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NYC R Motor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad ALCO-GE R-2 #703 at Michigan City, Indiana in May 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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R-Motor was the class designation given by the New York Central one prototype and a later fleet of 42 ALCO-GE built electric freight locomotives for use in the New York Electrified Zone. In conjunction with the P Motors, the Rs marked the second generation of electric locomotives built for the New York Central. Also like the P Motors they used advanced nose suspended traction motors and the R-2s were some of the first North American locomotives to make use of the C-C wheel arrangement, which later became the standard for diesel electric road freight.
The first R Motor was developed as a response to the Kaufman Act which banned steam locomotive use throughout the city and required the New York Central to eliminate street running along its 10th Avenue freight route. After evaluating the first R class prototype for freight service, a modified design of 42 additional class R-2 locomotives were ordered and spent their careers working out of the limelight hauling freight on the West Side Freight Line and other portions of the electrified zone. Later, a few R-2s were sent for Detroit River Tunnel service to supplement the aging steeplecab electric locomotive fleet until a new ventilation system for diesel operations was installed in 1953. [1] In the 1950s some Rs were sold to the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend for freight service on that road.
In order to comply with the Kaufman Act, the New York Central railroad was faced with the elevation and electrification of its extensive West Side freight services, which served a busy waterfront and industrial area. Its previous electrification project into Grand Central Terminal in 1906 had consisted mainly of passenger operations and thus the railroad had no dedicated electric units for freight service. In 1926 the NYC ordered a prototype freight locomotive from ALCO-GE which was able to make use of lighter electric motors that could be geared to the axles instead of being built around them in the Bi-polar type design.
The prototype, classed R, consisted of two semi-permanently coupled units numbered 1200-1201, each with a B-B wheel configuration and 4 500 hp traction motors. Total length was only 68 feet as the unit was anticipated to need a tight turning radius to work the new West Side elevated line. After several years of testing a simpler, single unit design was chosen for mass production with a C-C wheel arrangement that provided more pulling power than B-B, but without the complexity of the 4 bogie design.
The new class of 42 C-C locomotives was classed R-2 and numbered 1202-1243 with each providing a more manageable 3000 hp. Design of the cab was very similar to the P-Motors built only a year earlier, but without the long porch line structures in front that supported the leading wheels. The powered trucks of the R-Motors were also nearly identical to those found on the P-Motors.
Like many other classes of locomotives, the R-Motors soon found their duties being taken over by the quickly advancing technology of diesel locomotives. The R prototype was converted into a pair of diesel hauled hump trailers in 1945 [2] and the Central began to use the large R-2 fleet in other roles. In the 1940s several were sent to pull trains through the electrified Detroit River Tunnels, returning in 1953 when the tunnels were ventilated for diesel operations. In 1955, ten R-2 Motors were sold to the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad to supplement their electrified freight operations. Seven units, CSS&SB(701-707) were rebuilt to use 1500 V DC overhead lines using parts left over from the conversion of the P-Motors to 660 V DC third rail. The front ends were also modified moving the cab door from the front to a more typical side access.
The NYC Rs were scrapped in the 1950s and 60s, while the South Shore units survived into the 1970s. None were preserved.
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was so named because it was established in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The American Locomotive Company was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969.
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels.
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor.
The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive wheel arrangements that was developed by the Association of American Railroads. It is essentially a simplification of the European UIC classification, and it is widely used in North America to describe diesel and electric locomotives. It is not used for steam locomotives which use the Whyte notation instead.
An electro-diesel locomotive is a type of locomotive that can be powered either from an electricity supply or by using the onboard diesel engine. For the most part, these locomotives are built to serve regional, niche markets with a very specific purpose.
A boxcab, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive in which the machinery and crew areas are enclosed in a box-like superstructure. It is a term mostly used in North America while in Victoria (Australia), such locomotives have been nicknamed "butterboxes". Boxcabs may use any source of power but most are diesel or electric locomotives. Few steam locomotives are so described but the British SR Leader class was a possible exception. Most American boxcabs date from before World War II, when the earliest boxcabs were often termed "oil-electrics" to avoid the use of the German name "Diesel" due to propaganda purposes.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class P5 comprised 92 mixed-traffic electric locomotives constructed 1931–1935 by the PRR, Westinghouse and General Electric. Although the original intention was that they work many passenger trains, the success of the GG1 locomotives meant that the P5 class were mostly used on freight. A single survivor, prototype #4700, is at the Museum of Transportation in St Louis, Missouri.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class DD2 electric locomotive was a single prototype locomotive never placed into series production. It was intended as an improved and simplified GG1 for use on the planned, but never built, extension of the PRR's electrification west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The one locomotive produced was numbered #5800 and used in regular Baltimore tunnel helper service until it was scrapped in September 1962.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class AA1 comprised two experimental electric locomotives constructed in 1905 by the company's own Altoona Works with the assistance of Westinghouse. Intended as testbeds as the PRR began its electrification project, both locomotives remained service into the 1930s.
In railroad terminology, a steeplecab is a style or design of electric locomotive; the term is rarely if ever used for other forms of power. The name originated in North America and has been used in Britain as well.
The ALCO boxcabs were diesel-electric switcher locomotives, otherwise known as AGEIR boxcabs as a contraction of the names of the builders. Produced by a partnership of three companies, ALCO built the chassis and running gear, General Electric the generator, motors and controls, and Ingersoll Rand the diesel engine. The principle of operation was the same as modern locomotives, the diesel engine driving a main generator of 600 volts DC with four traction motors, one per axle.
T-Motor was the class designation given by the New York Central to its ALCO-GE built T-1a, T-1b, T-2a, T-2b, and T-3a electric locomotives. The T-Motors were the New York Central's second electric locomotive purchase after the original class of S-Motors. The T-motors continued on in service with the New York Central and a few continued on with the Penn Central after the 1968 merger.
The GE boxcabs, sometimes also GE IR boxcabs, were diesel-electric switcher locomotives succeeding the ALCO boxcabs. The locomotives were built by General Electric and Ingersoll Rand without ALCO. Production lasted from 1928 till 1930. These boxcabs were often termed oil-electrics to avoid the use of the German name Diesel, unpopular after World War I.
The GE three-power boxcabs were early electro-diesel hybrid switcher locomotives. These boxcabs were termed oil battery electrics to avoid the use of the German name Diesel, unpopular after World War I.
S-Motor was the class designation given by the New York Central to its ALCO-GE built S-1, S-2, S-2a and S-3 electric locomotives. The S-Motors hold the distinction of being the world's first mass-produced main line electric locomotives with the prototype #6000 being constructed in 1904. The S-Motors would serve alone until the more powerful T-motors began to arrive in 1913, eventually displacing them from main line passenger duties. From that point the class was assigned to shorter commuter trains and deadhead rolling stock between Grand Central Terminal and Mott Haven coach yard. Some examples, including the prototype later renumbered #100, would serve in this capacity through the Penn Central merger in 1968, only being retired in the 1970s as long distance passenger traffic to Grand Central dried up.
P-Motor was the class designation given by the New York Central a fleet of 22 ALCO-GE electric passenger locomotives. The P Motors were not only more powerful than previous New York Central electric, but also a more advanced design using the highly successful 2-C+C-2 wheel arrangement found on the later PRR GG1 and New Haven EP-3 classes as well as nose suspended traction motors. Although originally built and owned by a consortium of railroads involved in the large scale Cleveland Union Terminal project, the New York Central was the majority owner and later acquired them outright in the 1950s when the Terminal's electrification scheme was scrapped in favor of diesels. Rebuilt and re-classified as P-2, the 21 remaining engines were sent to the New York electrified zone to supplement the aging fleet of T-Motors that had been purchased starting in 1913. There they played out the remainder of their careers pulling the Central's premier passenger trains.
The GN boxcab locomotives were the first electric locomotives purchased by the Great Northern Railway (GN) for use through the Cascade Tunnel. Four locomotives were supplied by the American Locomotive Company; they used electrical equipment from General Electric and weighed 115 short tons (104 t) each.
The Great Northern Z-1 was a class of ten electric locomotives built for the Great Northern Railway They were used to work the route through the second Cascade Tunnel. They were built between 1926–1928 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, with Westinghouse electrics, and stayed in service until dieselisation in 1956. Each was of 1,830 horsepower (1,360 kW) with a 1-D-1 wheel arrangement, although they were always used in coupled pairs.