#2580
Atlantic Coast Line R-1 class
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Baldwin Locomotive Works· from 1938· class of 12 American 4-8-4 locomotives
what is it?
The Atlantic Coast Line R-1 was a class of 12 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in 1938. Twelve of them were built to pull the Atlantic Coast Line's (ACL) demanding mainline passenger trains such as the Florida Special, Havana Special, and Tamiami, pulling 20 or 21 passenger cars without stopping for an engine change between Richmond, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida.
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 88 years ago, in 1938.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- Weighs about as much as 35 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 14 years (1938–1952).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1938
- in service from
- 1938
- retired
- 1952
- status
- retired
- number built
- 12
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Baldwin Locomotive Works
- operators
- Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
- top speed
- 161 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-4
- weight
- 209 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q104860443, Wikipedia: Atlantic Coast Line R-1 class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.