Part 3

The valve gear is of the Stephenson shifting-link pattern (see fig. 27), a simple and dependable motion used extensively in this country between about 1850 and 1900. The author believes that this is the original valve gear of the _Pioneer_, since the first mention (1854) in the _Annual Report_ of the Cumberland Valley Railroad of the style of valve gear used by each engine, states that the _Pioneer_ was equipped with a shifting-link motion. Assuming this to be the original valve gear of the _Pioneer_, it must be regarded as an early application, because the Stephenson motion was just being introduced into American locomotive practice in the early 1850's. Four eccentrics drive the motion; two are for forward motion and two for reverse. The link is split and made of two curved pieces. The rocker is fabricated of several forged pieces keyed and bolted together. On better made engines the rocker would be a one-piece forging. The lower arm of each rocker is curiously shaped, made with a slot so that the link block may be adjusted. Generally, the only adjustment possible was effected by varying the length of the valve stem by the adjusting nuts provided. A simple weight and lever attached to the reversing shaft serve as a counterbalance for the links and thus assist the engineer in shifting the valve motion. There are eight positions on the quadrant of the reversing lever.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

The cab is solid walnut with a natural finish. It is very possible that the second cab was added to the locomotive after the 1862 fire. A brass gong used by the conductor to signal the engineer is fastened to the underside of the cab roof. This style of gong was in use in the 1850's and may well be original equipment.

The water tank is in two sections, one part extending below the deck, between the frame. The tank holds 600 gallons of water. The tender holds one cord of wood.

The small pedestal-mounted sandbox was used on several Cumberland Valley engines including the _Pioneer_. This box was removed from the engine sometime between 1901 and 1904. It was on the engine at the time of the Carlisle sesquicentennial but disappeared by the time of the St. Louis exposition. Two small sandboxes, mounted on the driving-wheel splash guards, replaced the original box. The large headlamp (fig. 3) apparently disappeared at the same time and was replaced by a crudely made lamp formerly mounted on the cab roof as a backup light. Headlamps of commercial manufacture were carefully finished and made with parabolic reflectors, elaborate burners, and handsomely fitted cases. Such a lamp could throw a beam of light for 1000 feet. The present lamp has a flat cone-shaped piece of tin for a reflector.

The brushes attached to the pilot were used in the winter to brush snow and loose ice off the rail and thus improve traction. In good weather the brushes were set up to clear the tracks.

After the _Pioneer_ had come to the National Museum, it was decided that some refinishing was required to return it as nearly as possible to the state of the original engine. Replacing the sandbox was an obvious change.[20] The brass cylinder jackets were also replaced. The cab was stripped and carefully refinished as natural wood. The old safety valve was replaced, as already mentioned. Rejacketing the boiler with simulated Russia iron produced a most pleasing effect, adding not only to the authenticity of the display but making the engine appear lighter and relieving the somber blackness which was not characteristic of a locomotive of the 1850's. Several minor replacements are yet to be done; chiefly among these are the cylinder-cock linkage and a proper headlamp.

The question arises, has the engine survived as a true and accurate representation of the original machine built in 1851? In answer, it can be said that although the _Pioneer_ was damaged en route to the Cumberland Valley Railroad, modified on receipt, burned in 1862, and operated for altogether nearly 40 years, surprisingly few new appliances have been added, nor has the general arrangement been changed. Undoubtedly, the main reason the engine is so little changed is that its small size and odd framing did not invite any large investment for extensive alteration for other uses. But there can be no positive answer as to its present variance from the original appearance as represented in the oldest known illustration of it--the Hull drawing of 1871 (fig. 8). There are few, if any, surviving 19th-century locomotives that have not suffered numerous rebuildings and are not greatly altered from the original. The _John Bull_, also in the U.S. National Museum collection, is a good example of a machine many times rebuilt in its 30 years of service.[21] Unless other information is uncovered to the contrary, it can be stated that the _Pioneer_ is a true representation of a light passenger locomotive of 1851.

_Alba F. Smith_

Alba F. Smith, the man responsible for the purchase of the _Pioneer_, was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, June 28, 1817.[9] Smith showed promise as a mechanic at an early age and by the time he was 22 had established leadpipe works in Norwich. His attention was drawn particularly to locomotives since the tracks of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad passed his shop. His attempts to develop a spark arrester for locomotives brought Smith to the favorable attention of Captain Daniel Tyler (1799-1882), president of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad. When Tyler was hired by the Cumberland Valley Railroad in 1850 to supervise the line's rebuilding, he persuaded the managers of that road to hire Smith as superintendent of machinery.[10] Smith was appointed as superintendent of the machine shop of the Cumberland Valley Railroad on July 22, 1850.[11] On January 1, 1851, he became superintendent of the road.

In March of 1856 Smith resigned his position with the Cumberland Valley Railroad and became superintendent of the Hudson River Railroad, where he remained for only a year. During that time he designed the coal-burning locomotive _Irvington_, rebuilt the Waterman condensing dummy locomotive for use in hauling trains through city streets, and developed a superheater.[12]

After retiring from the Hudson River Railroad he returned to Norwich and became active in enterprises in that area, including the presidency of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad. While the last years of Smith's life were devoted to administrative work, he found time for mechanical invention as well. In 1862 he patented a safety truck for locomotives, and became president of a concern which controlled the most important patents for such devices.[13] Alba F. Smith died on July 21, 1879, in Norwich, Connecticut.

MANUFACTURER OF

LOCOMOTIVES,

STATIONARY STEAM ENGINES AND STEAM BOILERS,

OF THE VARIOUS SIZES REQUIRED,

_Parts connected with Railroads, including Frogs, Switches, Chairs and Hand Cars._

MACHINISTS' TOOLS, of all descriptions, including _TURNING LATHES_, of sizes varying from 6 feet to 50 feet in length, and weighing from 500 pounds to 40 tons each; the latter capable of turning a wheel or pulley, _thirty feet in diameter_.

PLANING MACHINES,

Varying from 2 feet to 60 feet in length, and weighing from 200 lbs. to 70 tons each, and will plane up to 55 feet long and 7 feet square.

Boring Mills, Vertical and Horizontal Drills, Slotting Machines, Punching Presses, Gear and Screw Cutting Machines, &c. &c. Also,

Mill Gearing and Shafting.

JOBBING AND REPAIRS, and any kind of work usually done in Machine Shops, executed at short notice.

Figure 13.--ADVERTISEMENT OF SETH WILMARTH appearing in Boston city directory for 1848-1849.]

_Seth Wilmarth_

Little is known of the builder of the _Pioneer_, Seth Wilmarth, and nothing in the way of a satisfactory history of his business is available. For the reader's general interest the following information is noted.[16]

Seth Wilmarth was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on September 8, 1810. He is thought to have learned the machinist trade in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, before coming to Boston and working for the Boston Locomotive Works, Hinkley and Drury proprietors. In about 1836 he opened a machine shop and, encouraged by an expanding business, in 1841 he built a new shop in South Boston which became known as the Union Works.[17] Wilmarth was in the general machine business but his reputation was made in the manufacture of machine tools, notably lathes. He is believed to have built his first locomotive in 1842, but locomotive building never became his main line of work. Wilmarth patterned his engines after those of Hinkley and undoubtedly, in common with the other New England builders of this period, favored the steady-riding, inside-connection engines. The "Shanghais," so-called because of their great height, built for the Boston and Worcester Railroad by Wilmarth in 1849, were among the best known inside-connection engines operated in this country (fig. 14). While the greater part of Wilmarth's engines was built for New England roads, many were constructed for lines outside that area, including the Pennsylvania Railroad, Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Erie.

A comparison of the surviving illustrations of Hinkley and Wilmarth engines of the 1850's reveals a remarkable similarity in their details (figs. 14 and 15). Notice particularly the straight boiler, riveted frame, closely set truck wheels, feedwater pump driven by a pin on the crank of the driving wheel, and details of the dome cover. All of the features are duplicated exactly by both builders. This is not surprising considering the proximity of the plants and the fact that Wilmarth had been previously employed by Hinkley.

In 1854 Wilmarth was engaged by the New York and Erie Railroad to build fifty 6-foot gauge engines.[18] After work had been started on these engines, and a large store of material had been purchased for their construction, Wilmarth was informed that the railroad could not pay cash but that he would have to take notes in payment.[19] There was at this time a mild economic panic and notes could be sold only at a heavy discount. This crisis closed the Union Works. The next year, 1855, Seth Wilmarth was appointed master mechanic of the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, where he worked for twenty years. He died in Malden, Massachusetts, on November 5, 1886.

Footnotes

[1] _Minutes of the Board of Managers of the Cumberland Valley Railroad._ This book may be found in the office of the Secretary, Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia, Pa., June 25, 1851. Hereafter cited as "Minutes C.V.R.R."

[2] Ibid.

[3] Minutes C.V.R.R.

[4] _Franklin Repository_ (Chambersburg, Pa.), August 26, 1909.

[5] _Railroad Advocate_ (December 29, 1855), vol. 2, p. 3.

[6] C. E. FISHER, "Locomotives of the New Haven Railroad," _Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin_ (April 1938), no. 46, p. 48.

[7] Minutes C.V.R.R.

[8] _Evening Sentinel_ (Carlisle, Pa.), October 23, 1901.

[9] _Norwich Bulletin_ (Norwich, Conn.), July 24, 1879. All data regarding A. F. Smith is from this source unless otherwise noted.

[10] _Railway Age_ (September 13, 1889), vol. 14, no. 37. Page 600 notes that Tyler worked on C.V.R.R. 1851-1852; Smith's obituary (footnote 9) mentions 1849 as the year; and minutes of C.V.R.R. mention Tyler as early as 1850.

[11] Minutes C.V.R.R.

[12] A. F. HOLLEY, _American and European Railway Practice_ (New York: 1861). An illustration of Smith's superheater is shown on plate 58, figure 13.

[13] JOHN H. WHITE, "Introduction of the Locomotive Safety Truck," (Paper 24, 1961, in _Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Papers 19-30_, U.S. National Museum Bulletin 228; Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1963), p. 117.

[14] _Annual Report_, C.V.R.R., 1853.

[15] ZERAH COLBURN, _Recent Practice in Locomotive Engines_ (1860), p. 71.

[16] _Railroad Gazette_ (September 27, 1907), vol. 43, no. 13, pp. 357-360. These notes on Wilmarth locomotives by C. H. Caruthers were printed with several errors concerning the locomotives of the Cumberland Valley Railroad and prompted the preparation of these present remarks on the history of Wilmarth's activities. Note that on page 359 it is reported that only one compensating-lever engine was built for the C.V.R.R. in 1854, and not two such engines in 1852. The _Pioneer_ is incorrectly identified as a "Shanghai," and as being one of three such engines built in 1871 by Wilmarth.

[17] The author is indebted to Thomas Norrell for these and many of the other facts relating to Wilmarth's Union Works.

[18] _Railroad Gazette_ (October 1907), vol. 43, p. 382.

[19] _Boston Daily Evening Telegraph_ (Boston, Mass.), August 11, 1854. The article stated that one engine a week was built and that 10 engines were already completed for the Erie. Construction had started on 30 others.

[20] The restoration work has been ably handled by John Stine of the Museum staff. Restoration started in October 1961.

[21] S. H. OLIVER, _The First Quarter Century of the Steam Locomotive in America_ (U.S. National Museum Bulletin 210; Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1956), pp. 38-46.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1964

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402--Price 30 cents.

Index

Adams, W. B., 252

Baldwin, Matthias William, 264

Boston Locomotive Works, 260

Colburn, Zerah, 259

Danforth Cooke & Co., 252

Drury, Gardner P., 260

Eastwick, Andrew M., 259

Harrison, Joseph, Jr., 259

Hinkley, Holmes, 252, 260, 263

Hull, A. S., 251, 268

Smith, Alba F., 244, 246, 247, 259

Stephenson, Robert, & Hawthorns, Ltd., 253

Stuart, J. E. B., 249

Taunton Locomotive Works, 247

Tyler, Daniel, 244, 253

Union Works, 260

Vulcan Foundry, 252

Watts, Frederick, 249