Pioneer III

what is it?

The Pioneer III railcar was a short/medium-distance coach designed and built by the Budd Company in 1956 with an emphasis on weight savings. A single prototype was built, but declines in rail passenger traffic resulted in a lack of orders so Budd re-designed the concept as an electric multiple unit (EMU). Six of the EMU coach design were purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad with the intention of using them as a high-speed self-contained coach that could be used for long-distance commuter or short-distance intercity travel in the Northeast U.S. The 6 production Pioneer III units were the first all-stainless-steel-bodied EMU railcar built in North America and, at 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg), the lightest.

who runs it

Pennsylvania RailroadPenn Central Transportation CompanyCOConrailSoutheastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

base stats

• speed 137 km/htop speed
• power 298 kWpower output
• weight 40.8 tin working order
• built 6made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

• 🎂First built 68 years ago, in 1958.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 📏25.9 m long: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
• ⌛Served for 32 years (1958–1990).

multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.

spec sheet

built

1958

in service from

1958

retired

1990

status

retired

number built

6

kind

Electric multiple unit

traction

electric

origin

🇺🇸 United States

builders

Budd Company

operators

Pennsylvania Railroad, Penn Central Transportation Company, Conrail, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

top speed

137 km/h

power

298 kW

electric system

12,000 V 25 Hz AC catenary

formation

Single unit

length

25.9 m

weight

40.8 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.