Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1278

Like her sister, CPR 1293, it was built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1948, and is a type 4-6-2, class G5d light weight "Pacific" locomotive. It was purchased by F. Nelson Blount in May 1965, and renumbered 127. Blount had planned to renumber all three of the 1200-series CPR locomotives in his collection from 1246, 1278 and 1293 to 124, 127 and 129 respectively, but 1278 was the only one of the three that underwent the change. The new number remained on the locomotive from 1966 until 1973, when its former number was restored. The 1278 was leased to the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad in Michigan from 1970 to 1971. After some repair work, the locomotive was returned to Steamtown, U.S.A. in Bellows Falls, Vermont where it served on excursion runs. During the sesquicentennial of the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the 1278 was fitted with elephant-eared smoke deflectors to masquerade as D&H P-1 4-6-2 653,[1] and it performed one doubleheader with Reading T-1 4-8-4 2102, which masqueraded as D&H 302 at the time. After Steamtown moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, the 1278 was taken out of service, as it was in need of new flues. In 1987, it was traded to the Gettysburg Railroad in exchange for Canadian National 2-8-2 3254,[2] since Steamtown's excursion trains were getting longer and heavier, exceeding the 1278's hauling capacity.

Shortly after 7 p.m., Friday, June 16, 1995, an explosion in the firebox of CPR 1278 burned three members of its crew. One man, James Cornell, the son of the owner of the engine, was critically injured.[3] The train that the locomotive was pulling had 310 passengers on board.[4] None of the passengers, who were taking the "Summer Eve Dinner Excursion" to Mount Holly Springs, were hurt.[3]

An investigation done by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the accident was caused by poor maintenance and operator training. The board also pointed out that the Canadian design of the firebox may have prevented further injuries and perhaps deaths.[4] Now, the Federal Railroad Administration must perform a 1,472 day inspection on any operational steam locomotive in the United States.

Jerry Jacobson bought the engine at an auction in 1998, and it sat in an Ohio Central Railroad storage facility, still awaiting restoration as of 2009. As of 2016, No. 1278 currently resides inside the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio safely out of the weather. It has had a partial cosmetic restoration to improve its overall looks as a static display currently, but as of 2021, No. 1278 is likely to never run under steam anytime soon.[2]