Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-08-08
THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE.

sons 'lOCKct OH tnc IlNcrpCOi ~
Manchester Railway, in England, on the
14th of October, 1929, while, as a matter
of fact, the idea was demonstrated to be a
grand success in then wild and dcsolatcd
part of the L nited States more than two
months before the trial mentioned was
made. On the Sth of August, 1920, the
first locomotive that ever turned driving
wheel on railroad track was run at
IIonesdalc, on II ncwly-finishcd road
that connected the Lackawanna coal
fields with tide water, by way of the
Delaware & Hudson Canal. The road
was the first of any commercial impor-
tancc ever built in this country, and it
brought into practical use the economical
system of inclined planes and gravity
locomotion. which has since been adopted
by engineers wherever practicable.
The commencement of operations in the
Lehigh Valley turned tho attention of
the Wurtz Brothers to New York ms their
prospective market, and the Delaware &
Hudson anal and Railroad, in its day
the most gigantic engineering project
supported by Il private corporation ever
undertaken, waS the result. About this
time railroad building was just beginning
n awaken interest among capitalists.
The first enterprise of the kind, the
Liverpool & Manchester Railway in Eng
land, had been for some time in process
of construction and was approaching
completion. George Stephenson, the
father Of steam locomotives, WIS then
bringing to bear upon the managers of
that new road his most telling arguments
in favor of the introduction of steam as
the motive power upon the road. His
interesting experiments with his machines
had attracted attention i'm America, too,
and, pending the decision rs to whether
steam should be used upon the Liverpool
Road, John ID. Jcrvis, founder of the city
of Port JcrviS, y. Y, and Chief Engi-
ncer in the construction of the Delaware
& Hudson Canal, sent lloratio Allen, his
assistant, to England in 1928 to examine
into the merits of steam "a applied To
railroad transportation. Mr.. Allen was
very young, and hc was convinced that
Stephcnsons idea was destined To- rcvolu
tioniZc all branches of commerce. Rely
ing on Aliens judgment, Chief Engineer
Jcrvis commissioned him to buy three
locomotives for use on the pioneer rail-
road of America.
At this time Stephenson was head over
heels in work preparing his Subsequent
" famous engine, the "Rockct," Tor the
coming trial of steam machines on the
Manchester d Liverpool Hallway, the
managers having decided, after II long
wranglc, t. adopt steam power and hav-
Ing offered prizes for the most successful
locomotive rs to spccd and draught ca
pacity. Mr.. Allen was, therefore, unable
to get Stcphcns0n's services in the con-
struction Of the locomotives, wanted for
America, 80 he madc contract with
Foster, Ra>wick 4 Co.. machinists, Of
StOurbridgc, 10 build three engines. The
contract provided that 'thc machines
should be four tons weight" Mr.. Allen
furnishing the drafts.
In May, 1920, the ship John Jay deliv-
cred the first of these engines in New
York City. The different pieces of ma
chinery were taken to the foot of Beach
Street, where young Allen put the ma
chine together. Ii was raised upon blocks,
50 that the wheels cleared the ground,
and the machinery was set in motion by
steam generated over a fire made out of
anthracite cal from the mines in the
Lackawanna Valley, the ears from which
the engine was intended tohaul. The "cn-
ginc, as il was then, called was exhibited
at the foundry for six weeks, and was
seen by thousands of people. 1t was Il
singular machine. There were four
wheels, which were connected by side
rods. Vertical cylinders OH each side Of
the rear end of tho boiler communicated
motion to huge walking beam, con-
ncctcd with the sidc-rods of the driving
wheels by other long iron shafts or rods.
The engine was literally covered with
rods and joints, and it looked like huge
grasshoppcr preparing to jump. There
was an engineers cab, and the smoke
stack was very small-not much larger
than u stove pipc-and very high.
The engine was sent to this place by
canal arriving here on the I'D of July,
1929. Everything was not in readiness
for the trial trip until August 8. Mr.
Allen himself set the engine up, and it
was put on the tracks ut the company
dock. The primitive railroad track at
that time consisted of hcmlock rails,
eight by ten inches in thickness placed
four feet ten inches apart, and spiked to
hemlock tics, which were laid upon the
ground with space of ten feet between
them. Ballasting and grading were UNI
heard Of The timber had not been well
seasoned, and, having been laid in sum
mer, the rails were considerably bent and
twisted before the eventful day of the
trial trip arrived. There was another
drawback. After leaving the coal docks
the railroad turned westward by curvo
of threatening radius, and crossed the
Lackawaxen River, OH slight hemlock
trcstlc, one hundred and twenty feet
above the bed of the stream. The loco
motive was found to weigh seven tons
instead of four, as the contract stipu-
lated. The impression then became gen
eral that the machine was too heavy to
! be borne over the trestle, and Mr.. Allen,
who had taken his place at the throttle
to direct the movements of the first
steam locomotive in the world, was
earnestly importuned by many prominent
citizens not to attempt the trial. The
II or who pulled the throttle of steam
locomotive ovcrpowercd his sense of dan
ger, and he declared he would make tho
trip, let the consequences be what they
| might.
In those days H0nesdalc-now the
wcalthicst borough in the Statc-had but
few hundred inhabitants, having been
founded but three years previously; but
every inbabitant was out in holiday garb
on the Sth of August, 1929, to sec the
trial trip of the "Stourbridge Lion" rs
the engine was called. 1t derived it,
namc from the place where it was made
and from n fierce lions head which was
painted in red on the front of tho
boiler. The day was one long TO be ro-
mcmbercd. An the farmers within a
radius of forty miles came TO town, and
an old Queen Anne cannon was brought