﻿536 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  Two 
  of 
  the 
  company's 
  first 
  ojEcers, 
  the 
  president 
  and 
  treasurer, 
  

   were 
  Stevens's 
  own 
  sons, 
  Robert 
  and 
  Edwin. 
  By 
  October, 
  1830, 
  

   Robert 
  was 
  on 
  his 
  way 
  to 
  England 
  to 
  order 
  a 
  locomotive 
  and 
  iron 
  

   rails, 
  and 
  about 
  a 
  year 
  later, 
  on 
  November 
  12, 
  1831, 
  the 
  locomotive 
  

   John 
  Bull 
  was 
  put 
  into 
  service 
  at 
  Bordentown, 
  N. 
  J. 
  After 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  over 
  50 
  years 
  of 
  service 
  the 
  John 
  Bull 
  was 
  retired 
  with 
  fitting 
  

   ceremonies. 
  Since 
  then 
  it 
  has 
  rested 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Museum, 
  

   honored 
  as 
  the 
  oldest 
  complete 
  locomotive 
  in 
  America. 
  

  

  For 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  following 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  railroad 
  

   companies, 
  the 
  chief 
  topic 
  for 
  discussion 
  in 
  their 
  meetings 
  was 
  the 
  

   question 
  of 
  motive 
  power. 
  Stockholders 
  were 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  as 
  thor- 
  

   oughly 
  convinced 
  that 
  steam 
  power 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  as 
  were 
  Stevens 
  

   and 
  Cooper. 
  Horse-drawn 
  cars 
  were 
  employed 
  and 
  also 
  horse-power 
  

   treadmill 
  cars. 
  A 
  horse 
  treadmill 
  car 
  hauling 
  24 
  passengers 
  won 
  a 
  

   $500 
  prize 
  offered 
  by 
  the 
  stockholders 
  of 
  the 
  Charleston 
  & 
  Hamburg 
  

   Railroad 
  in 
  1829. 
  Cars 
  equipped 
  with 
  a 
  mast 
  and 
  sail 
  were 
  tried 
  

   on 
  both 
  the 
  Charleston 
  & 
  Hamburg 
  and 
  the 
  Baltimore 
  & 
  Ohio. 
  

   But 
  when 
  the 
  news 
  came 
  from 
  England 
  in 
  1829 
  of 
  the 
  wonderful 
  

   performances 
  of 
  George 
  Stephenson's 
  steam 
  locomotive 
  Rocket, 
  all 
  

   doubts 
  as 
  to 
  this 
  new 
  motive 
  agent 
  were 
  soon 
  removed. 
  The 
  steam 
  

   train 
  came 
  into 
  its 
  own. 
  

  

  Shortly 
  after 
  this 
  time 
  Robert 
  Stevens 
  forestalled 
  a 
  possible 
  loss 
  

   of 
  this 
  new 
  confidence, 
  which 
  the 
  inevitable 
  failure 
  of 
  wooden 
  rails 
  

   might 
  have 
  brought 
  on, 
  when 
  he 
  perfected, 
  had 
  rolled 
  in 
  England, 
  

   and 
  introduced 
  in 
  America 
  the 
  iron 
  rail. 
  Adopting 
  the 
  T-rail 
  then 
  

   popular 
  in 
  England, 
  he 
  added 
  the 
  base 
  and 
  produced 
  a 
  rail 
  that 
  has 
  

   remained 
  almost 
  unchanged 
  in 
  design 
  to 
  this 
  day. 
  He 
  also 
  designed 
  

   the 
  hook-headed 
  spike, 
  which 
  is 
  substantially 
  the 
  railroad 
  spike 
  of 
  

   to-day; 
  the 
  iron 
  tongue 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  developed 
  into 
  the 
  modern 
  

   fish 
  plate; 
  and 
  the 
  bolt 
  and 
  nuts 
  to 
  complete 
  the 
  joint. 
  These 
  

   improvements 
  laid 
  the 
  essential 
  ground 
  work 
  on 
  which 
  to 
  build 
  the 
  

   new 
  industry 
  sucessfuUy. 
  

  

  LOCOMOTIVES 
  

  

  Who 
  was 
  to 
  build 
  the 
  locomotives? 
  That 
  question 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  

   answered 
  at 
  once. 
  Several 
  of 
  the 
  wealthier 
  companies 
  had 
  purchased 
  

   locomotives 
  in 
  England 
  but 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  this 
  was 
  prohibitive. 
  What 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  had 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  machine 
  shops 
  

   were 
  principally 
  forges, 
  wheel, 
  and 
  millwright 
  shops. 
  In 
  the 
  large 
  

   cities, 
  so-called 
  foundries 
  did 
  all 
  sorts 
  of 
  jobbing 
  in 
  metals, 
  while 
  

   other 
  shops 
  specialized 
  in 
  machinery 
  repair 
  work, 
  mostly 
  of 
  steam- 
  

   boat 
  engines. 
  Of 
  these 
  the 
  most 
  prominent 
  in 
  1830 
  was 
  the 
  West 
  

   Point 
  Foundry 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  to 
  this 
  concern 
  the 
  railroad 
  pioneers 
  

   haturally 
  turned. 
  Out 
  of 
  this 
  shop 
  came 
  the 
  first 
  American-built 
  

   locomotives 
  — 
  the 
  Best 
  Friend 
  and 
  West 
  Point, 
  used 
  on 
  the 
  Charleston 
  

  

  