The Stourbridge Lion () was an early railroad steam locomotive. In 1829 it was the first locomotive to be operated in the United States, although foreign-built,

The locomotive was transported from Liverpool aboard the ship John Jay, arriving at New York in mid-May 1829. Its first official run took place on August 8, 1829 in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. According to an eye-witness, "the fire was kindled and steam raised, and, under the management of Horatio Allen, the 'wonderful machine' was found capable of moving, to the great joy of the crowd of excited spectators". Despite having no experience of driving a locomotive, Allen took the Stourbridge Lion out for its first test on his own, driving it about three miles along the track including a raised section over the Lackawaxen Creek. He then reversed the locomotive back to its starting point. The locomotive performed admirably, but the track that was built on which to run it was insufficient for the task (the company had not used all-iron rails but instead iron strips applied to a wooden rail). Jervis had specified that the locomotives should weigh no more than 4 tons; the Stourbridge Lion weighed nearly double that, 7.5 tons.

The two other Foster, Rastrick & Co locomotives that had been ordered by Allen, Delaware and Hudson, arrived separately at New York in August and September 1829 before being shipped on to Rondout. This engine, the Agenoria, was of very similar design to the Stourbridge Lion although of a different gauge and with a markedly longer chimney. The Agenoria first ran in June 1829, was operated for more than 30 years and is currently preserved at the National Railway Museum in York, England.

By 1834, documents show that the railroad attempted to sell the Stourbridge Lion and its early sisters to the Pennsylvania Canal Commission, but the deal was not finalized. The locomotives were deemed too unsuitable for the now expanding railroads; American locomotive manufacturers had begun producing their own locomotives of improved designs as early as 1830. The four locomotives were used as sources of English wrought-iron bar stock until the middle of the 1840s.

left|thumb|Stourbridge Lion boiler on display at the [[B&O Railroad Museum]]

By 1845, all that was left of the Stourbridge Lion was its boiler. The boiler was still functional, however, and it was used in a foundry in Carbondale for about another five years until the foundry's owner headed west to try his luck as a Forty-niner. The foundry was sold a few years later to new owners who recognized the boiler's value as a piece of history, and in 1874 reportedly tried to sell it for $1,000 (). The owners were unable to find a buyer.

In 1883, the D&H borrowed the boiler to display at the Exposition of Railway Appliances in Chicago. Unfortunately, security around the boiler's transportation was lax; souvenir hunters pulled every loose item that they could off the now historic boiler, even resorting to hammers and chisels to remove portions of it.

thumb|A plaque commemorating the Stourbridge Lion at Honesdale, Pennsylvania

The boiler was stored again and eventually acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1890. A few other parts that are believed to have been from the Stourbridge Lion are also preserved, but their authenticity is questioned. These other parts may have come from one or more of the locomotive's sister engines. The museum has made a few attempts to rebuild the locomotive with the parts that remain. However, with the parts' origins still in question, and the lack of a few other key parts, the locomotive's reconstruction has never been completed. The boiler and assembled parts are currently on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.

The D&H built their own replica of the Stourbridge Lion in 1932 from plans that were made based on the parts remaining in existence. The Wayne County Historical Society Museum contains a full-scale replica of the Stourbridge Lion, and is home to many related photographs and artifacts. This museum is in a small brick building on Main Street, Honesdale, Pennsylvania, which was once the D&H Canal's company office, and is where the Stourbridge Lion began its inaugural run.

Mechanical description

The boiler had a simple single flue, with the chimney exiting through the upper part of the boiler drum. This was not a smokebox as such, as there was no smokebox door for access and cleaning. A prominent external exhaust pipe ahead of the boiler led to a blastpipe within the chimney. The exhaust pipe is visible in many pictures of the locomotive.

The piston rods connected to a pair of grasshopper beams (one for each cylinder) mounted above the boiler. A connecting rod near the piston end of the walking beams drove the rear axle's wheels, where it also connected to a coupling rod to drive the front wheels.

See also

  • Stourbridge Railroad (the current line on the track used by the Stourbridge Lion)

References

Sources

  • The Stourbridge Lion, stourbridge.com
  • "Railroads America - The Stourbridge Lion And Tom Thumb", Old and Sold, 1927
  • "CHAPTER XIII: FIRST ENGLISH LOCOMOTIVE", The History of the First Locomotives In America, William H. Brown, New York: D. Appleton And Company, 1871.