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 rear 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.

Up at the top of the page, I show the N&W Y6b.  There were models before that, among them the Y3.  It was also a 2-8-8-2 compound articulated locomotive and the family resemblance is evident.  During World War II, the Pennsylvania RR was in need of heavy freight haulers but wartime restrictions kept them from building locomotives, so they purchased six Y3 locomotives from N&W.  After working them over, they were christened class HH1 and served faithfully until the early 1950s, when they were scrapped.  In early 2015, after an absence from the product line of 20 years, MTH finally reissued the Y3 (for N&W) and the HH1 (for PRR) in their Premier line, this time with the new Protosound 3 system.  Having wanted one for a very long time, needless to say I got the Pennsylvania version.  Here are a few photographs of the model.  First is a broadside shot.

Next is a shot of the highly detailed tender.  Note the footboard between the locomotive and tender.

Here's detail of the cab.

The next photo shows detail around the rear high-pressure steam cylinder.

This is the front low-pressure steam cylinder; note how much larger it is in this compound articulated locomotive.

Here's a shot of the front end with the locomotive powered, showing the large front deck and the illuminated lights.

Finally, here's a shot showing the smoke coming out of the stack while the locomotive is at rest.  As you can see, the front end detailing, right down to the builder's plate, is exquisite.

Last updated: 24 Feb 2023

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