The Confederation type is a locomotive with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement used on Canadian railways. Most were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in Montreal, Quebec, and the Canadian Locomotive Company (CLC) in Kingston, Ontario, for the Canadian National Railway (CNR). The "Confederation" type was later given the more common designation "Northern" type. They were the backbone of the CNR locomotive fleet from the 1930s to the 1950s.[1] Eight locomotives of this type have been preserved from the CNR and 2 CPR fleets.
CN 6400 used roller-bearing boxes on all running and tender axles, with bearings made by SKF of Sweden.[2] CN ordered 155 U-2 classes from 1927-1944. CN also ordered 5 U-4a’s in 1936, and the GTW ordered 36 U-3 Classes from 1927 to 1943. The GTW ordered 5 U-4b’s in 1938. In total, 203 were built for CN and the GTW. All 203 locomotives remained in service until they were retired between 1953 and 1959. A few have survived into preservation, CN 6153, CN 6167, CN 6200, CN 6213, CN 6218 and CN 6400 and two from the GTW survived as well, GTW 6323 and GTW 6325.
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