The Great Locomotive Switch

The Pioneer (1851)

The Pioneer was made by one of America's early engine builders. The locomotive served a growing region of south-central Pennsylvania and later survived a Civil War raid by Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. When it turned fifty years old, Pioneer began an illustrious career as an operating relic, a career that lasted almost until its 100th birthday.

Pioneer was built by Seth Wilmarth, proprietor of the Union Works in South Boston, Massachusetts. The Union Works produced steam boilers and stationary steam engines for America's mid-19th century industries. By the early 1850s, Wilmarth had added steam locomotives to his product line. In 1851, he and his engineers designed and crafted two locomotives, the Jenny Lind (named after a popular opera star of the time) and the Pioneer. The engines weren't sold at first and were stored briefly in Norwich, Connecticut.

The Cumberland Valley Rail Road, chartered in 1831 to connect Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Hagerstown, Maryland, on the Potomac River, was building and operating a line down the rich Pennsylvania farmland of its namesake valley southwest of Harrisburg. The company needed relatively light-weight engines to pull short passenger trains, generally one to three cars. In 1851, the superintendent of the CVRR, Alba Smith, went to Norwich. After a close examination, Smith bought the two engines on behalf of the CVRR and had them brought to Pennsylvania.

Pioneer's recent home in the NMAH Railroad Hall

Pioneer is what railroad historians call a "2-2-2" type: two small wheels in front, two larger wheels driven by steam pistons for propulsion, and two small wheels at the back. With fuel (wood) and water aboard, the 12-1/2 ton operating weight of Pioneer is thus spread over six wheels, and therefore the engine could run on lightly built track. (Note that the present weight of Pioneer in the museum -- without the water and fuel -- is less; see the description of the locomotive's move elsewhere on this site.) The engine's construction is of wrought and cast iron, with copper boiler tubes and a wooden cab.

Pioneer is also what is often termed a "tank engine," meaning that it has no separate tender for fuel and water. Water to supply the boiler is carried on the engine in a tank at the rear, with space for the wood supply above. The sturdy little brooms mounted in front of the leading wheels deflected dirt and rocks off the rails.

In common with almost all steam locomotives, the locomotive crew numbered two: an engineer (or "engineman") and a fireman. As is customary on U.S. railroads to this day, the conductor, riding in the cars behind, had overall charge of the train. Before the advent of air brakes, a brakeman was required on each car to assist. Pulling a train of two cars, Pioneer could hit 40 miles per hour.

The CVRR ran some of the earliest "sleeping cars" in America, starting in 1838. Beds were padded boards with leather straps. During the day, these rude bunks were folded up against the walls of the car; at night they were put down and curtains drawn.

During the Civil War, the CVRR was an important line carrying supplies and Union troops to southern Pennsylvania and western Maryland -- and into northern Virginia. In 1862, troops under Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart raided Chambersburg, Pa., and burned the enginehouse that protected Pioneer and several other locomotives. Some of these were destroyed, but the Pioneer escaped major damage.

Through 1881, Pioneer covered nearly a quarter-million miles. After that, it pulled work trains for crews repairing track. By 1890 it had been relegated to the back corner of a railroad shed near Chambersburg, much too small to be of economic usefulness. By that time, powerful steam locomotives weighing 60-70 tons were common on U.S. railroads. In 1901 Pioneer was saved from otherwise inevitable scrapping by the Sesquicentennial of Carlisle, Pa.

Renovated and run for that celebration, Pioneer later appeared at numerous historical commemorations, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 at St. Louis, the Chicago World's Fair of 1933, and the Chicago Railroad Fair of 1948-49, where it still ran under its own steam. In 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which had absorbed the CVRR many years before, donated Pioneer to the Smithsonian, where it was displayed in the Arts & Industries Building. In 1963, the little engine came to NMAH, in time for the museum's grand opening the following year.

After nearly 38 years in Washington, D.C., Pioneer went on January 23, 1999, to Bethlehem, Pa. -- its "home state" -- for long-term loan to the National Museum of Industrial History.