On Oct. 17, Steamtown National Historic Site took delivery of a new inside firebox built by the Strasburg Rail Road that will be installed in the Lima-built Pacific. The firebox cost about $148,600 and a year to build.
National Park Service officials say the locomotive needs about $1.5 million to run; half of that money will come from the federal government and the other half will be raised by Project 3713, a nonprofit support group.
Officials say when the locomotive runs again depends entirely on funding and manpower.
No. 3713 was one of five Pacific-type locomotives delivered to the B&M in 1934 for passenger service. In 1937, the B&M held a contest for school children to name 20 passenger locomotives, including No. 3713. The railroad received more than 10,000 suggestions. J. Schumann Moore of Eastern High School in Lynn, Mass., suggested “The Constitution” and the name was applied to No. 3713 at a ceremony at Boston’s North Station on Dec. 11, 1937.
The locomotive was retired in 1956 and purchased by F. Nelson Blount, a millionaire businessman who collected the steam locomotives that form the core of the Steamtown collection. In the mid-1990s, the locomotive was selected from the park’s collection for restoration.
