Editing 4-6-2 (section)

===Global popularity===
The Pacific type was used on mainline railways around the world. The railways of New Zealand and Australia were the first in the world to run large numbers of Pacific locomotives, having introduced {{nowrap|4-6-2}} types in 1901 and 1902 respectively and operating them until the 1960s.<ref name="Locomotive Development in NZ"/>

[[Image:PRR K5 5698.jpg|thumb|left|Builder's photograph of Altoona-built K5 no. 5698, 1929]]
During the first half of the 20th century, the Pacific rapidly became the predominant passenger steam power in North America. Between 1902 and 1930, about 6,800 locomotives of the type were built by North American manufacturers for service in the United States and Canada. With exported locomotives included, about 7,300 were built in total. About 45% of these were built by the [[American Locomotive Company]] (ALCO) which became the main builder of the type, and 28% by Baldwin. Large numbers were also used in South America, most of which were supplied by manufacturers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.<ref name="Pacific Type"/>

[[File:SAR Class 5 (4-6-2).jpg|thumb|[[Cape Government Railways]] Enlarged Karoo Class, SAR Class 5]]
Africa was the third continent upon which the Pacific was regularly used, following the introduction of the Karoo class on the [[Cape Government Railways]] in the Cape of Good Hope in 1903. The earliest African examples were built in the United Kingdom by [[Kitson & Company]].

The earliest examples of the Pacific in Europe were two French prototypes, introduced in 1907 and designed by the ''[[Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans]]'' (PO) to overcome the insufficient power of their {{nowrap|4-4-2 Atlantics}}. Within a few weeks, these were followed by a German Pacific type that, although already designed in 1905, only entered service in late 1907. The next was a British type, introduced in January 1908. By the outbreak of [[World War I]], the type was being widely used on the railways of [[Continental Europe]].

The Pacific type was introduced into Asia in 1907, the same year that it was first used in Europe. By the 1920s, Pacifics were being used by many railways throughout the Asian continent.

In 1923, the Pacific gave its name to [[Arthur Honegger]]'s orchestral work, ''[[Pacific 231]]'', which successfully reflectively interprets the emotive sounds of a steam locomotive. (231 after the French system of counting axles rather than wheels.)