A Railroad Velocipede

Recently the South Carolina Railroad Museum acquired a rare new artifact for our collection. It is a railroad velocipede made about 1880. It was donated to the museum by the family of Henry A. Stone, Sr. Mr. Stone worked for the Atlantic Coast Line, Charleston & Western Carolina, and the Seaboard Coast Line for over 40 years. When Mr. Stone placed the velocipede in a storage building in Dillon, SC over 28 years ago it was in working condition. When we picked it up and brought it back to Rockton we put it on the track and it worked perfectly. It will be a featured display in the museum gallery but will also be used for demonstrations on the Rockton & Rion. 

The velocipede was specially adapted for use by road masters, bridge inspectors, telegraph line repairers, and crosstie inspectors.  While it was normally used by one man, on occasion the back seat could be used for a passenger. The velocipede was the second generation of transportation for railroad workers. In the 1850s the two-man hand-pumped car was developed and continued in use until the 1910’s when motorized maintenance of way equipment evolved and replaced both the hand-pumped cars and the velocipede.