Pioneer III
| PRR MP85 / Silverliner I | |
|---|---|
Pioneer III #247 at Strasburg in 2006; since scrapped | |
| In service | 1958–1990 |
| Manufacturer | Budd Company |
| Built at | Red Lion Plant, Philadelphia |
| Family name | Pioneer III |
| Number built | 6 |
| Number preserved | 0 (2 formerly preserved) |
| Number scrapped | 6 |
| Successor | Budd Silverliner II/St Louis Car Company Silverliner III |
| Formation | Single unit |
| Fleet numbers |
|
| Owners | Pennsylvania Railroad
Amtrak SEPTA |
| Operators | |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 85 ft (25.91 m) |
| Width | 9 ft 11+1⁄2 in (3.04 m) |
| Maximum speed | 85 mph (137 km/h) |
| Weight | 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) |
| Traction system | Line current transformed to 1580V and fed through 4 Westinghouse WL653B Ignitron rectifiers to a DC resistance motor controller. 2 cars converted to silicon rectifier in 1961. |
| Power output | 400 hp (300 kW) (4 x 100 hp (75 kW) ) |
| Electric system(s) | 12,000 V 25 Hz AC catenary |
| Current collector(s) | Pantograph |
| Bogies | Budd Pioneer |
| Braking system(s) | Pneumatic |
| Track gauge | Standard gauge |
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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 (m.u.). 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.