Frederick Methvan Whyte
Frederick Methvan Whyte (March 2, 1865 – 1941 Athens) was a mechanical engineer of Dutch background who worked for the New York Central in the United States. He is most widely known as the person who developed Whyte notation to describe the different wheel arrangements of steam locomotives in 1900.
UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements
The most common wheel arrangements in modern locomotives are Bo′Bo′ and Co′Co′.Standard practice in the United Kingdom was to use the Whyte notation for steam locomotives. During World War 2, the Southern Railway used a system modified from the UIC method: Oliver Bulleid, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, numbered the first nineteen of his 4-6-2 "Merchant Navy" class Pacifics 21C1 to 21C19, and the first seventy of his 4-6-2 "West Country and Battle of Britain" class Light Pacifics 21C101 to 21C170, referring to leading axles, trailing axles and powered axles (cf. UIC classification 2′C1′, Whyte 4-6-2). Also, all forty of Bullied's "Austerity" 0-6-0 "Q1" class were similarly numbered C1 to C40, and his two electric locomotives (later British Rail Class 70) were numbered CC1 and CC2 (UIC classification Co′Co′, Commonwealth Co-Co).