How many wheels does an internal combustion locomotive have?

It is customary to speak of locomotives not in terms of how many wheels, but in terms of how many axles there are, and an axle is two rail wheels.

Here are some examples

China's internal combustion locomotives

1.Classic DF4B diesel-electric locomotive with two 3-axle bogies, 6 axles in total and 12 railway wheels

2.DFH3 hydraulic-driven internal combustion locomotive, two sets of two-axle bogies, total 4 axles, 8 wheels

Internal combustion locomotives in the USA

Amtrak EMD DDA40X, two 4-axle bogies, 8 axles total, 12 track wheels

German internal combustion locomotives

Deutsche Bahn V60 internal combustion locomotive with only 3 axles and 6 rail wheels.

As can be seen, the number of axles of internal combustion locomotives is rather variable, and the selection of different numbers of axles is naturally related to the use of such locomotives.

For example, the American EMD DDA40X mentioned above has quite a large number of axles, and each axle is capable of delivering power, because it is designed for haulage of heavy freight trains on main lines. Combined with the powerful V16 diesel engine, it can output more than 500kN of start-up traction.

The small German Railway V60 internal combustion locomotive is just a shunting locomotive, no need to pull thousands of tonnes of cargo like their American counterparts to 50mph, so 3 dynamic axles are enough, and its starting traction is only less than 120kN.