The Norfolk & Western had massive 2-8-8-2 locomotives in their Y class (Y3, Y6b) that were designed to haul huge coal trains up and over the mountains, usually in the company of an A-Class.  At the beginning of 2002, MTH brought out a Premier model of the N&W Y6b.  It is an absolute exquisite model, that looks great, sounds great, and runs very well.  Here are a few photos of the model, along with a bit of commentary.  First, we have the front end of the locomotive, showing the very distinctive face.

Here's another shot of the front end.  Note the large front cylinder, typical of the true Mallet (compound articulated) locomotives, where high pressure steam from the boiler first entered the read cylinders, and then was exhausted to the front cylinders.

Here's another front-end shot.  As you can see, the detailing is excellent!

Here's a long view, showing the entire locomotive and the tender.

Here's a shot of the top of the cab.  Note the sliding roof hatches and the red-painted valve handles.

Here's a view of the rear engine, showing the detail of the cylinder and drive gear.

Next is a view of the front engine -- note the difference in cylinder size!

Here's a close-up of the cab, with the engineer waiting to go, as well as the sliding windows.  The object that you can see at the rear through the window is one of the cab curtains.

Here's a view of the well-detailed tender, which includes opening hatch covers.

Finally, here's a shot of the builder's plate.  Though tiny, it is completely legible (with a magnifying glass or a macro lens)!

A few photos of prototypeN&W Y6bs are shown below.

The Denver & Rio Grande Western also used massive 2-8-8-2 locomotive to haul long freights through the mountains.  A few photos of these massive articulated locomotives are shown below (the feedwater heater and the various appliances mounted on the front of the smokebox give them their own unique appearance).

The Chesapeake & Ohio was another railroad that used 2-8-8-2 locomotives.and gave its name to the class.

Still another railroad to use the 2-8-8-2 to haul freight was the Great Northern.  In the summer of 2001, MTH brought out an exquisitely detailed scale model of the GN class R-2.  A number of photos of this model are shown below.

Here are some of the details of the rear driver assembly.

Here's the detail at the end of the firebox; note the throttle linkage!

The exterior detail on the firebox is shown below.

Here's a shot showing the locomotive and tender coming out of an O-72 curve.

And finally, here's a shot of the oil tender.

For reference, here's a shot of the prototype, sister locomotive #2053.

The following is a shot of locomotive #2001, one of the earlier Great Northern 2-8-8-2's.

Last updated: 14 Sep 2011

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