Hi, Ed -
So the editor(s) of Trains - sometime
after David P. Morgan, IIRC - were just trying to be "Politically
Correct"* by following LaMessana? Well, you can forgive him if you want to. All I know is that when
steam was still in regular service on the S.P. and the N&W their articulateds were referred to
at the
time as 4-8-8-2's, 2-8-8-2's and 2-6-6-4's.
IMHO, use of the plus sign is revisionist history - you know, like politicians make use of every day.
- Russo
* And, as you know, we Curmudgeons care as much about "Politically Correct" as we do about &^%(*@#)!! Politicians
...