Figure 24. — Wheel, said to be 

 from original De Wi'ff Clinton, in 

 National Museum. 



locomotive and connected to the axle of the front wheels, 

 had a bore of 5V2 inches and a stroke of 16 inches. The boiler 

 was tubular, with copper tubes about 2V2 inches in diameter 

 and 6 feet long. The top speed when pulling a load of about 

 8 tons was said to have been about 30 miles an hour. 



The De Witt Clinton was never completely satisfactory, and 

 after infrequent use in 1831 and 1832 it was disassembled 

 and disposed of piece by piece. Some of the parts were listed 

 as sold on April 20, 1835, others on September 13 and Octo- 

 ber 29, 1836. A total of $485 was realized from the various 

 sales. 



In 1891, a wheel said to have been one of the wheels of the 

 original De Witt Clinton, was deposited in the National 

 Museum (USNM 180947) by William Buchanan, at that 

 time superintendent of motive power of the New York Cen- 

 tral and Hudson River Railroad Co. The all-metal wheel 

 (figure 24) contains 14 round, 1 -inch-diameter spokes stag- 

 gered around the hub, and is 52y2 inches in diameter. The 

 flanged metal tire is missing from the rim, which is 4V8 inches 

 wide, but its presence would undoubtedly bring the overall 

 diameter of the wheel up to 54 inches. 



33 



