The 'Pioneer': Light Passenger Locomotive of 1851: United States Bulletin 240, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, paper 42, 1964 — John Shaqi
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
However, no record can be found of the extent or exact nature of the
damage. The shops and a number of cars were burned so it is reasonable
to assume that the cab and other wooden parts of the locomotive were
damaged. One unverified report in the files of the Pennsylvania Railroad
states that part of the roof and brick wall fell on the _Pioneer_ during
the fire causing considerable damage. In June 1864 the Chambersburg
shops were again burned by the Confederates, but on this occasion the
railroad managed to remove all its locomotives before the raid. During
the Civil War, the Cumberland Valley Railroad was obliged to operate
longer passenger trains to satisfy the enlarged traffic. The _Pioneer_
and its sister single-axle engines were found too light for these trains
and were used only on work and special trains. Reference to table 1 will
show that the mileage of the _Pioneer_ fell off sharply for the years
1860-1865.
TABLE 1.--YEARLY MILEAGE OF THE PIONEER
(From Annual Reports of the Cumberland Valley Railroad)
_Year_: _Miles_
1852 3,182[a]
1853 20,722[b]
1854 18,087
1855 14,151
1856 20,998
1857 22,779
1858 29,094
1859 29,571
1860 4,824
1861 4,346
1862 ([c])
1863 5,339
1864 224
1865 2,215
1866 20,546
1867 5,709
1868 13,626
1869 1,372
1870 ...
1871 2,102
1872 4,002
1873 3,721
1874 3,466
1875 636
1876 870
1877 406
1878 4,433
1879 ...
1880 8,306
1881 ([d])
---------
Total 244,727[e]
FOOTNOTES TO TABLE 1:
[a] Mileage 1852 for January to September (no record of mileage recorded
in Annual Reports previous to 1852).
[b] 15,000 to 20,000 miles per year was considered very high mileage for
a locomotive of the 1850's.
[c] No mileage reported for any engines due to fire.
[d] Not listed on roster.
[e] The Pennsylvania Railroad claims a total mileage of 255,675. This
may be accounted for by records of mileages for 1862, 1870, and 1879.
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