Power type Steam | Build date 1837 | |
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Operators Utica and Schenectady Railroad (U&S),Michigan Central Railroad (MC),Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU),Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) Official name Alert (U&S),Pioneer (G&CU) | ||
Pioneer is the name of the first railroad locomotive to operate in Chicago, Illinois. It was built in 1837 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Utica and Schenectady Railroad (U&S) in New York, then purchased used by William B. Ogden for the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU, the oldest predecessor of Chicago and North Western Railway). The locomotive arrived in Chicago by schooner on October 10, 1848, and it pulled the first train westbound out of the city on October 25, 1848.
History
When the locomotive was built by Baldwin #184 in 1843, and sold to the Tonawanda Railroad which gave it the name Batavia. It worked 5 years before it was sold in 1848 to the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. The G&CU renamed the locomotive Pioneer and used it in the construction of the G&CU until 1850, at which time the locomotive was loaned to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad for work laying is first track in Chicago that summer. The Pioneer was returned and became its road work locomotive until it was retired in 1875 at West Chicago,IL
The locomotive has been preserved and is on display at the Chicago History Museum.