Jack Small Presents The Gettysburg 1278 Boiler Explosion

Club member and program coordinator Jack Small will present “The Steam Locomotive a Huge Part of American History”. It was known as the Iron Horse and it helped build America. Steam locomotives are “long gone from common carrier” railroads for everyday use, but you can find them at many tourist railroads. One tourist railroad that had a steam engine was the Gettysburg Railroad. Over the years, the Gettysburg Railroad had more than four steam engines. One of them was the former Canadian Pacific Railroad number 1278, a 4-6-2 Pacific. As many people know, if a steam locomotive is not maintained and tested frequently, a catastrophic failure can occur. Locomotive 1278 was one of the unfortunate steam locomotives to suffer a boiler explosion. To find out more about what happened to this locomotive and what this accident brought to steam tourist railroads, join presenter Jack Small, as he presents the history of the 1278’s boiler explosion.