The Boston & Maine R1s were a class of eighteen 4-8-2 "Mountains" built by Baldwin between 1935-1941 in four batches.
Sub-Classes[]
R1a - First batch of five, built in 1935. They had spoked wheels on all driving axles.
R1b - Second batch of five, built in 1937. They had Baldwin disc drivers on the main driving axle only.
R1c - This was a batch of three, delivered in 1939. These were the lightest of the class, weighing in at 414,960 pounds.
R1d - The last batch of the class, with Baldwin disc drivers on all axles, tenders with three two-axle trucks (coal capacity still 21 tons, but water capacity increased to 23,000 gallons) and Worthington 5-SA feed water heaters (the three previous batches had Coffin feed water heaters). Five were built in 1941, making a total of eighteen altogether, ignoring all sub-classes.
Names[]
All eighteen engines (along with the ten Lima-built P4 pacifics) were named in 1940 and 41, as part of a contest amongst New England schoolchildren. These were as follows, along with their classes:
(R1a)
- 4100 'Endurance'
- 4101 'Hannah Dustin'
- 4102 'Cardigan'
- 4103 'Oliver Wendell Holmes'
- 4104 'Bee & Emma'
(R1b)
- 4105 'Powwow River'
- 4106 'Little John'
- 4107 'Intrepid'
- 4108 'Lily Pons'
- 4109 'Bumble Bee'
(R1c)
- 4110 'Calvin Coolidge'
- 4111 'Trojan'
- 4112 'Swallow'
(R1d)
- 4113 'Black Arrow'
- 4114 'Invincible'
- 4115 'Casey Jones'
- 4116 'American Progress'
- 4117 'Hercules'
Duplicate Engines[]
In 1944, towards the end of World War 2, Baldwin delivered three identical examples (numbered 10-12) to the power-starved Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad. They were soon renumbered 40-42.
Retirement[]
When dieselisation of the B&M commenced in 1947, the first thirteen were sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and classed T-4 with new numbers 5650-5662; their names were removed upon arrival. There they worked until 1958, when they were retired and scrapped. The five remaining R1s were retired between 1955 and 56, and were also scrapped. The L&HR trio were withdrawn in around 1950, and attempts were made at selling them to other railroads, but those attempts fell through and were eventually broken up. None of these fine engines, nor their smaller-drivered counterparts, survived the cutting torch.