2-8-8-8-4 the locomotive. Like the same railroad's large articulated electrics and the Erie Railroad 2-8-8-8-2s, it was nicknamed "Triplex". An overview of Triplex engineering is given at Triplex (locomotive). The XA was unable to sustain a speed greater than five miles an hour, since the six cylinders could easily consume more steam than the boiler could produce. The tender had a four-wheel truck at the rear to help guide the locomotive into curves when drifting back downhill after pushing a train over the hill. The XA was sent back to Baldwin in 1920 and was rebuilt as two locomotives, a 2-8-8-0
2-8-8-2 still used on steel mill lines and other railroads until 1983. Other equivalent classifications are: UIC classification: 1DD1 (also known as German classification and Italian classification) French classification: 140+041 Turkish classification: 45+45 Swiss classification: 4/5+4/5 The first 2-8-8-2 was built in 1909 by Baldwin, who sold two to the Southern Pacific Railroad (classified MC-1), and then three each to the Union Pacific Railroad and UP-owned Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Baldwin conceived the type as an expansion of the 2-6-6-2 permitting a greater tractive effort. The next order for the type was from the Southern Pacific; these differed in being