A couple of recent threads referred to 2-10-2 locomotives as Decapods, which is incorrect. The 2-10-2 was the Santa Fe type whereas Decapods were actually 2-10-0's. I understand that some railroads used different names for their engines. This might be especially true of the 2-10-2 as the Santa Fe was actually a competitor during the steam era. For instance, on the Illinois Central, the 2-10-2 was known as the "Central" type. As we move further and further away from the steam era and knowledge of steam locomotive nomenclature slowly fades away, we should at least call a spade a spade, unless we know for sure that a particular railroad officially used a different name.

My soap box rant for the day.

Les

Not a rant at all, Les, just a correction. I meant to mention it in the affected threads, but was too busy to post at the time.

It's good to take care of it, before confusion spreads. With ten-coupled power being somewhat rare, and regular service steam receding deeper into the past, it's not surprising that people might get it wrong.

Steve Hunter

On the Southern Pacific, a 2-10-2 was called a "Deck" (short for decapod) or "36-hundred" or "37-hundred". No S.P. employee would ever describe one of their locomotives using the name of their arch-rival, that other western railroad.

- Doug Debs

Out of curiosity, what did the Central of Georgia call their 4-8-4s?

Certainly not "Northerns!"

I want to say "Big Apples" as it comes to mind, which is also somewhat ironic, if you think about it.

In a similar vein, C&O crews reportedly called the 2-8-4s "Big Mikes" as in big mikados. The C&O classified them as K-4 class, in the same letter designation as the road's 2-8-2s, of which the K-3s were the largest.

Like the SP 2-10-2 example above, the names often given by the enthusiast community do not carry over to the actual, working railroaders.

Big Apple is what they were called generally; Big Peach would be more regionally accurate. None survived.

dave

Dave -

As I recall, one of the "Big Apple" 4-8-4's was set aside for preservation, but a new President of the CofG nixed the deal, and sent the engine to the scrapper instead. Too bad. BTW, a number of the southern railroads called their 4-8-4's "Dixie's" I believe, including the NC&StL. I am not sure what the CofG officially called their 4-8-4's but I think "Big Apple" was a nickname used by engine crews.

Les

David -

The Chesapeake & Ohio officially called their 2-8-4's "Kanawha's", rather than Berkshires. And yes, the nickname the crews used was "Big Mikes".

Les

Thanks for taking care of that Doug. Careful reading will note that I referred to
them as Decks and not Decapods.

My impression is that these names for engine types must have been pretty much used by railroad management and railfans. I never heard anyone with "authentic" steam knowledge/experience refer to any engine class other than by the series numbers. My Dad always talked about the "1800's" on the Atlantic Coast Line (not "R-1's") and the N&W guys I worked with never referred to one of their 2-6-6-4's as an "A", they called it a "1200".

For example, an actual quote I heard regarding an older N&W foreman getting excited about something: "He was pantin' like a 1200!".

Les,

Yes, I know this, but if you read my post, I saw "crews." The point is that the names we use and the names they actually used can sometimes be quite different.

How about 2-8-2s became "MacArthurs" on many roads during WW2 because nobody wanted to use that Japanese name?

OK I am sorry already. I was tired when I wrote it.

0-10-2s are the Union type after their only purchaser.

And the management was often partial to its own view of its railroad and the region.

The New York Central and its "Water Level Route" never called a 4-8-2 a "Mountain" but instead chose to call them "Mohawk" after the river. Similarly it liked the name "Niagara" for 4-8-4s.

South of the Mason-Dickson Line 4-8-4s were called such names as Dixie or Confederation and not the horrid name "Northern."

The UP called 2-8-2s "Mikado" until it became politically inappropriate after Pearl Harbor; then it chose "MacArthur." The class initials reflected this change. The class of the 844 is FEF for four-eight-four.

When 4-8-4s showed up on the Santa Fe they were referred to as "improved Mountains" and not as "Northerns."