| Driving Wheels | 5ft 0ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 180psi superheated |
| Cylinders | Outside – 18in x 24in |
This locomotive was built by Beyer Peaclck at the Gorton Works in Manchester in 1910 for the Central Uruguay Railway (CUR). It was one of eight built as N1 locomotives.
The Central Uruguay Railway Co. of Montevideo, which was the largest railway company in Uruguay, was registered In London in 1876. It operated from January 1878 until the end of January 1949, when the railways in Uruguay were nationalized. By the end of the era of British railways in Uruguay, the CUR had a network of over a million miles of standard gauge track which was about half of the total within the country. It owned about 170 steam locomotives and several thousand cars.
The N1 locomotives were purchased following the good performance achieved by the 21 class N engines that had been supplied by Beyer Peacock in 1906 and 1907.
They had the same driving wheel diameter, the same cylinder dimensions and the same class of tender. The tenders had eight wheels and were of small capacity because the turntables in Uruguay were not very large (50 to 60 feet maximum) in the early 1900s. The class N1 locomotives had had larger boilers than the class N engines.
These non-superheated Moguls worked on main-line and cross-country passenger, freight and mixed services, including steeply graded and sharply curved single track branches.
From 1938 all the class N1 locomotives were converted from coal to fuel oil by the CUR. This locomotive was fitted with an N3 and a superheater.
They were capable of hauling a load of 15 wooden coaches at a speed of 45-50 mph and were able to undertake non-stop runs of over 80 miles without taking on water.
The maximum load for a class N3 locomotive was set at 380 tons by the nationalised railways.
In the 1970s this locomotive was assigned as a stationary boiler at Dr. Carnelli Station, in Montevideo, Southern region.
In 1984 the locomotive was repaired at Paysandu Works so it could haul a special form Paysandu to Salto (69 miles) for a group of British enthusiasts.
By 1988 the locomotive was still operating as a shunter in Rivera station.
In 1991 the locomotive returned to the Southern region and hauled the Presidential Train ” on the Centennial of Peñarol town, and for that event it was renumbered 120. Curiously there were two class N3 locomotives carrying the number 120 from 1991 until 119 was renumbered back to 119.
In January, 1992, the Circulo de Estudios Ferroviarios del Uruguay (CEFU) started work to preserve the locomotive.
Following the withdrawal of classmate 120 (Beyer Peacock works number 5400) in March 1993 119 became the last main line working steam locomotive in Uruguay. 120 is also preserved in Uruguay.
In 1999 the locomotive was declared a National Historic Monument.
The locomotive was returned to steam again in October 2005.
The locomotive is at the CEFU base in Montevideo.
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 