C&O Greenbriers 4-8-4s are named after the railroad-owned hotel, NYC 4-8-2 Mohawks are named after the New York State indian tribes and Northern Pacific 2-8-8-4 Yellowstones are named for the national park served by NP.

CN officially did call their 4-8-4s Confederation types for a while in conjunction with the passenger train of the same name, one of the transcontinental services introduced at the same time as the locomotives in 1927. The train disappeared during the Great Depression, and the locomotives were renamed Northern -- also quite appropriate.

The wheel arrangement of this loco, 4-8-4, was commonly called a Northern. But not on railroads running into Southern states such as Virginia, in this case. I've counted at least 17 names used for the one type of steam loco. The Northern name was actually from the Northern Pacific Railroad, who got the first 4-8-4's into service only weeks before the Canadian National Railway. CNR intended to call their 4-8-4's the Confederation class. I wonder if this would have been more acceptable in the old Confederacy?

Thanks for a great picture, hope you can find more RR related picts of new equipment