Editing 4-6-2 (section)

===Development===
The two earliest {{nowrap|4-6-2}} locomotives, both created in the United States, were experimental designs which were not perpetuated. In 1887, the [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] experimented with a {{nowrap|4-6-0}} Ten-wheeler design with a Strong's patent firebox, a cylindrical device behind the cab which required an extension of the frame and the addition of two trailing wheels to support it. In 1889, the [[Milwaukee Road|Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway]] rebuilt a conventional {{nowrap|4-6-0}} with trailing wheels as a means of reducing its axle load.<ref name="Ellis 1981">Ellis, Hamilton. (1981). ''The Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Railways''. Hamlyn. pp.104–105.</ref>

In 1896, six [[WAGR Q class (1895)|Q class]] {{nowrap|4-6-2}} tank locomotives were introduced on the [[Western Australian Government Railways]].

The first true Pacific, designed as such with a large firebox aft of the coupled wheels, was ordered in 1901 by the [[New Zealand Railways Department]] (NZR) from the [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]] of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NZR Chief Mechanical Engineer, [[Alfred Beattie]], ordered thirteen new [[NZR Q class (1901)|Q class]] locomotives with a sufficiently large [[Wootten firebox|Wootten]] [[Firebox (steam engine)|firebox]]  to efficiently burn poor grade [[lignite|lignite coal]] from eastern [[South Island]] mines. Even before they had completed the order from New Zealand, the Baldwin engineers realised the advantages of this new type, and incorporated it into standard designs for other customers. The design was soon widely adopted by designers throughout the world.<ref name="Locomotive Development in NZ"/>