bogie Class
Railway	South Devon Railway
Builder	Great Western Railway

First known tender engine version
First use	1836
Country	United States
Railway	Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railway
Designer	Henry Roe Campbell
Builder	Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railway
Evolved from	4-2-0
Evolved to	4-4-2
Benefits	Better tractive effort than the 4-2-0
Drawbacks	Could only pull a few cars due to its small size

4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheelson two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels.

First built in the 1830s, locomotives with this wheel arrangement were known as "standard" or "Eight-Wheeler" type. In the first half of the 19th century, almost every major railroad in North America owned and operated locomotives of this type, and many rebuilt their 4-2-0 and 2-4-0 locomotives as 4-4-0s.

In April 1872, Railroad Gazette used "American" as the name of the type. The type subsequently also became popular in the United Kingdom, where large numbers were produced.

The vast majority of 4-4-0 locomotives used tenders, though some tank locomotives were built.

Development[]

American development[]

Five years after new locomotive construction had begun at the West Point Foundry in the United States with the 0-4-0 Best Friend of Charleston in 1831, the first 4-4-0 locomotive was designed by Henry R. Campbell, at the time the chief engineer for the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railway. Campbell received a patent for the design in February 1836 and soon set to work building the first 4-4-0.

At the time, Campbell's 4-4-0 was a giant among locomotives. Its cylinders had a 14-inch (360 mm) bore with a 16-inch (410 mm) piston stroke, it boasted 54-inch-diameter (1,400 mm) driving wheels, could maintain 90 psi (620 kPa) of steam pressure and weighed 12 short tons (11 t). Campbell's locomotive was estimated to be able to pull a train of 450 short tons (410 t) at 15 mph (24 km/h) on level track, outperforming the strongest of Baldwin's 4-2-0s in tractive effort by about 63%. However, the frame and driving gear of his locomotive proved to be too rigid for the railroads of the time, which caused Campbell's prototype to be derailment-prone. The most obvious cause was the lack of a weight equalizing system for the drivers. link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:440woodcut.jpg|thumb|An 1880s woodcut of a 4-4-0locomotive At about the same time as Campbell was building his 4-4-0, the company of Eastwick and Harrison was building its own version of the 4-4-0. This locomotive, named Hercules, was completed in 1837 for the Beaver Meadow Railroad. It was built with a leading bogie that was separate from the locomotive frame, making it much more suitable for the tight curves and quick grade changes of early railroads. The Hercules initially suffered from poor tracking, which was corrected by giving it an effective springing system when returned to its builder for remodeling. link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HABS_-_Norris_Locomotive_Works_stone_at_the_Washington_Monument_(cropped).jpg|right|thumb|1856 relief sculpture of a 4-4-0 commissioned by the Norris Locomotive Works, depicting an early model prior to the adoption of the covered cab [[null|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richmond_%26_Petersburg_Railroad_02705r.jpg%7Cright%7Cthumb%7CRemains of a 4-4-0 locomotive of the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, Richmond Virginia 1865]] Even though the Hercules and its successors from Eastwick and Harrison proved the viability of the new wheel arrangement, the company remained the sole builders of this type of locomotive for another two years. Norris Locomotive Works built that company's first 4-4-0 in 1839, followed by Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works, the Locks & Canals Machine Shop and the Newcastle Manufacturing Company in 1840. After Henry Campbell sued other manufacturers and railroads for infringing on his patent, Baldwin settled with him in 1845 by purchasing a license to build