2-6-4

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A 2-6-4T locomotive from Baldwin Locomotive Works, delivered to the Finnish State Railways in 1900.
A 2-6-4T locomotive from Baldwin Locomotive Works, delivered to the Finnish State Railways in 1900.

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-6-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels.

Other equivalent classifications are:
UIC classification: 1C2 (also known as German classification and Italian classification)
French classification: 132
Turkish classification: 36
Swiss classification: 3/6

The wheel arrangement is best known for the Austrian express locomotives class 210 of 1908 and class 310 of 1911, both designed by Karl Gölsdorf; it is sometimes known as the Adriatic arrangement, named for the Adriatic Sea which bordered Austria-Hungary until 1918.

It was much more common as a tank locomotive arrangement, 2-6-4T. These were produced for many different railway systems worldwide. They were also known as 'adriatic tanks.'

[edit] See also