A History of the Growth of the Steam-EngineThurston, Robert Henry
History
A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine
Thurston, Robert Henry
Steam-engines -- History
[57] "Ross Winans _vs._ The Eastern Railroad Company--Evidence."
Boston, 1854.
These American engines were all designed to burn anthracite coal. The
English locomotives all burned bituminous coal.
Robert L. Stevens, the President and Engineer of the Camden & Amboy
Railroad, and a distinguished son of Colonel John Stevens, of Hoboken,
was engaged, at the time of the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester
Railroad, in the construction of the Camden & Amboy Railroad. It was
here that the first of the now standard form of _T_-rail was laid
down. It was of malleable iron, and of the form shown in the
accompanying figure. It was designed by Mr. Stevens, and is known in
the United States as the "Stevens" rail. In Europe, where it was
introduced some years afterward, it is sometimes called the
"Vignolles" rail. He purchased an engine of the Stephensons soon after
the trial at Rainhill, and this engine, the "John Bull," was set up on
the then uncompleted road at Bordentown, in the year 1831. Its first
public trial was made in November of that year. The road was opened
for traffic, from end to end, two years later. This engine had
steam-cylinders 9 inches in diameter, 2 feet stroke of piston, one
pair of drivers 4-1/2 feet in diameter, and weighed 10 tons. This
engine, and that built by Phineas Davis for the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, were exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia,
in the year 1876.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.--The "Stevens" Rail. Enlarged Section.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64.--"Old Ironsides," 1832.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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