Above: Boston & Maine Locomotive No. 3713, also called The Constitution and "America's Locomotive." Photo by the National Park Service.
Above: Part of the home page of the Project3713 website. Project3713 is a preservation partnership between the National Park Service and the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railway Historical Society. Image used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
America's Locomotive
In 1934, the Boston & Maine Railroad utilized a loan from the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) to make a large purchase of locomotives and train cars (“B. & M. Orders Rolling Stock,” The Boston Globe, May 11, 1934, p. 25). One of those locomotives was a Pacific-type 4-6-2 engine, No. 3713, soon named The Constitution (1937), and more recently dubbed "America's Locomotive" by Project3713.
The Constitution pulled passengers in the northeast from 1934 to 1956, and also served as a troop transport during World War II. Today, she is being restored at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You can read more about her history and restoration at Project3713.
Many New Deal locomotives and streamline trains have become legendary among railroad enthusiasts, but references to their New Deal origins are almost entirely absent on the Internet and in books. One must scan through newspaper archives and government reports (for example, reports from the PWA and the Interstate Commerce Commission) to locate the "New Deal information." That's a shame, because the New Deal's contribution to locomotive, train, and railroad history is significant; and that history shows that a government that is truly of, by, and for the people can make all sorts of good stuff happen.
(Also see my blog post, "PWA assistance to our nation's railroads: How massive was it?")
No comments:
Post a Comment