Steam & Excursion > Mikado

Is a Mikado always a 2-8-2? a ny other characteristics of aLL Mikados?... Are any 2-8-2s not Mikados?

For the most part, the 2-8-2's were called Mikados. But in WWII, a few railroads like B&O and UP renamed their classes of them, "MacArthurs," in honor of our US General of the Philippine Army, and to avoid relations with the opponent, being a Japanese term.

dougd Wrote:
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> Is a Mikado always a 2-8-2? a ny other
> characteristics of aLL Mikados?... Are any 2-8-2s
> not Mikados?

During WWII, some railroads called them MacArthurs, due to the Japanese connotations of the word Mikado.

Also the nick-name "Mike" was pretty common.

Cheers, Dave

Yes, all Mikados are 2-8-2s, and they generally come in two flavors, light and heavy.

Just like me, currently I am a Heavy Mike ;)

Mike "Mikado"
Anderson

This table will give you a list of just about all steam locomotive wheel arrangements and names commonly associated. As you can see, there were lots, some with no names, and often types multiple names on different railroads or time periods.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/wheels.php

The Whyte system of identifying locomotive types by their wheel arrangements is most commonly used today. There were other systems: For example, Alco (American Locomotive Company) used a system that was the same as Whyte, but without hyphens. Thus a Whyte 2-8-2 would be an Alco 282.

-John

Correction:

"Light" and "Heavy" refers to the USRA design Mikes. There were plenty of other Mikado's that weren't USRA design that came in all kinds of sizes from smaller ones on logging railroads (and even narrow gauge) to Mikes that were even bigger than the heavy USRA Mikes. For example, the Wabash had some Mikes they referred to as "Big Mikes" or "Twenty-Seven-Hundreds". True, some designs evolved from the USRA design or were spitting images, but most were not. There were plenty of Mikes built before the USRA design. For example, the Wabash had the K-1 Mike known as the "Twenty-Four-Hundred" that was built in 1912. There were other USRA designs with different wheel arrangements including switchers, passenger and even articulated engines. The Wabash did have some USRA, Light Mikado's, they were classed as the K-2.

junctiontower Wrote:
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> Yes, all Mikados are 2-8-2s, and they generally
> come in two flavors, light and heavy.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/15 15:20 by wabash2800.

Well that's why I wrote generally. I know there were a LOT built before the USRA design specification, but I have also seen people use light and heavy to genrally describe Mikes built well before 1918. Accurate? Probably not, but I have seen it.

Union Pacific and its affiliate lines had both Light and Heavy Mikes. The Light Mikes rode on 57-inch drivers and the Heavy Mikes rode on 63-inch drivers. Over time, 1911-1921, the Heavy versions ranged from 20,000 to 30,000-pounds heavier than the Light. UP and OSL also had some Light USRA Mikes built 1918 & 1919.

Wow!! Thanks guys for so much info
Doug

Now, do you guys pronounce it Mika-dough or Mika-doo? I've heard it pronounced both ways, and I use the former pronunciation.

~Luke

As the Japaneese pronounce it: Mi-ka-do

I've always heard "Mi-ka-dough" myself, and just a bit of trivia, The Biggest/Most Powerful of them all was the Great Northern O-8 class (my personal fav) which had 71" drivers, 77,793lbs of tractive effort and tipped the scales at 425,540lbs. They also sported a staggering 81,000lb. axle load...

Cheers, Dave

GN had to ruin it for the Frisco by coming along with the O-8s. Until then the Frisco 4200s held the crown.

While GN 0-8's may have been biggest and fattest Don, they also cornered the brute force and ignorance market when it came to looks... On the other hand Friscos'4200's were, like most Frisco Steam Power, very handsome locomotives.

Cheers, Dave

"Maximum ton-miles, minimum train-miles."

No where in that could anyone interpret that the aesthetics of steam locomotive should be considered in its design. In fact, GN skipped the Buck Rogers phase. Nevertheless, all GN engines share family resemblance.

It should also be noted that GN didn't like to throw away anything. Most (22 of the 25) O-8's were created by rebuilding and improving older 2-8-2's. (3 were built new.) Those earlier mikados had, themselves, been created by rebuilding and improving even earlier Mallet articulateds!

-John

Hillcrest Wrote:
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> While GN 0-8's may have been biggest and fattest
> Don, they also cornered the brute force and
> ignorance market when it came to looks... On the
> other hand Friscos'4200's were, like most Frisco
> Steam Power, very handsome locomotives.
>
> Cheers, Dave

Hope this doesn't confuse the issue -- but it illustrates that RR slang can be highly regional.

The C&O crews often referred to their big K4 class 2-8-4s as "K4 Mikes"
The crews rarely , if ever, called them Kanawahs, or Berkshires...

They had big 'regular' mikes as class K3 Mikados. Typical C&O strong, brutish appearance.
The C&O's A M C designed the 2-8-4s following the big success that Lima's C&O class T1, 2-10-4 turned out. (Interestingly, when the PRR was allowed to add new power , during WW2, the WPB specified that it had to be an existing design. That led to the PRR's J1 class 2-10-4s. ---virtual duplicates of the original Lima Loco C&O originals).

The C&O K4 class engines were strong and speedy ---- overall, a very profitable and successful design!

Wes C.

Yes, IMO, GN locos were, for the most part, not the best looking steam engines. Didn't they have some Mikado's that had slanted cylinders (inside valve gear?)? To me, the GN locos with the air compressors on the front of the smoke boxes were the worst. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/15 15:25 by wabash2800.

My favorite engine bar none, my first engine kit was a Mike and I sure enjoyed
building and running it..........Swedel......Albany,Or.