0-6-4

In Whyte notation, a 0-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has six coupled driving wheels followed by four trailing wheels, with no leading wheels.

Other equivalent classifications are:

UIC classification: C2 (also known as German classification and Italian classification)

French classification: 032

Turkish classification: 35

Swiss classification: 3/5

United States

Largely in the United States the 0-6-4 locomotive was built only for usage in railyards as essentially an 0-6-0 switch engine with an extended firebox or a reconstruction of a 4-6-0 with a larger firebox, and thereby a necessity for the movement of the leading wheels.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom 0-6-4 tank locomotives were used for passenger and freight haulage and could be regarded as the ancestors of the popular 2-6-4 tank locomotive.

UK examples

* Metropolitan Railway G Class
* Midland Railway 2000 Class

New Zealand

The New Zealand Railways Department operated two classes of 0-6-4T single Fairlies. These were the R class and S class, built by the Avonside Engine Company of England between 1878 and 1881. They were popular with crews and capable of all duties, from express passenger trains to shunting tasks. The S class were limited to the Wellington Region when they were introduced, but the R class were distributed throughout the country. All were withdrawn by 1936, but R 28 is preserved as a static exhibit in a Reefton park.T. A. McGavin, "Steam Locomotives of New Zealand, Part One: 1863 to 1900" (Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1987), 34-6.]

Australia

Three members of New Zealand's S class were sold to the Western Australian Government Railways in 1891.

References