Chicago and North Western class R-1


The Chicago and North Western Railway Class R-1 was a class of 325 American 4-6-0 locomotives. They were built between 1901 and 1908 by the Schenectady Locomotive Works and its successor, the American Locomotive Company; Baldwin Locomotive Works also built 85 of them.

Design

The locomotives were an enlarged version of the class R. While both classes had diameter driving wheels and a cylinder stroke of, the R-1 had larger diameter cylinders –, a higher boiler pressure, and a larger firebox. They also had piston stead of slide valves, which made subsequent conversion to superheating easier.
The biggest change was in the firebox: the class R locomotives' firebox had been between the frames and only wide. On the R-1 locomotives it was above the rear drivers and was not restricted by the gap between the frames. Consequently, the wide firebox gave 60 percent larger grate area – both classes had fireboxes deep.
Most locomotives had Stephenson valve gear, except for the 1908 batch, which had Walschaerts.

Construction

The locomotives were built by Schenectady Locomotive Works and by the same works under its corporate successor, the American Locomotive Company. Baldwin Locomotive Works also built 85 of the locomotives; Baldwin marked them as 10-36 D in their classification system.
YearQuantityManufacturerSerial numbersC&NW numbersNotes
190116Schenectady5844–5859168/78, 287/89–91/95, 896, 910–12/22/39, 1041/42
19014Schenectady6206–6209160, 594–596
190214Alco25397–254101066–1079
19029Alco26530–265381102–1110
190314Alco27581–275941111–1124
190345Baldwin22509/19/39/40/63/67/68/76,
22624/25, 22701/18/58/65/73/80,
22818/24/35/43/61/64/86, 22909/35/36/50/71/94, 23004/25/32/67/68/83/84/94,
23102/16/17/25/34/55/84, 23217		1125–1169
190518Alco30229–3031676, 416/41/51/54/66/78/76/81/83, 236/37, 479, 916/17, 462/63
190515Alco30595–30609469–474/80/84–91
190630Alco38513–38542411–14/17/18/22–25/29/40/42/44–49, 899, 915/23/24, 1219–1222/29–31
190635Alco39121–392461333–1367
190730Baldwin31547–49/59–62/85–88, 31618–23/73/87/88, 31734/45–47/84, 31830/55/56/84, 3191418, 29, 38, 44, 50, 61, 62, 122/59/61/82/84/85, 245, 343–45/48/49/59/60, 452, 555, 925/34–38/60
190730Alco42170–421991368–1397
190730Alco42399–424281398–1427
190810Baldwin32567/74/94, 32602–04/26/45/60/611323–1332
190825Alco45726–45750172/75, 375–80/82/83/8586/88, 406/50/53/55–58, 893/94, 926/27/52

Service

The Class R-1 was designed for freight service, and initially was used that way. As train weights rose and more powerful locomotives were acquired, they were cascaded down to branch line and mixed train service.
Several were converted to oil firing—at least 87 locomotives are known to have run as oil-burners at some point in their C&NW service.
From the 1920s onwards, several locomotives had superheaters installed; some of them having new boilers of a slightly larger design.
Retirements started in 1929, but the last was not retired until 1956.
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
scrapped		NumbersNotes
192932511132
19363244476, 1130/61, 1359
19373206184, 360, 1102/11/31/67
19383141893
193931312168, 382, 425/49/83, 1077, 1110/12/16/63, 1229, 1395
194030126245, 375/80, 417/23/51/71/91, 960, 1120/36/38/45/64/66,
1336/45/47–49/57/69/75/93/99, 1421
19412757185, 424, 896, 1219, 1334/64/67
194226811392
194326731137, 1382, 1420
194426419418/47/80, 1041/42/74, 1104/14/39/41/43, 1328/35/61/63/65/97, 1411/24
19452457182, 921, 1126, 1339/51/70, 1416
19462387290, 452/66, 915, 1106/47, 1405
19472311844, 61, 122, 295, 343, 484/85, 596, 1070/76/78, 1105/50, 1327/33/55/88/91
194821311406First half-year only

Preservation

Three locomotives have been preserved: