4-8-0+0-8-4

Bengal Nagpur Railway class N No. 815.

In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, the 4-8-0+0-8-4 is a Garratt articulated locomotive. The wheel arrangement is effectively two 4-8-0 locomotives operating back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between the two engine units. Each engine unit has two pairs of leading wheels in a leading bogie, followed by four coupled pairs of driving wheels, with no trailing wheels. Since the 4-8-0 type is known as a Mastodon type, the corresponding Garratt type could be referred to as a Double Mastodon. A similar wheel arrangement exists for Mallet locomotives, but is referred to as 4-8-8-4.

Other equivalent classifications are:

• UIC classification: 2D+D2 (also known as German and Italian classifications)
• French classification: 240+042
• Turkish classification: 46+46
• Swiss classification: 4/6+4/6 up to the early 1920s, later 8/12

Overview

The 4-8-0+0-8-4 was the fifth rarest Garratt wheel arrangement, with a total of twenty-six locomotives constructed. All of them were built by Beyer, Peacock for the 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge Bengal Nagpur Railway in India. The first sixteen were designated Class N and were delivered in 1929, while ten more arrived in 1931 and were classified class NM.^[1]

Two of the type survive, both of Class N. Number 811 is operational at Kharagpur Workshop, while number 815 is at the National Rail Museum in New Delhi.^[2]

Production list

4-8-0+0-8-4 Garratt production list – All manufacturers^[1][3]

Gauge	Railway	Class	Works no.	Units	Year	Builder
5 ft 6 in	Bengal Nagpur Railway, India	N	6583–6598	16	1929	Beyer, Peacock
5 ft 6 in	Bengal Nagpur Railway, India	NM	6705–6714	10	1931	Beyer, Peacock

References

1. Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives produced by Beyer, Peacock, retrieved 10 November 2012
2. Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Surviving Garratt Locomotives, retrieved 10 November 2012.
3. Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives from Other Builders, retrieved 10 November 2012