The 'Pioneer': Light Passenger Locomotive of 1851: United States Bulletin 240, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, paper 42, 1964White, John H.
History
The 'Pioneer': Light Passenger Locomotive of 1851: United States Bulletin 240, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, paper 42, 1964
White, John H.
Locomotives
[Illustration: Figure 6.--THE "UTILITY" AS REBUILT TO AN 8-WHEEL ENGINE,
about 1863 or 1864. It was purchased by the Carlisle Manufacturing Co.
in 1882 and was last used in 1896. (Smithsonian photo 36716F.)]
[Illustration: Figure 7.--THE "UTILITY," DESIGNED BY SMITH A. F. and
constructed by Seth Wilmarth in 1854, was built to haul trains across
the bridge at Harrisburg, Pa.]
[Illustration: Figure 8.--THE EARLIEST KNOWN ILLUSTRATION of the
_Pioneer_, drawn by A. S. Hull, master mechanic of the Cumberland Valley
Railroad in 1876. It depicts the engine as it appeared in 1871.
(_Courtesy of Paul Westhaeffer._)]
The _Pioneer_ and _Jenny Lind_ achieved such success in action that the
president of the road, Frederick Watts, commented on their performance
in the annual report of the Cumberland Valley Railroad for 1851. Watts
stated that since their passenger trains were rarely more than a baggage
car and two coaches, the light locomotives "... have been found to be
admirably adapted to our business." The Cumberland Valley Railroad,
therefore, added two more locomotives of similar design in the next few
years. These engines were the _Boston_ and the _Enterprise_, also built
by Wilmarth in 1854-1855.
Watts reported the _Pioneer_ and _Jenny Lind_ cost $7,642. A standard
8-wheel engine cost about $6,500 to $8,000 each during this period. In
recent years, the Pennsylvania Railroad has stated the _Pioneer_ cost
$6,200 in gold, but is unable to give the source for this information.
The author can discount this statement for it does not seem reasonable
that a light, cheap engine of the pattern of the _Pioneer_ could cost as
much as a machine nearly twice its size.
[Illustration: Figure 9.--ANNUAL PASS of the Cumberland Valley Railroad
issued in 1863.]
[Illustration: Figure 10.--TIMETABLE OF THE Cumberland Valley Railroad
for 1878.]
Service History of the _Pioneer_
After being put in service, the _Pioneer_ continued to perform well and
was credited as able to move a 4-car passenger train along smartly at 40
mph.[8] This tranquility was shattered in October 1862 by a raiding
party led by Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart which burned the
Chambersburg shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. The _Pioneer_,
_Jenny Lind_, and _Utility_ were partially destroyed. The Cumberland
Valley Railroad in its report for 1862 stated:
The Wood-shop, Machine-shop, Black-smith-shop, Engine-house,
Wood-sheds, and Passenger Depot were totally consumed, and with
the Engine-house three second-class Engines were much injured by
the fire, but not so destroyed but that they may be restored to
usefulness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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