page_title: Tom Thumb (locomotive)
section_title: Demonstration
hierarchical_section_title: Tom Thumb (locomotive) / Demonstration
caption_attribution_description: English: View of replica of the Tom Thumb, the locomotive built by Peter Cooper in 1830, and the first locomotive tested by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The replica was built for the "Fair of the Iron Horse," an exhibition sponsored by the B&amp;O in 1927. It is now on display at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum Cropped photo.
context_page_description: Tom Thumb was the first American-built steam locomotive to operate on a common-carrier railroad. It was designed and constructed by Peter Cooper in 1829 to convince owners of the newly formed Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to use steam engines; it was not intended to enter revenue service. It is especially remembered as a participant in an impromptu race with a horse-drawn car, which the horse won after Tom Thumb suffered a mechanical failure. However, the demonstration was successful, and the railroad committed to the use of steam locomotion and held trials in the following year for a working engine.
context_section_description: Testing was performed on the company's year old first main track line going southwest between Baltimore and Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City, Maryland) which sits along the upper branch of the Patapsco River Valley which feeds the lower Patapsco which is the "Basin" (now called the Inner Harbor) and the Harbor and Port of Baltimore which flows southeast to the nearby Chesapeake Bay. Two tracks had been constructed, which led the owners of Stockton and Company, a local stagecoach passenger and freight service to challenge the revolutionary new locomotive to a race, and on August 28, 1830, the famous legendary race was held (but sources differ slightly on the date with variations including August 25 and September 28). The challenge accepted, Tom Thumb was easily able to pull away from the horse until the belt slipped off the blower pulley. Without the blower, the boiler did not draw adequately and the locomotive lost power, allowing the horse to pass and win the race. Nonetheless, it was realized that the locomotive offered superior performance.
caption: The Tom Thumb replica in action.
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