Plus or Minus

That "+" symbol was perpetrated by the late Editor of Trains, David P. Morgan. After Mr. Morgan retired & passed away, Trains Magazine prompt went back to the "-" dash symbol. It isn't a minus.

I know Garratt locomotives still use the "+" sign (e.g.: 4-8-2+2-8-4).

The French classification system, which counts axles and eliminates the "-", uses the "+" for articulateds; in your case, a 4-6-6-4 would become a 230+032.

Aaron

quote:

I know Garratt locomotives still use the "+" sign (e.g.: 4-8-2+2-8-4).

That might be quite appropriate for the Garrett locos being that their engine frames are separated by the length of their boiler, whereas, the U.S. articulated locos engine frames are physically connected to each other with a hinge pin.

The dash suits me just fine.

I've always used the "dash" (-).

If it was good enough for Whyte and the rest of the railroad world, it's good enough for me.

Rusty

The "plus" sign was originated by European articulated locomotive authority Lionel Weiner; it was picked up and propounded in this country first by Robert A. Le Massena and then by David P. Morgan.

Le Massena expanded this so far as to include an "equals" sign to separate the two engines of a duplex, so that PRR's T1 was a 4-4=4-4 and the Q2 was a 4-4=6-2.

I'm with Rusty.  If it was good enough for Whyte, it's good enough for me.

EdKing