New Haven Railroad Class R-3

The New Haven R-3 was a class of thirteen engines of the 4-8-2 "Mountain" type built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1927. They were numbered 3550 to 3562.
==Introduction==
The R-3's were derived from the earlier R-2's and R-1's. Unlike the earlier two classes, the R-3's had three cylinders instead of two. It also had Gresley's conjugated valve gear on the middle cylinder. The boiler had a feedwater heater. Three were built in late 1926; the other ten in January 1928.
Initially, the R-2 and R-3 Mountains were built with McClellon's water-tube boilers, but these were subsequently replaced with conventional boilers.
The advantages of three-cylindered engines are that they can pull heavy trains more easily than those with two cylinders, and that they could accelerate faster and ride more smoothly.
==Later Years==
The problem with three-cylindered engines - particularly those with the conjugated valve gear - is that the middle cylinder can be hard to reach and maintain, made worse with the air pumps at the front that keep blocking access to it. Unlike most other railroads that have done this, the New Haven was in a somewhat poor financial state, so the third cylinder was never removed, and despite their problems, the R-3's plodded on. 
All were withdrawn from 1949 to 1951, and all were scrapped by 1952-53. It is a pity that an example of a three-cylindered engine built for an Eastern railroad has not been saved - not even for public display.
==Trivia==
*The R-3s (along with all of NH's 4-8-2s) were planned, upon delivery, to be known as the "New Haven" type, rather than "Mountain" or "Mohawk". This did not get far; so they would still be "Mountains".
*The R-3 was one of only two classes to be built with three cylinders, the other being the New Haven Y-4 0-8-0 switchers (another ALCO product).
*As with many examples of post-WW1 New Haven steam power, the R-series 4-8-2's had (Nathan) 5-chime whistles, as heard in a recently-rediscovered Fox Movietone sound newsreel.
*The R-3's can pull up to 5000 tons, whereas the R-2a's can manage no more than 3500 tons.
*As stated previously, this class was fitted with Gresley's conjugated motion, along with the Union Pacific 9000 Class 4-12-2's - also an ALCO product.
Category:4-8-2 locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Three-cylindered locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:4-8-2 steam locomotives
Category:Built in 1927
Category:Freight locomotives
Category:United States
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:New Haven locomotives