Editing 0-4-0 (section)

==Overview==
0-4-0 locomotives were built as [[tank locomotive]]s as well as [[Tender (rail)|tender locomotives]]. The former were more common in Europe and the latter in the United States, except in the tightest of situations such as that of a shop [[switcher locomotive]], where overall length was a concern. The earliest 0-4-0 locomotives were tender engines and appeared as early as c. 1802. The 0-4-0 [[tank engine]]s were introduced in the early 1850s. The type was found to be so useful in many locations that they continued to be built for more than a century and existed until the end of the steam era.

[[File:Locomotion No. 1..jpg|thumb|[[Locomotion No. 1]]]]
[[Richard Trevithick]]'s ''Coalbrookedale'' (1802), ''Pen-y-Darren'' (1804) and ''Newcastle'' (1805) locomotives were of the 0-4-0 type, although in their cases the wheels were connected by a single gear wheel. The first 0-4-0 to use coupling rods was [[Locomotion No. 1]], built by [[Robert Stephenson and Company]] for the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]] in 1825. Stephenson also built the [[Lancashire Witch]] in 1828, and [[Timothy Hackworth]] built [[Sans Pareil]] which ran at the [[Rainhill Trials]] in 1829. The latter two locomotives later worked on the [[Bolton and Leigh Railway]].

A four-wheeled configuration, where all the wheels are [[driving wheel]]s, uses all the locomotive's mass for traction but is inherently unstable at speed. The type was therefore mainly used for [[switcher locomotive]]s (also known as shunter locomotives in the United Kingdom). Because of the lack of stability, [[tender (rail)|tender engines]] of this type were only built for a few decades in the United Kingdom. They were built for a longer period in the United States.

The possible [[tractive effort]] of an 0-4-0 within normal axle load limits was not enough to move large loads. By 1900, they had therefore largely been superseded for most purposes by locomotives with more complex wheel arrangements. They nevertheless continued to be used in situations where tighter radius curves existed or the shorter length was an advantage. Thus, they were commonly employed in [[dockyard]] work, [[Tramway (industrial)|industrial tramways]], or as shop switchers.

The wheel arrangement was also used on specialised types such as [[fireless locomotive]]s, [[crane tank locomotive]]s, [[tram engine]]s and [[geared steam locomotive]]s. It was also widely used on [[narrow gauge]] railways.