#2121
Pennsylvania Railroad class B1 (electric)
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Westinghouse Electric Corporation· from 1926· class of 42 American C electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 0380 Strasburg - Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania - Flickr - KlausNahr: Klaus Nahr from Germany· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class B1 comprised 42 electric switcher locomotives built between 1926 and 1935. They were of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation with 700 horsepower. As built, the first 28 locomotives in the 1926 order formed semi-permanently coupled pairs grouped in three classes.
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.
- 522 kW is about 6 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 12 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 9.5 m long: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 36 years (1926–1962).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1926–1935
- in service from
- 1926
- retired
- 1962
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 42
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Allis-Chalmers, Altoona Works
- operators
- Pennsylvania Railroad
- top speed
- 40 km/h
- power
- 522 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 11 kV 25 hz AC, Catenary, 650 V DC, Third rail (BB2)
- wheel arrangement
- 6w
- length
- 9.5 m
- weight
- 71.2 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7120462, Wikipedia: Pennsylvania Railroad class B1 (electric) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.