2-8-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. This configuration of steam locomotive is most often referred to as a Mikado, after the first 2-8-2 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1893 for Nihon Tetsudo (Japan Railways). The configuration is commonly shortened to Mike. It was also at times referred to on some railroads in the United States as the McAdoo Mikado and, during World War II, they were called MacArthur Mikados. The notation 2-8-2T indicates a tank locomotive of this wheel arrangement, the "T" suffix indicating a locomotive on which the water is carried in tanks mounted on the engine rather than in an attached tender.