Re: NNG: "IIRC" & "SFAIK"; ... ><"4-6+6-4"

Russ, no offense taken. I base my use of the + designation between the two sets of drivers of an articulated locomotive on Robert A LeMassena's useage in his two volume set of books Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America, Sundance, 1979 and 1991. The author knows more about the history and development of articulated steam locomotives than I ever will and I defer to his knowledge of the subject.

The table, Articulated Types and Wheel Arrangements on p. 15 of Vol. 1 indicates the connections between the sections of a locomotive with a + for articulated, such as a 2-8+8-2; a - for geared truck locomotives which have pivoting trucks; and = for rigid frame locomotives such as the Pensylvania RR's duplex 4-4=6-4. There are also designations using these symbols for other types of jointed locomotives such as Garratt, Meyer, Twin Boiler and several others.

LaMassena uses these designations throughout both volumes. I could find no mention of where these symbols originated for this use.

Ed



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2012 04:56PM by Ed Stabler.