Portland Company Civil War locomotive, ca. 1863
Item 13273 zoom send e-card
Purchase a reproduction of this item on VintageMaineImages.com.
Description
"The Portland Company built to order several 60-inch-gauge locomotives during the Civil War for the U.S. government and delivered them in 1864. More engines, however, were procured from the company under less willing circumstances by the government, as the four other locomotives they wanted were under contracts from civilian railroads. The photograph above clearly shows from the builder's plate that this locomotive was built in 1863, and the 'U.S.' is cast right into that plate. Company records show that four engines were built for the government in 1864 and not delivered until September of that year, so was this one of the earlier locomotives meant for a private road?"--Fletcher, David H. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., 2002, 27.