#2117
New York Central R-Motor
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1926· classes of American electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 19660529 09 South Shore Line 703 @ Michigan City Shops: David Wilson· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
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.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 100 years ago, in 1926.
- 3 MW is about 35 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 26 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.7 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1926–1931
- number built
- 43
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Locomotive Company, General Electric
- operators
- New York Central Railroad, Chicago South Shore and South Bend
- top speed
- 97 km/h
- power
- 3 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 660 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- R: (Bo′Bo′)+(Bo′Bo′)
- length
- 20.7 m
- weight
- 157 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6956053, Wikipedia: New York Central R-Motor (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.