Canadian Pacific 1278

Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1278 is a class "" 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Canadian Locomotive Company for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

History[]

Early years[]

Just like sister engine Canadian Pacific 1293, the engine was built by Canadian Locomotive Company in April 1948 and is a type 4-6-2 class G5d light weight "Pacific" locomotive.^[2][3] The engine worked most of its career hauling freight and passenger trains throughout the Canadian Pacific Railway until it was retired from revenue service in 1960.^[2]

After sitting idle for five years, the locomotive was purchased by F. Nelson Blount for his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection in North Walpole, New Hampshire in May 1965, and it was renumbered to 127 the following year.^[2] Blount had planned to renumber all three of the CPR G5 locomotives in his collection from 1246, 1278 and 1293 to 124, 127 and 129 respectively, but the engine was the only one of the three that underwent the change. The new number remained on the locomotive from 1966 until 1973, when its former number was restored. No. 1278 was leased to Ross Rowland, who used the locomotive to pull his very first High Iron Company (HICO) excursion between Jersey City and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania on October 13, 1966.^[2] In early February 1968, HICO sponsored a doubleheader excursion over the Central Railroad of New Jersey's mainline between Jersey City and Wilkes-Barre, pulled by fellow G5 locomotives 1238 and 1286, while leasing them from George Hart. However, the latter two locomotives were on loan to the city of Reading for emergency warmth after a steam generator broke down. Unwilling to cancel the excursion run, HICO replaced them with No. 1278, as well as Strasburg Rail Road's 2-10-0 No. 90.

The locomotive was leased to the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad in Michigan from 1970 to 1971. After some repair work, the locomotive was returned to Steamtown, U.S.A. in Bellows Falls, Vermont where it served on excursion runs. During the sesquicentennial of the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the 1278 was fitted with elephant-eared smoke deflectors to masquerade as D&H P-1 4-6-2 No. 653,^[4] and it performed one doubleheader with Reading T-1 4-8-4 No. 2102, which masqueraded as D&H No. 302 at the time. No. 1278 pulled her last excursion train for Steamtown in 1976, before it was removed from service due to her flue time running out, and it was subsequently put back on static display and replaced by G3c 4-6-2 No. 2317 for Steamtown's active roster at the time.^[5]

After Steamtown moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, Steamtown decided that their G5 locomotives were inadequate for service as they were deemed too light for the heavy grades and sharp curves of their Ex-Lackawanna line, hence why No. 1278 never operated in Scranton. In 1987, No. 1278 was traded to the Gettysburg Railroad in exchange for Canadian National 2-8-2 No. 3254 in order to meet the demand for a stronger locomotive to pull Steamtown's longer trains.^[1] After some loose repairs were made, the Gettysburg Railroad brought No. 1278 back under steam by 1988, and the locomotive was subsequently used to pull the road's tourist trains between Gettysburg and Mount Holly Springs alongside Mississippian Railway 2-8-0 No. 76, until 1995.^[2][3]

Disposition[]

No. 1278 was indefinitely retired from excursion service after its boiler incident, and it was subsequently purchased by Jerry Joe Jacobson at an auction in 1998 as a possible spare parts provider for No. 1293.^[2] It was moved to the Ohio Central Morgan Run Shops in 1999, it sat in an Ohio Central Railroad storage facility in Morgan Run, Ohio for several years.^[2][1] In 2016, No. 1278 was moved inside the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio, safely out of the weather.^[2] The damage from the firebox incident is repairable, and the engine could be restored to operation if desired,^[3] however, the engine remains on static display within the roundhouse as of 2022.

Accident[]

On Friday, June 16, 1995, at Pond Road at milepost 18 and a mile later at 7 p.m. at Garners while moving at 15 miles per hour, the locomotive suffered a backdraft explosion in the firebox.^[3] Scalding steam and flames burned three members badly with the engineer suffering the worst, as he had burns over 60% of his body. When the train stopped he managed to get out of the locomotive cab by himself and laid on the ground. He was then helped by the fireman and other members of the train crew. Ambulances arrived minutes later to take them to area hospitals. The first fireman, who immediately left the cab by the doorway, had second and third-degree burns over 10% of his body. He initially went to a hospital in Gettysburg, and was then transported to York for a week. His recovery took 3 and a half months. The second fireman also had second and third-degree burns on his legs, arms and chest. He had fractured legs from jumping out of the cab window. None of the crew was killed and all 100 passengers escaped serious injury.^[3]

The engine suffered major damage to its firebox area but the rest of the locomotive was fine. The crown sheet toward the front tubesheet, next to the rear tube sheet knuckle, had bulged down to a foot in a bag shape composing an area at about 60 crown stays. The crownsheet holes around the crown stays have been deformed, creating gaps around the crown stay heads. It also had a 6 inch tare and also 2 front right knuckles have broken and fallen on the ash pan below.

A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation quickly revealed that this accident was more than just an engine without enough water. Prior to the explosion, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had cleared the Gettysburg Railroad's locomotives to remain in service. It turns out, the GRR poorly maintained their locomotives, such as 1278 not having any necessary care for most of its components, including the water glass. As such, new safety measures were placed on steam locomotives in that the FRA must perform a 1,472-day inspection every 15 years on every operational steam locomotive in the United States.^[6]

Surviving sister engines[]

• is currently on static display inside the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada.
• No. 1238 is currently in storage under private ownership at the Prairie Dog Central Railway in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.
• No. 1246 is currently in storage at the Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Connecticut in the United States.
• No. 1286 is currently in storage under private ownership at the Prairie Dog Central Railway in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.
• No. 1293 is currently on display at the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio in the United States, waiting for a rebuild.

References[]