Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Ligonier Echo
Saturday, July 23, 1904
L.V.R.R. ENGINE NO, EIGHT, AN ENGINE WITH A RECORD.
Twenty Seven Years Ago It Was Engine No 172 On The P.R.R. and It Made the Fastest Run Between Altoona and Pittsburgh Ever Made In the History Of the Road. One Hundred and Seventeen Miles In One Hundred and Twenty-seven Minutes.
THE BRILLIANT PAST OF THE OLD ENGINE BROUGHT TO LIGHT YESTERDAY.
To look at engine No. eight, on the Ligonier Valley railroad, the engine which hauls the
passenger train back and forth between Latrobe and Ligonier day in and day out, one
would never suspect that in its day it was the most famous engine that ever ran on the
Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania railroad. But the old battle scarred veteran, dinged
and dented as it is, has a wonderful record to its credit, having made the fastest run ever
made between Altoona and Pittsburg, a distance of 117 miles in two hours and seven
minutes, making a record that has never been equaled, even by the wonderful engines of
modern days.
This interesting information was gleaned yesterday at Idlewild. Robert
McClarren, the assistant road foreman of engines on the Pittsburg division was attending
the picnic of the employees of the Wall shops. Together with a number of friends and
Joseph D. Houston of this place, he walked up the track to the switch where engine No.
eight was puffing away, and there he told the story of the engine's wonderful history.
It was in the year 1877, the year of the great riots in Pittsburg that the
wonderful run was made, said Mr. McClarren. L. V. R. R. engine No. eight was then the
P. R. R. engine No. 172, and was on the Pittsburg division of the road. On the 21st day
of July, 1877 the riots in Pittsburg reached a crisis and it was absolutely necessary that a
party of railroad officials in Altoona should reach the scene of the rioting in the shortest
possible time. Engine No. 172 was selected to make the run. William A. Brady, now the
assistant road foreman of engines on the West Penn division was the engineer on No. 172
at the time, and the circumstances were explained to him. He was told to cut her loose,
and cut her loose he did. The throttle was opened wide the whole way. The track was
kept clear for the entire distance, and without a stop, engine No. 172 ran up hill and down
bill, Engineer Brady pushing her to the utmost.
The engine responded nobly to the task asked of it, and in two hours and seven
minutes after leaving the station at Altoona it arrived at 33rd St., Pittsburg. It had made a
run of 117 miles in 127 minutes, and had performed a feat that no other engine on the
Pennsy has ever equaled.
Among the officials of the Pennsylvania, who made the run, was A. C. (sic)
Cassatt, now the president of the Pennsylvania railroad. Mr. Cassatt was then but a minor
official.
The record breaking engine was kept on the division for nearly fifteen years,
after its great run, but few people knew of the feat which it had achieved. Upwards of
twelve years ago it was sold to the L. V. R. R. Its number, 172, was taken off, and the
number eight substituted. The letters P. R. R. were erased and L. V. R. R. substituted for
them. And the famous engine was assigned to the task of rounding the curves on the little
ten-mile road, making the run of ten miles several times each day, and never allowed to
show its speed. It has always been regarded as a second-hand engine, cast off by the
Pennsy, until yesterday when Mr. McClarren made public its great past. From now on
engine No. eight is destined to be regarded in a new light, and the public will accord to it
the long-deferred but deserving honor which it has won.