CHAPTER XXXIII
CLAIMS TO FIRST LOCOMOTIVES
In previous pages the author has stated that he was mainly
induced to compile this history in consequence of the numerous
statements in the public journals, giving what they supposed to
be correct accounts or histories of the first locomotive built
and run upon a railroad in the United States, and his desire to
settle that much-disputed question of the first locomotive that
was in the actual service of a company. The following from the
Philadelphia Public Ledger, of January 18, 1869, is a sample of
those statements which have, from time to time, been spread before
the public, as the true history of the first locomotive. Since
this statement was published in the Ledger, the author has been
frequently told that the first American locomotive was built in
Philadelphia, and run upon the Germantown and Morristown Railroad,
in 1832. The communication in the Ledger reads thus:
"The first really effective locomotive in America,"
says Mr. Haskell, in the Coachmaker's Journal, " was built
in Philadelphia, from a draught by Rufus Tyler, a brother-in-law
of the late Matthias Baldwin, of Philadelphia. Messrs. Tyler and
Baldwin had formed a co-partnership and entered into business
at the corner of Sixth and Miner Streets, Philadelphia, where
the plans and patterns were made and the building of the iron
horse commenced. In consequence of a misunderstanding, the partnership
was dissolved, and Mr. Baldwin continued the business, removing
to a shop in Lodge Alley, where the engine was completed. Mr.
Tyler was at that time considered the best mechanic in America.
The wheels of the engine were made of wood, with broad rims and
thick tires, the flange being bolted on the side. It was called
'Old Ironsides,' and was built in 1832. At eight o'clock in the
morning, she was first put in motion on the Germantown and Morristown
Railroad at their depot, Ninth and Greene Streets. She ran a mile
an hour, and was considered the wonder of the day. On trial, it
was ascertained that the wheels were too light to draw the tender,
and to obviate this difficulty we had the tender placed in front
of the engine, which kept the wheels on the track. Mr. Baldwin,
the machinist, and myself, pushed the engine ahead, until we obtained
some speed, when we all jumped on the engine, our weight keeping
the wheels from slipping on the track. The boiler being too small
for the engine, steam was only generated fast enough to keep the
engine in motion a short time, so that we were compelled to alternately
push and ride until we arrived at Germantown depot, where we rested
and took some refreshments at the expense of the hotel-keeper
at that place.
"At four o'clock we started on our return to Philadelphia,
alternately riding and pushing in the same manner that we had
come. Upon arriving at a turn on the road, at the up-grade, the
engine suddenly stopped, when, upon examination, it was found
that the connecting pipe between the water-tank and the boiler
had been frozen, and the steam was all out of the boiler. It was
then about eight o'clock, and was growing each moment colder.
'Necessity knows no law,' and so, after a short consultation,
we made a summary appropriation of sundry panels of a post-and-rail
fence close to the track, and started a fire underneath the pipe
to thaw it. In a short time thereafter we had steam up and resumed
our journey toward Philadelphia, arriving at the depot about eleven
o'clock. Several successive trials were made during the following
year; after each, Mr. Baldwin added improvements and made alterations
in the machinery. In about a year it was found that the grease
had saturated the hubs and loosened the spokes, and they finally
went to pieces, and were replaced by new ones. This same engine
is still in existence in Vermont."
When the author read this description in the Ledger with the
astounding caption that preceded it, viz., "The first really
effective engine in America," he could not restrain his wonder.
His surprise was only increased when he tried to imagine what
the editor could be thinking about when he suffered such a communication
to enter the columns of his valuable journal. When the author
tried to imagine the appearance of this excursion-party to and
from Germantownfirst pushing awhile, then jumping on for
a ride, then off again for another push, and on again for another
ridehe was forcibly reminded of a scene he has often witnessed
after the boss and his hands, on a railroad division, had knocked
off for dinner, when a parcel of schoolboys amused themselves
with a ride upon the unoccupied hand-car.
If Philadelphia will claim this specimen of a locomotive as
her share in the enterprise of introducing this indispensable
machine into the United States, and as late as 1832, she is welcome
to enjoy it; and her mechanics maybe justly proud of their handiwork;
for they had certainly made no improvement upon the English locomotives,
several of which were at that time (December, 1832) in this country;
besides the fact that there had been built in this country, between
the years 1829 and '31, one most successful experimental locomotive
by Mr. Peter Cooper, of New York, which we describe in full, and
also there had been built in 1830 and '31 several American locomotives
for actual railroad service, which were in successful operation,
as we have already shown, viz., the "Best Friend" and
the "West Point," for the Charleston Railroad. Another
article upon the subject of early locomotives, or rather, as it
is headed, " The first train of cars by steam in America,"
ever, read in the Boston Advertiser of January, 1869, as follows:
"THE FIRST STEAM-TRAIN IN AMERICA."In the superintendent's
office at the Providence Railroad Station, in this city, is a
picture of the first steam railroad train in America, run from
Albany to Schenectady, over the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, in
1831. The train consisted of a locomotive, tender, and two cars.
The locomotive, named the 'John Bull,' and imported from England,
was of very simple and uncouth construction, and might be mistaken
in these days for a pile-driver. Its cylinders were five and a
half inches in diameter, and sixteen inches' stroke, and the connecting-rods
worked on double cranks on the front axle. It weighed four tons.
John Hampson, an Englishman, was the engineer. The tender was
a simple frame, with a platform, upon which were placed a heap
of wood used for fuel, and two crates filled with similar combustibles.
This vehicle had also a passenger-box in the rear. The cars were
patterned after the old stagecoaches, resembling somewhat the
railroad-coaches still used in England, and were coupled with
three links instead of one, as at present. Twelve passengers occupied
the inside seats, and three were seated outside. Among them were
Mr. Thurlow Weed and ex:-Governor Yates. Their portraits, and
those of their fellow passengers, which the picture gives in sombre
and sharply-defined silhouette, would readily be recognized by
any one acquainted with them when they made the excursion. The
picture is photographed by Messrs. J. L. Howard & Co., of
Springfield, from the original, in the possession of the Connecticut
Historical Society."
The original picture of the engine and train of cars from which
the photograph just described was taken, was executed by the author
of this history, and presented by him to the Connecticut Historical
Society at Hartford. This photograph copy has since been lithographed
for Thomas Jarmy, at the lithographic establishment of Sage &
Son, Buffalo, in 1865.
The original picture, presented by the author to the Connecticut
Historical Society, was done on the very day the engine made its
first trip with a train of cars. Attached to this lithograph Mr.
Jarmy has given a kind of history of the machine, as follows:
"View of the first American railroad train, as it appeared
ready for starting, on the Mohawk and Hudson Railway, the first
part of the New York Central Railroad from Albany to Schenectady,
about the 31st of July, 1832, executed at the time on black paper
with a pair of scissors, by a Mr. Brown, of Pennsylvania, and
lithographed from a photograph of the original picture in the
possession of the Connecticut Historical Society." Mr. Jarmy
also goes on to describe and name the passengers in the cars,
and gives the cost and charges of the importation of the engine
at the custom-house, New York, and the date, November 12, 183l,
as the freight of said locomotive, the "John Bull,"
per schooner Eclipse, from New York to Albany. With regard to
this lithograph, which, no doubt, many railroad men look upon
as authentic, the author will say that, so far as the representation
of the engine and train of cars, together with the passengers,
is concerned, the copy really is correct, nor can the author complain
at his name being given as the artist who took the original sketch
in the Connecticut Historical Society rooms; but the public should
be informed of the utter inaccuracy in the historical portion
of the lithographic copy. The locomotive drawn by the author on
that occasion was not the English engine, "John Bull,"
as Mr. Jarmy represents, but the American built locomotive "De
Witt Clinton." It was sketched on the 9th day of August,
1831, the day of the first excursion trip with a train of cars
attached. Several experiments during the previous month of July
had been made with different kinds of fuel, to discover that which
would be best suited for its use.
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