Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: What was the first 2-8-4 steam locomotive?
The first American 2-8-4s were built for the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1925 by Lima Locomotive Works. The railroad's route across the Berkshire mountains was a substantial test for the new locomotives and, as a result, the name Berkshire was adopted for the locomotive type.
The Mate or Mateo (Japanese マテ, Korean 마터) class locomotives were a group of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 4-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mate" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 4-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mountain". 
The Jitong railway was the last mainline railway in the world to use steam locomotives. Many of these locomotives were the large 2-10-2 QJ type engines and often trains had 2 locomotives on their head end. On December 8, 2005, the worlds last regular mainline steam train finished its journey, marking the end of steam era. The steam locomotives were replaced by the DF4 diesel locomotives.
Two QJ steam locomotives, 6988 and 7081, were delivered to United States for use on the Iowa Interstate Railroad. They have run many excursions including one with ex Milwaukee Road 261, a 4-8-4 Northern. This was the first triple headed main line steam train in many years in the USA.
Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown great promise, 1948 was the last year that steam locomotives were manufactured in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 "Berkshires." Their tenders had to be subcontracted to Lima Locomotive Works, as Alco's tender shop had been closed. The building was converted to diesel locomotive manufacture, to compete with locomotives manufactured by the automobile industry.
Santa Fe operated a large and varying fleet of steam locomotives. Among them was the 2-10-2 "Santa Fe", originally built for the railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1903. The railroad would ultimately end up with the largest fleet of them, at over 300. Aside from the 2-10-2, Santa Fe rostered virtually every type of steam locomotive imaginable, including 4-4-2 Atlantics, 2-6-0 Moguls, 2-8-0 Consolidations, 2-8-2 "Mikados", 2-10-0 Decapods, 2-6-2 Prairies, 4-8-4 Northerns, 4-6-4 Hudsons, 4-6-2 Pacifics, 4-8-2 Mountains, 2-8-4 Berkshires, and 2-10-4 Texas. The railroad also operated a fleet of heavy articulated steam locomotives including 1158 class 2-6-6-2s, 2-8-8-0s, 2-10-10-2s, 2-8-8-2s, and the rare 4-4-6-2 "Mallet" type.
The Mikashi-class (ミカシ) locomotives were a group of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mika" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mikado" in honour of the Emperor of Japan, as the first 2-8-2 locomotives in the world were built for Japan. 
The South African Railways Class GEA 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1946 was an articulated steam locomotive.
"Superpower steam" was a term coined by Lima Locomotive Works in the mid-1920s. It referred to steam locomotives with booster-equipped four-wheel trailing trucks supporting large fireboxes, as well as enlarged superheaters. The wheel arrangements introduced in the 1920s for these locomotives: the 4-6-4's, 2-8-4's, 4-8-4's and 2-10-4's, and in the 1930s, the 2-6-6-4's. The term "superpower" was often applied to all locomotives with 4 wheel trailing truck arrangements afterward, though many did not have boosters and almost all steam of any wheel arrangement built after that time had large superheaters.
The design was invented by Lima for the New York Central's Boston and Albany Railroad. The design was invented by Lima's Vice President of Engineering, William Woodard. The first "superpowered" steam locomotive was a 2-8-4 steam locomotive that essentially an expanded 2-8-2 Mikado. The new design called for double the firebox size than the earlier Mikados, thus giving it more grate area. The larger grate area meant that the locomotive could achieve greater steaming capacity, higher speeds, more horsepower, and greater tractive effort. To accommodate the larger firebox, Woodard gave the new locomotive a two axle trailing truck instead of the common single axle trailing trucks previously used. The design was a smashing success and soon both the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the American Locomotive Company followed suit.
The Mikai-class (ミカイ) locomotives were a group of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mika" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mikado" in honour of the Emperor of Japan, as the first 2-8-2 locomotives in the world were built for Japan.
The Mikasa-class (ミカサ) locomotives were a group of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mika" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mikado" in honour of the Emperor of Japan, as the first 2-8-2 locomotives in the world were built for Japan.
Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States (after Lima Locomotive Works), producing over 75,000 locomotives (though not all were steam, since, unlike Baldwin, Alco transitioned more readily to Diesel). Among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Railroads that favored Alco products included the Delaware & Hudson Railway, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Milwaukee Road. Alco was known for its steam locomotives of which the 4-6-4 Hudson, 4-8-2 Mohawk and the 4-8-4 Niagara built for the New York Central and the 4-8-4 FEF and the 4-6-6-4 (Challenger) built for the Union Pacific were fine examples. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including Union Pacific's "Big Boy" (4-8-8-4). Alco also built the fastest American locomotives, the Class A Atlantic and Class F7 Hudson streamliners for the Milwaukee Road's "Twin Cities Hiawatha" run. Among the ambitious state-of-the-art designs of the late steam era, Alco's Challengers, Big Boys and high speed streamliners stood out for their in-service success.
As the size of train increased, so did the locomotives. The 4-6-0 wheel arrangement became popular for passenger and mixed traffic work with the D3 and A2 classes, and the 2-8-0 arrangement on goods with the K, J and C classes lasting into the 1960s. These were then followed by the 4-6-2 S class "Pacifics" for the "Spirit of Progress" express, and the single 4-8-4 H class locomotive H220, the biggest Victorian Railways steam locomotive. The final steam locomotives built for the Victorian Railways were the 4-6-4 R class and 2-8-0 J classes. Although they were of more modern design, their advantages were overshadowed by the simultaneous arrival of the first diesels.
Certain early British steam locomotives were fitted with powered tenders. As well as holding coal and water, these had wheels powered from the locomotive to provide greater tractive effort. These were abandoned for economic reasons; railwaymen working on locomotives so equipped demanded extra pay as they were effectively running two locomotives. However, the concept was tried again on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's "River Mite", and the Garratt locomotive may be seen as an extension of this principle. Powered tenders were also seen on the 2-8-8-8-2 and 2-8-8-8-4 locomotives in the United States, but these experiments were not considered successful. Powered tenders were used extensively on geared logging steam locomotives like the Shay locomotive, Climax locomotive, and Heisler locomotive where the steep grades and heavy trains necessitated the extra tractive effort.
A live steam locomotive is often an exact, hand-crafted scale model. Live steam railroad scales are generally referred to by the number of inches of scale per foot. For example, a 1:8 scale locomotive will often be referred to as a 1½" scale locomotive. Common modelling scales are Gauge 1 (), 1/2" (), 3/4" (1:16), 1" (1:12), 1½" (1:8), 2½" (~1:5) and 3" (1:4).
Presidents of Northern Pacific Railway were:
The Northern Pacific was known for many firsts in locomotive history and was a leader in the development of modern steam locomotives. The NP was one of the first railroads to use Mikado 2-8-2 locomotives in the United States and the first to use the 4-8-4 "Northern" type.
The Northern Pacific Railway was the first railroad to order a 2-8-8-4. The first was built in 1928 by American Locomotive Company; at the time, it was the largest locomotive ever built. It had the largest firebox ever applied to a steam locomotive, some in area, to burn Rosebud coal, a cheap low-quality coal. But the firebed was too large for the available draft and the fire burned poorly. The problem was mitigated by blocking off the first few feet of the grates. Baldwin Locomotive Works built 11 more for the Northern Pacific in 1930. None were saved.
The Class A-1 Berkshire locomotive is a 2-8-4 steam locomotive first built in 1925 by the Lima Locomotive Works. The design was initially intended to improve on the company's USRA Mikado design (2-8-2), which was deemed to lack sufficient speed and horsepower. This was addressed by the inclusion of a larger, firebox that required an extra trailing axle, giving the locomotive its distinctive 2-8-4 wheel arrangement. 
Southern Pacific Railroad's AC-4 (meaning Articulated Consolidation) class of steam locomotives was the first class of 4-8-8-2 cab forward locomotives. They were intended to improve on the railroad's MC (meaning Mallet-Consolidation) class 2-8-8-2 locomotives with a larger firebox. Hence the four-wheel leading truck (instead of the two-wheel).
Baldwin built many 4-4-0 "American" type locomotives (the locomotive that built America). Surviving examples of which include the 1872 "Countess of Dufferin" and 1875's Virginia and Truckee Railroad No.22 "Inyo", but it was perhaps best known for the 2-8-2 "Mikado" and 2-8-0 "Consolidation" types. It was also well known for the unique cab-forward 4-8-8-2 articulateds built for the Southern Pacific Company and massive 2-10-2 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Baldwin also produced their most powerful steam engines in history, the 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" for the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. The Yellowstone could put down over of Tractive force. They routinely hauled 180 car trains weighing over . The Yellowstones were so good that the DM&IR refused to part with them; they hauled ore trains well into the diesel era, and the last one retired in 1963. Three have been preserved. One of Baldwin's last new and improved locomotive designs were the 4-8-4 "Northern" locomotives. Baldwin's last domestic steam locomotives were 2-6-6-2s built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1949. Baldwin 60000, the company's 1926 demonstration steam locomotive, is on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. On a separate note, the restored and running 2-6-2 steam locomotive at Fort Edmonton Park was built by Baldwin in 1919.
The train was dieselized in late 1949. In August 1950, it was the last major American luxury train to become a streamliner. Also in 1950, the train got a new look, with stainless steel cars with red letterboards and white "Southern Pacific" lettering. All cars except the RPO-Baggage (which had 6-wheel trucks) had 4-wheel trucks. The last car of the train was a sleeping car with a blunt rear end and a lighted neon sign with the train name on the rear door. Until 1950 the train was pulled by 4-6-2 Pacific type and 4-8-4 GS-1 Northern type steam locomotives between New Orleans and El Paso, and by 4-8-2 MT-4 Mountain type and 4-8-4 GS-4 Northern type steam locomotives between El Paso and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Occasionally, even some 4-10-2 Southern Pacific type and 4-8-8-2 AC class Cab Forward type steam locomotives could be seen, especially on the western portion of its run. Steam occasionally appeared on the "Sunset Limited" until 1953.
The CNR acquired its first 4-8-4 "Confederation" locomotives in 1927. Over the next 20 years, it ordered over 200 for passenger and heavy freight service. The CNR also used several 4-8-2 "Mountain" locomotives, almost exclusively for passenger service. No. 6060, a streamlined 4-8-2, was the last CN steam locomotive, running in excursion service in the 1970s. CNR also used several 2-8-2 "Mikado" locomotives.
Nickel Plate Road 779 is a 2-8-4 or "Berkshire" type steam locomotive built for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad in May 1949, for use on fast freight trains. It was the last new steam locomotive to be delivered to the Nickel Plate Road, the last steam locomotive ever manufactured by Lima Locomotive Works, and the final 2-8-4 locomotive on standard gauge built in the world.
The Mikani-class (ミカニ) locomotives were a group of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mika" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mikado" in honour of the Emperor of Japan, as the first 2-8-2 locomotives in the world were built for Japan.
Many steam locomotives were streamlined during this time to attract passengers, and the first steam streamlined locomotive was the New York Central's Commodore Vanderbilt.[18] Nonetheless, some of these steam locomotives became very fast: some were said to exceed 120mph (190km/h) on a regular basis. Examples include the New York Central's "Super Hudsons" as used on the Twentieth Century Limited; the Milwaukee Road's purpose-built Atlantics and Hudsons used in Hiawatha service; the Pennsylvania Railroad's duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 type T1 locomotives, and two Union Pacific engines, a 4-6-2 and a 4-8-2, used on the "Forty Niner" and other trains.
The Mika (Japanese ミカ, Korean 미카) type was made up of four distinct classes of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway ("Sentetsu") with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The "Mika" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mikado" in honour of the Emperor of Japan, as the first 2-8-2 locomotives in the world were built for Japan.